As Career Services Director of the only Maritime Academy on the West Coast, provide strategic direction and oversight of career fairs of 100+ employers; career development workshops, presentations, industry, and community events; budget management and sponsorship growth; and employer relations. Build and maintain relationships with industry leaders–from worldwide Fortune 500, regional shipping, port management, scientific and regulatory businesses–to Federal, state, regional government, and nonprofit organizations, and businesses in maritime blue economy sectors and beyond to enhance curricular and co-curricular experiential learning opportunities and programs and increase student access to career-track opportunities upon graduation. Provide direct technical assistance to employers on how to create internships meeting students’ and learning sites’ needs and major-specific degree program requirements. Plan, organize, direct, and evaluate career planning, internship placement, and job acquisition services for students, graduates, and alumni, and when necessary, support Career Advisor in coaching students and alumni on all aspects of career development, from resumes to networking, through one-on-one appointments, group workshops, and class settings. Promote programs through public speaking at student, alumni, staff, community, and industry events; serving on conference panels; participating in community and industry associations; writing outreach emails and newsletter articles; and implementing social media. Manage and evaluate 2 professional staff and 4 student assistants and facilitate team-building and innovation. Coordinate staff and systems for compiling reports on post-graduation career outcomes for MARAD, accreditation bodies, and consumer information. Serve on multiple campus committees of student success programs and on community workforce initiatives.

Hired, trained and supervised employer relations team of 2 Employer Relations Specialists, a Workforce Development Programs Analyst, and 2-4 undergraduate and graduate student assistants/interns. Provided strategic direction and facilitated staff development, budget management, and inclusive student engagement planning to implement career fairs, employer info sessions and career development events. Led and developed staff in employer sponsorships cultivation, which resulted in $30,000+ in new employer investments in one year and increased college-to-career pipelines. Oversaw and co-led Handshake platform employer and job vetting policies, staff support, and administration. Provided strategic management and coordination of Career Center's role in implementing federally- and state-funded learn and earn programs, including the FWS Experiment (CareerCONNECTED Federal Work Study Program) and the Learning-Aligned Employment Program, as well as partner-funded programs such as the SMUD Ambassadors Program, City of Sacramento Economic Gardening Fellows Program, and IMPACT Fellows Program. Served on Anchor University Advisory Council and collaborated with campus and off-campus partners on initiatives to increase equity and access to career-building internships for students. Garnered more than $100,000 in Anchor University grants in support of community-engaged internship programs. Supported Director in overall management of Career Center operations and staff development.

Served as campus Project Director for the Sacramento Valley College Corps (SVCC) a partnership of UC Davis (as lead fiscal agent), Sacramento State, Sacramento City College and Woodland Community College to implement federally- and state-supported California Volunteers College Corps program. Hired and managed 4 full-time staff and provide planning and management of $2 million dollar budget to recruit and retain cohort of 100+service-learning fellows over two years. Provided project direction, intercampus-partnership facilitation, and inter-consortium collaboration to implement 1) program operations and personnel management; 2) fellow recruitment, onboarding, retention, and program completion; 2) program expense and budget management; 4) communications outreach; and 5) interdepartmental, consortium, and external relationships management. Directed and facilitated working relationships with external colleagues involved in the execution of program operations, such as student living allowance and education award distribution (UC Davis, Financial Aid, Bursar); information security, technology, and background checks (Enrollment; Information Resources Technology, Student Affairs Marketing); course offering (Academic Affairs); career development (Career Center and Dreamer Resource Center); grant account management and contracts (University Enterprises, UC Davis); and fellow placement, data-sharing and reporting (UC Davis, California Volunteers). Facilitated strategies for recruiting students identified by Student Affairs Equity and Affinity Centers and those who are Pell-eligible, underrepresented, and AB540 status through partnering with CAMP, Dreamer Resource Center, and other campus equity and inclusion partners.

In addition to serving as Career Center Internship Coordinator, led the development, implementation and expansion of internship and professional development programs. Established and directed the Gaining Access to Internships Scholarship Fund and cultivated other philanthropic, grant-funded, and public-private partnerships to offer paid experiential learning for students. Developed internship partnerships as part of CareerCONNECTED Federal Work Study Program in coordination with Financial Aid and Student Employment Experimental Federal Work Study team. Served on Anchor University Council and collaborated with campus and off-campus partners on initiatives to increase equity and access to career-building internships for students. Developed and instructed career readiness curriculum.

Facilitated strategies to increase students’ access to and participation in internships and experiential learning activities that prepare them for careers related to their fields of study. Served as liaison to Sacramento State’s colleges and academic departments, campus programs, and employer partners to provide information about developing and implementing internships and meeting policies for academic credit. As part of the Sacramento State Career Center team, contributed to strategies, initiatives, and programs aimed at increasing students’ career readiness and facilitating strategic employer engagement that leads to career-track jobs for students and successful talent acquisition for organizations.

Directed the Business Graduate Career Center and implemented program-wide career services and professional development opportunities for students and alumni of MBA, MBA for Executives, MS Accountancy, and International MBA programs. Increased and facilitated internship and job recruitment pipelines for master’s and bachelor’s students and alumni. Managed staff, student assistants, contractors, and career coaches; maintained and enhanced the physical and educational resources of the Graduate Career Center; established strategic procedures and information systems for managing, tracking, and enhancing student and employer engagement; advised students and alumni individually and in groups/workshops; cultivated and managed recruitment activities with current and prospective employers; managed and enhanced the credit-based internship process; planned and implemented networking and mentoring events; tracked and reported student and alumni career outcomes and job/internship acquisitions; evaluated and reported program outcomes through quantitative surveys, qualitative stakeholder feedback, data analysis, and presentations; developed budgets and managed expenditures; developed program-enhancing, collaborative initiatives within the College of Business Administration (CBA), across campus, and externally; and served as the CBA’s lead resource on hiring trends and strategic employer engagement in the Sacramento Region and beyond.

Developed syllabus and taught course for junior and seniors. Experiences I piloted and coordinated included a “Day-in-the-Life” at Intel's Folsom campus with senior professionals; applying promising practices to demonstrating high-demand skills and attributes through resumes, LinkedIn, and networking events; and developing a Global Mindset.

Provided range of business development, marketing research, data management and analysis, and grants consulting for social enterprises and nonprofits.

Project coordinator for start-up of the Hewlett Packard Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) Computer Lab and Training Center. Developed program materials, including electronic and print flyers, course schedule, course descriptions, press releases, and donor and sponsorship appeal letters. Coordinated installation of 30-person computer lab and involvement of multiple stakeholders, including facilities director, IT professionals, and HP corporate office.

Managed and cultivated external relations, including strategic alliances with businesses, government agencies, schools, private foundations, and other entities. Created education framework for developing experiential learning activities for proposed non-violence center. Created systems, forms, and reports for monitoring and evaluating grant-funded programs. Presented fund requests to boards, corporate donors, public officials, and community leaders. Wrote grant proposals and financing prospectuses for capital campaign and programs support. Authored donor letters and talking points on behalf of board members.

Directed all aspects of alumni relations program, including designing communications and programmatic initiatives for increasing and sustaining alumni engagement. Recruited alumni to serve as career mentors, presenters, and newsletter contributors. Developed mail and online survey to collect and analyze alumni data used to craft fundraising strategies, professional development programs, newsletter content, and program evaluations.

Coordinated the personnel, consultants, administrative support and technologies required to perform communications outreach activities and track law enforcement training participants. Established the system and guidelines for providing direct information assistance and resource referrals to law enforcement professionals and community members. Served as audio-visual coordinator and registration manager for two national conferences with more than 1,000 participants each.