Mentors
March 25, 2013 |
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Felicia Wright
Felicia is the “momtreprenuer” of Mygani Design Studio, a brand consulting firm that helps clients develop creative and branded strategies for accomplishing their goals. She has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design from the University of North Florida, and an MBA with a concentration in marketing from the University of Phoenix. Felicia has 15 years of experience as a graphic designer, working for companies including Stein Mart, Inc, Interline Brands, and The Florida Times-Union. Felicia has mentored and taught graphic design courses at Keiser University and the University of North Florida, and volunteers with several nonprofits. She is an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association, in memory of her grandmother.
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Linda DeSantos
As HR Coach for Lowe’s Home Improvement, Linda’s work includes talent acquisition, performance management, training and more. Her 10+ years as an HR Professional is in the fields of manufacturing and distribution, and she has held human resources management positions at Ivey Southern California and Agile Sourcing Partners. Linda has a bachelor’s degree in business, and is pursuing her graduate degree at Keller Graduate School of Management. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and and certified in Targeted Selection, Customer, and Leadership classes through DDI and Achieve Global.
Dana King
Dana King has more than 20 years of experience in training individuals to increase job productivity in the areas of customer service, telephone etiquette and administrative and clerical skills. She has worked at the City University of New York and the Metropolitan College of New York as office manager and as an academic mentor and coach. Dana’s bachelor’s degree is from City University of New York, The Graduate Center. In 2013, she will begin pursuing a master’s degree in Disability Studies at City University of New York, The School of Professional Studies.
Dana has a post-baccalaureate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). She has also taught adults GED preparation, reading, writing and grammar. She has a strong background in helping students reach academic and personal success.
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Rebecca Friendly
Rebecca Friendly is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she studied government and was elected into Phi Beta Kappa. During her time at Wesleyan, she spent a semester abroad in Argentina and interned in the district offices of U.S. Representatives Henry Waxman and Karen Bass. Upon graduating, Rebecca worked with the Center for American Progress, a progressive public policy institute based in Washington, DC. She then went to work for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign as a field organizer in Western Colorado. Following the election, Rebecca returned home to Los Angeles to work for her family business, a small production company that her grandfather started. She is responsible for business development, marketing and brand management. In her free time she enjoys volunteering and spending time outdoors hiking, biking, and doing yoga.
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Toni Carter
Toni Carter is an administrator of fiscal services and HR. She has more than 20 years in management, organizational development and HR, with a focus on career management. She served almost 24 years in the United States Air Force, where she had the opportunity to provide leadership and career counseling. In her current role, she also provides career coaching to individuals seeking employment, transitioning or looking to move up in their current organization. Toni has bachelor of science degree in psychology, an MA in Human Resources Management, an MA in Human Resources Development and a Graduate Certificate in Executive and Professional Coaching. She also holds an Associate Coaching Certificate from the International Coaching Federation. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, exercising, learning about other cultures and traveling.
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Brenda Wilder
Brenda is Program Manager for Beyond Jobs and CARF Compliance Monitor at Goodwill of Central Illinois. Brenda’s primary background is in elementary education, with concentrations in language arts and social science. Brenda began her employment at Goodwill in 2005 as a temp, helping Goodwill with its CARF accreditation, then progressed to positions including instructor and program manager. Brenda has extensive experience in office work and operating various computer programs. Brenda is also a writer and has a book published. In her spare time, which is very rare, Brenda loves to travel, bake, spend time with her grandkids, and of course write.
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Omar Aziz
Omar Aziz founded an intellectual capital development firm specializing in human capital development and entrepreneurship. He is currently employed by Goodwill Industries of Southeast Louisiana, specializing in workforce and business development through the strategic engagement of individuals, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and corporations. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans and studied in the executive MBA graduate program at Louisiana State University. He is the author of an interactive learning system designed to foster entrepreneurial thinking and new business start-up, “Participating In Entrepreneurship.”
Omar has conducted workshops across the U.S., and his interactive learning system and entrepreneurial success has been the focus of numerous feature stories on ABC, CBS, NBC and in local and national publications, including Entrepreneurs Magazine. Omar passionately believes that no one should go through life without getting their “piece of the pie.”
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Jessica Braun
Jessica Braun is an academic advisor for Grand Canyon University, where she specifically works with future teachers. Her Bachelor’s degree is in psychology, and will begin working on her Master in Industrial/Organizational Psychology this April.
Jessica relocated to Arizona from New York in August 2011. She was drawn to Arizona because of the sunny weather and better job opportunities. She has had experience in the sales industry, green/renewable energy industry, and retail /customer service. She is passionate about helping others, and her long term career goal is to be a career counselor.
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Federico Parola
Federico M. Parola is an experienced professional in the field of coaching, intercultural consulting, cross cultural training, and diversity and inclusion practices. He is a career coach at NetExpat, where he serves relocated employees in global transition. Federico is also a country resource specialist and intercultural consultant for Shepell-FGI, Aperian Global, and Dean Fosters Associates. He has been a speaker and consultant on diversity and inclusion best practices for supplemental educational service providers (No Child Left behind Act) and for MBA programs. He has a passion for education and helping, and he supports minorities across the state of Kentucky by instructing elementary students to successfully overcome academic challenges.
Parola started his career as an international recruiter of college athletes, and Spanish language trainer. He attained a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Lindsey Wilson College and became a member of Lamda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society. He also received a Masters degree in Education at Trevecca University in Nashville, TN. Back in college he coached of his favorite sport – volleyball.
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Elizabeth Reynoso
Elizabeth J. Reynoso is a mentor for the Green Jobs group. In 1994, Elizabeth began promoting human rights worldwide as a media liaison for Human Rights Watch. She produced for ABC News and for PBS/Frontline where her team earned a Peabody for The Drug Wars. She traveled the US for almost a year working on community-supported agriculture farms andgardens.
Returning to the US in 2003, Elizabeth joined the NJ Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) to launch their green transitional jobs program for men and women returning home from prison which continues today as the City of Newark’s Clean and Green program. In 2010, Elizabeth began working for Goodwill Industries International, Inc. (GII) managing the Department of Labor’s Pathways Out of Poverty grant.
Currently, Elizabeth is the City of Newark’s first Food Policy Director. Elizabeth was a co-chair for the City of Newark’s 2008 Green Futures Summit, a member of the Leadership Newark class of 2010, a Green For All fellow, and is a Vice-President of her Wellesley College Alumnae class.
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Mike McLaughlin
Mike is a mentor for the Business and Financial and Information Technology group. He is currently a Senior Associate in the Talent Acquisition industry. His responsibilities include sourcing, qualifying and representing engineers and engineering managers to various position openings of a diversified client base in Seattle. In addition to those core responsibilities, he is also heavily involved in account management, internal technical training and human resource policy as well as contract preparation and review. Prior to that, he worked for several operating units of Kaplan doing classroom teaching and tutoring, as well as contributing to the last major overhaul of the pre-college curriculum package in 2009.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, majoring in both Accounting and Human Resource Management at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also holds an Associate of Arts from Highline Community College in Des Moines, WA and is an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. His community affiliations include Community Schools Collaboration, and the American Lung Association, Mountain Pacific Chapter. In his spare time, he enjoys working on his car, exercising and following UW Husky Basketball for which he has been a 5 year season ticket holder.
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Ricky Singh
A proven and experienced professional, currently providing leadership in helping customers achieve real business value. Ricky Singh is a practitioner of enterprise architecture, strategic business planning, project management, business analysis, data analysis, and building effective communication strategies for clients. He earned an MBA from University of Maryland University College.
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Eve Underhill
Eve Underhill is a mentor in the Business and Financial Services, Education and Social Services, and Office and Clerical groups. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) offering over 15 years of human resource and business management experience. Eve has spent her career in various industries varying from state university, food processing plant, certified public accountants, medical optometrist and eye surgery center, and construction/real estate organizations. In her prior job with the University of South Florida she was responsible for overseeing the employment recruitment process.
Eve attained a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management from Warner Southern College – Lake Wales, Florida and a Masters of Business Administration from St. Leo University – Tampa, Florida. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
In her spare time she enjoys working out, biking, hiking, camping, gardening, reading, researching, volunteering and spending time with her family and friends.
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Vicki Jones
Vicki is a mentor for Education and Social Services. Vicki has more than 15 years of experience developing and implementing workforce programs that help train, support, and place individuals in jobs. In addition, she has taught work preparedness classes and has been an adjunct professor.
Vicki has an undergraduate degree from Howard University and a master’s degree from New York University. In her free time, Vicki enjoys spending time with her three nieces and one nephew, exploring, and writing. Vicki is from New York City.
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Elizabeth Cobb
Elizabeth is a Human Resource Manager with 20+ years experience in Human Resources and Talent Acquisition, including 11 years in leadership roles. She has spent her career with three Fortune 500 companies: Accenture, Bank of America Corporation and, presently, Wells Fargo & Company. Through Wells Fargo, Elizabeth had the opportunity to volunteer with Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont for the last 7 years.
She attained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wake Forest University and a Masters of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her two young daughters, skiing, rollerblading, gardening and reading.
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Jenni Samsill
Jenni Samsill is a Career Services Specialist for the Goodwill of Central Arizona. Jenni has 6+ years experience in developing and implementing career readiness tools that help train, support and place individuals in jobs. In addition, she has worked specifically with the ex-offender population and has a good understanding of that barrier in particular. Jenni has an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona in Sociology.
In her free time, Jenni enjoys spending time with her three children; two girls and a son, hiking, and traveling with husband. Jenni is from Phoenix, Arizona
Renee is a mentor for the Retail group. Renee has 24 years of experience in retail which includes managing numerous staff, a number of different stores at one time, and large amounts of inventory. She has worked for Lowe’s for 6 years as an Assistant Store Manager. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Louisiana State University – Shreveport in Business Management.
Renee enjoys spending time with her kids and grand kids. Renee is from Shreveport, Louisiana.
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Odalis Gonzalez
Odalis Gonzalez is a mentor for Education and Social Services, Healthcare, and Office and Clerical. Odalis has 16 years of experience in social services which includes case management, counseling, and recruiting in non-profit and for profit organizations. She has taught job readiness skills in a support group setting and in a college classroom. Odalis has an undergraduate Bachelors degree in Psychology from Baruch College, a Masters degree in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University and is currently taking a online certificate course in E-Business from Penn Foster School.
In her free time, Odalis writes and manages her four blog websites which focuses on fashion, entertainment (music and film), the 1980′s, and social work issues. She enjoys traveling, art, and learning about Internet Marketing. Odalis is from New York City.
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Nichole Johnson
Nichole is a Mentor for Customer Service, Office and Clerical. Nichole has over 10 years of professional experience in fields that that involved training and development, technical assistance, project management and customer service.
Nichole volunteered as a social worker with the Office of the Public Defender (Juvenile Division), where she referred juvenile offenders’ to job training programs, educational serves and counseling services. Nichole has a B.S. in Management Studies from the University of Maryland University College and a Master of Science in Human Services from Capella University. She is a Navy Veteran who spent six years on active duty.
In her free time, I enjoy bowling, traveling and making her own jewelry. Nichole is from Washington D.C.
Tosha Murph is a mentor for Education. Tosha has over 5 years of experience in higher education, where she coaches and advises prospective students in choosing the best degree to achieve their desired career.
Tosha was raised in a military family, where her father served in the United States Air Force. Born in Louisiana, Tosha traveled with her family before settling at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
She has an undergraduate degree in English from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. In her spare time, Tosha enjoys reading, writing poetry, and spending time with family and friends.
Deanna Smith is a mentor for Education and Social Services. Deanna is a Job Placement Specialist at Goodwill Industries of North Louisiana.
Deanna has worked as Territory Sales Manager, Retail Advertising Coordinator, in Human Resources and in Supported Employment Job Placement.
When not busy at work, Deanna is kept busy by her 2 year old, two dogs, and husband. She loves her job at Goodwill because she gets to see people grow and learn everyday.
Domeda is a mentor for Business and Financial and Customer Service.
Domeda has worked in banking for over 30 + years starting as a Teller and then moving to private banking. She has spent her career working in various positions in Trust Operations.
Prior to joining the Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP, Domeda work for the investment company RCB Trust/Northern Trust and Ford Motor Credit.