Greater Chicago Area
My career path has taken me from teen ministry in the Adirondacks to leading wilderness expeditions in Wyoming, and now to directing career education at Wheaton College. Across every environment, one thread has defined my work: helping people grow through challenge and discover their God-given potential. Today I lead campus-wide career development initiatives that serve thousands of students annually, designing programs that build clarity, confidence, and connection to meaningful vocation. I love turning vision into systems, partnering with faculty and employers, and creating experiences that help students translate their strengths into purposeful work. My strengths — Strategic, Responsibility, Activator, Individualization, and Relator — shape how I build programs, mentor students, and collaborate with campus partners. I'm especially energized by roles that blend strategic planning, program leadership, and student formation.
Provide content for triannual reports to Board of Trustees, including student engagement data, staffing updates, progress on departmental goals, and overall contribution to the College’s mission. Communicate upward feedback to VP to promote department goals, priorities, budget and staffing needs, and to ensure alignment with institutional priorities. Collaborate with leadership across campus to foster an institutional framework for career readiness. Manage relationships with external career development organizations to ensure department is offering best-in-class career experience for our clients, nuanced for campus context. Restructured the department and reorganized existing staff members to better accomplish the CVC’s mission statement and more effectively serve the needs of the campus community.
Develop and communicate standardized metrics to set clear expectations for coaching success and to provide quarterly updates on student engagement to identify areas of growth for the coaching team. Identified key performance indicators for coaching and developed quality control rubric and appointment shadowing plan to ensure continued coach training and excellent client service. Collaborated with the Associate Director for Employer Connections and the Chief Alumni Officer to re-write department mission and vision statements, implement strategic programming decisions, and identify and facilitate professional development for all full-time staff. Vet, interview, hire, and train candidates for open Career Coach positions; directly supervise all full-time Career Coaches to provide ongoing feedback, communicate areas for growth, and assign tasks.
Foster strong partnerships with faculty members across nine departments to strengthen STEM-specific resources for students; develop relationships with Wheaton alumni to build and maintain warm connections for students; support and market CVC events throughout the academic year. Engage with students one-on-one and in group settings to provide coaching in all aspects of job-search process, from initial skill and strengths assessment, industry exploration, networking, internship searching, application process, resume-building and review, and negotiation. Coordinate key events, connecting with 100+ alumni across various industries and experience levels to provide both in-person opportunities for students to network; developed new strategy for transitioning major events remotely and promoting student engagement during COVID-19 pandemic. Helped launch new skill-building initiative in response to student need during Summer 2020 to provide internship replacement program; strategized ways to improve program for Summer 2021.
Maintained donor mailing list. Created original content for quarterly newsletters, distributed to all donors. Coordinated volunteers for multiple fundraising events throughout the year. Worked closely with Executive Director to streamline process for event preparation. Created calendar and task lists for all major company events throughout the year. Designed and produced promotional material. Edited and reviewed printed material. Responded to needs around the office as they arise.
Created and posted regular social media content. Developed and expanded social media presence. Updated and redesigned website (www.laramiepregnancy.com). Created original content for weekly company blog. Reorganized and streamlined company server. Implemented and updated web and network security policies. Responded to tech needs around the office as they arose.
Organized and maintained Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database. Trained and managed full-time staff and seasonal staff to effectively use CRM database. Created digital program for seasonal instructors to prepare for extended wilderness expedition courses. Edited and reformatted student course paperwork to improve efficiency of registration process. Created and edited content for SROM website to more effectively explain organization's mission, values, goals, and wilderness course descriptions and expectations. Compiled outdoor wilderness course-specific information into a comprehensive packet for student participants to better prepare students for the demands of wilderness expedition courses. Responded to questions from students and parents regarding all aspects (equipment, participation, expectations, requirements, etc.) of SROM courses. Trained and managed full-time and seasonal staff to respond to questions from students and parents regarding all aspects of SROM courses. Created new content and edited existing content to re-write the SROM Instructor Manual, which is distributed to all full-time and seasonal staff and provides a comprehensive set of expectations for all staff. Networked with students to identify potential donors and recruit future students. Organized and participated in staff collaboration to review all aspects of operating on-site store, including inventory, pricing, and ordering. Led wilderness expedition courses up to 20 days in length for up to 12 students, where I was responsible for all aspects of the expeditions, including student safety, logistics, and spiritual leadership.
Cold-calling, interviewing and scheduling clients for testimonial shoots, screening testimonial candidates, and filing and reformatting data.
Trained 30 service staff in front and back of house responsibilities for service in formal dining hall. Coordinated weekly with food service department staff. Main point of contact between department head and service staff. Managed dining hall and staff, seating up to 300 guests each meal. Created a manual to aid in establishing a consistent training method for service staff.