Dear OCDA Members,

Looking Ahead: 2026 OCDA Conference Save the Date

The OCDA 2026 Spring Conference theme is:

Reimagining Career Readiness: Building Pathways to Impact

Dates: Thursday, May 28th and Friday, May 29th 2026

Location: Lima, Ohio

2026 OCDA Conference Themes

Conference planning is officially underway for the 2026 OCDA Conference, and we’re excited to share this year’s conference themes. These themes reflect OCDA’s commitment to collaboration, innovation, career readiness, and practitioner well-being across the lifespan.

We invite you to review the themes below as you begin thinking about ways to engage with the conference this spring.

Reimagining Career Readiness: Building Pathways to Impact

This conference brings together school career and guidance counselors, college and university career services staff, community job service representatives, workforce development and employer partners, as well as privately licensed professional counselors. Through collaborative dialogue and actionable strategies, attendees will explore innovative approaches to workforce development, career readiness, and purpose-driven practices that empower career professionals, youth, and people throughout the lifespan of their career.

Building Bridges in Workforce Development

Workforce development focuses on creating sustainable talent pipelines that meet the evolving needs of employers and communities. It emphasizes collaboration between education, industry, and workforce agencies to prepare individuals for meaningful careers in a global workforce. This theme is designed to spotlight practical best practices in order build and expand on workforce development initiatives taking place throughout the state of Ohio and beyond.

Engaging Minds in Career Readiness

Career readiness is about more than technical skills—it’s about sparking curiosity and connecting learning to real-world opportunities. This theme explores how educators, workforce partners, and private career counselors can foster engagement and confidence, equipping individuals to navigate k-12, college, career, and life with purpose.

Finding Purpose in Practice

This theme centers on the well-being of career practitioners themselves, recognizing that purpose-driven advising begins with personal clarity and resilience. Attendees will explore strategies for integrating wellness and meaning into their counseling and career services practices, ensuring they can guide others from a place of balance and authenticity.

Government Relations Updates Pulse on Ohio

We are thrilled to announce the launch of advocacy tools within the OCDA Members-Only section under the "Advocacy" header on the Ohio Career Development Association website! This new exclusive benefit is designed to provide you with valuable resources and in-depth content accessible only to our dedicated members. To view this members-only content, simply log in to the website and navigate to the Advocacy page. This new space will serve as a hub for members to gain deeper insights into crucial topics impacting the career development field in Ohio and beyond.

This new section launches with a high-value resource: the encore presentation of the OCDA Government Relations Committee's 2025 NCDA Conference session, "Advocating For Career Development During Revolutionary Times." Presented by Sarah JanTausch, M.S., CCSP, PMP; Kaleigh Mahon, M.Ed., LPCC, CDCA; and Michelle Norris, M.Ed., LPC, this recording offers effective strategies for influencing public policy and creating local advocacy initiatives, such as "Hill Days." As a member, you can now enjoy unlimited viewings of this crucial presentation, with more exclusive content, including future webinar recordings and advocacy materials, to be added to this members-only section soon.

If there is anything specific you would like added to this section, or past recorded programs that you believe would be impactful to house in this section, please don’t hesitate to reach out!  For technical questions, please contact ohiocda@gmail.com.  If you are interested in joining the Government Relations Committee for our next meeting on January 12th, please reach out to Co-Chair Sarah JanTausch (sarah@valuesbasedcareers.com)  or Co-Chair Newton Kimberly (nskimberly@owu.edu)

Featured Career Resource: "Picture Your Career" From Vanderbilt University

Created by Dr. Kate Brooks and Grace Janoski of Vanderbilt University's Career Center, this guidebook helps users develop their vision and discover possible career trajectories, as well as discover their talents and understand how they help in the workplace. This is a free downloadable workbook that uses visual thinking techniques to help users discover their strengths, develop their vision, design a path forward, and deliver their talent. The workbook is packed with dozens of interactive exercises designed to be engaging and thought-provoking career development tools.

This workbook is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), meaning you are free to copy this material and use it with your students or clients, as long as you cite the source, don't use it for commercial purposes, and don't distribute any adaptations.

Download Your Free Copy: Visit vanderbilt.edu/career/picture-your-career to access this comprehensive 132-page workbook today!

Thank you to our sponsors! YouScience

OCDA's 2025 Conference Gold Level Sponsor

YouScience

Empower Ohio's future with data-driven career discovery

YouScience helps fulfill OCDA's mission by aligning student talents with meaningful, in-demand career pathways. Together, we empower lifelong career development through data-driven guidance and purpose-driven decisions.

Contact ohiocda@gmail.com if you or your organization would like to help sponsor the 2026 conference!

If you have any ideas for membership email content, please email Co-Chairs Ryana Munford at  munford.2@osu.edu & Taylor Lincicome at tslocum924@gmail.com