Award RecipientsCongratulations to the 2023 Winners!Learn more about these awards here. Tribute Award 1
Amy Feifer is the Dean of Career and Professional Advising and has worked in several roles for career services at Haverford since 1989. Amy previously started her work in career services at her alma mater, Franklin & Marshall College. Amy's involvement in EACE started early in her career, serving on and chairing numerous committees and task forces (including Leadership Development and Long Range Planning), chairing the 1994 Annual Conference in Philadelphia, establishing a mentoring program for MAACE (the precursor organization to EACE), and served in several roles on the Board of Directors for MAPA, MAACE, and culminating in serving as EACE President in 2001- 2002. As President, Amy led a restructuring of administrative services for the organization and a restructuring of the Board to include a new role at the time of a Technology Director. Amy truly feels she has gained so much from EACE which is why she has been actively involved with this special organization throughout her entire career. Tribute Award 2
During her 42 years in the career services field, Donna Cassell Ratcliffe served as director at King University, the University of New Mexico, and for 20 years at Virginia Tech. At Virginia Tech, Donna also engaged in the life of the institution, one example being 20+ years as an affiliate faculty member of the Higher Education masters and doctoral program. In professional association leadership roles, Donna served on the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers executive board 2007-2010, as president (2008-2009) and a member of the Regional ACEs Presidents’ Council. Donna also served as committee co-chair of Awards and Research Grants, Consulting Services, and Sponsorships, and a member of the Nominations Committee. For seven years, Donna was a Virginia Association of Colleges and Employers board member, including president (2000-2001). She served on NACE’s Career Readiness Competency Committee and co-led the development of NACE’s on-line career readiness tool kit. Due to this growing area of expertise, CareerSpots, Inc. invited Donna to co-author The Career Ready Guide (2018). When providing consulting services, Donna especially enjoys leading and participating on external review teams to evaluate university career services operations; written reports resulted in redesigned and increased staffing, new office space, improved campus and employer relations, increased resources, and the elevated visibility of career services. Outstanding Member Award 1
Tracey Hanton is the Associate Director of Career Development at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She serves as the Career Liaison for The College of Arts and Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts and for Diverse Student populations and Affinity groups. She is the Coordinator for the Endorsed Career Ready Program. She has more than 15 years’ experience in career development in higher education. She holds a BA and MA in Communications from Temple and LaSalle respectively. She has been an active member of EACE since 2017 and has received the 2019 Rising Star Award. She has served on the Conference committee co-chairing the Entertainment Committee (2018-2019) and Community Service sub-committee (2019-2020). She currently sat on the DEI task force for 2 years. She co-chaired the Professional Development and DEI Scholarship committee. She currently is one of the co chairs for the DEI committee. She serves on various boards in Philadelphia and is active in various Professional organizations. She enjoys working with youth and has a desire to continue her work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion spaces. She is a Philadelphia native, who owns her own candle business. She has 2 grown sons and 1 adorable grandson. She enjoys dancing, spending with family and friends and genealogy. Outstanding Member Award 2
Whitney A. Kerr (They/She) is a self-proclaimed Career Development nerd. She has made it her life’s mission to help people “grow and glow professionally” by serving as a guiding light on their journey towards personal and professional success. Prior to her current role serving as Director of Career and Workforce Development at Lincoln University, she served as the Senior Co-op Advisor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Drexel University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Child and Adolescent Studies from Bowie State University, a master’s in Career Development from the College of New Rochelle, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Policy, Planning and Administration from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She is an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, Beta Delta Zeta Chapter in Philadelphia, PA. Within EACE, Whitney currently serves as co-chair for the 2023 Annual Conference. She previously served two years on the Conference Experience Committee and on the D&I Committee. Currently, Whitney cohosts EACE Conversations with Phil & Whit. Rising Star Award
I am currently an Employer Engagement Consultant at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. In my role, I help employers within the Business, Nonprofit, and Education industries on their recruiting needs. I thoroughly enjoy working with employers because I am able to help build their organizations presence on campus, but also help find new and unique ways on how they can interact with students. Prior to Mason, I worked in the sports industry as a ticketing account executive, which allowed me to develop my customer service and relationship building skills that I’m now able to use within my role at Mason. For EACE, I currently serve as a member of the PR & Marketing Committee. In this committee, I help create content for EACE’s social media channels, while also helping to build the organizations brand through external communications and campaigns. As a new member of EACE (and attending my first conference in 2022), I have been able to meet many diverse people within the industry and also find ways to continue to grow as a professional. In my personal time, I enjoy traveling, reading mystery-thriller books, spending time with family and friends, and being active through soccer and boxing! Excellence in Program Development & Innovation Award 1
EDCP108i: Academic Transitions to Internships & The University Career Center at the University of Maryland has, managed by Erica Ely, successfully leveraged two different one-credit, mostly asynchronous online career courses to reach a large (1000+ students/year) and growing (up 33-45% last year and on track for even greater growth this year) number of students. Despite their asynchronous nature, these courses (PSYC123: The Psychology of Getting Hired & EDCP108i: Academic Transitions to Internships focused on internship searching) feature “live” touchpoints, utilizing approximately 100 alumni and employer volunteers, who conduct mock interviews and resume reviews to further enhance the curricula and provide key coverage that the existing career center staff could not complete for such large classes. Connecting with these alumni and employer volunteers is an especially powerful part of this course for students, yielding important networking connections. In both classes, more than half (56-60%) of the students in 2021-2022 were students of color or international students. Additional Team Members:
Excellence in Program Development & Innovation Award 2
CCPD Professional Pathways Program St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the National Public Honors College, is a small liberal arts institution in southern Maryland. A distinctive feature of a St. Mary’s College education is the Learning through Experiential and Applied Discovery (LEAD) curriculum, which is required for graduation. The LEAD curriculum includes the Professional Pathways courses, a robust sequence of career-readiness courses that are required of all incoming new students. These courses are designed and implemented by staff in the Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD). The Professional Pathways courses launched as a pilot program in fall 2018. Since that time, the program has grown to include three different courses. During a student’s first year, they are enrolled in two introductory one-credit courses in which they explore their strengths and interests, learn basic professional writing and interview skills, participate in networking events, develop a career exploration plan, and discover the NACE career readiness competencies. As a sophomore or junior, students enroll in a two-credit Honors College externship course, taught by a subject matter expert about a particular career field. These unique courses include classroom activities, lessons focused on NACE competencies, and hands-on experiences outside of class so that students are well-prepared for an internship in a particular area. The subject matter experts who teach the Honors College externship courses are drawn from industry, alumni communities, and other networks. Additional Team Members:
Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award
VCU Career Services became the home of a program called VCU PRIME when we inherited the Pre-Professional Health Advising department in Summer 2020. VCU PRIME (Pre-Health and Related Interests Mentoring Experiences) is a student-led, networking initiative connecting members to organizations, resources, and healthcare professionals. It was founded on a need to assist underrepresented students, connecting them to resources and people to help them become competitive candidates for health programs. When the founder left VCU, it created a gap in support for the program that has garnered University support and national recognition. Having already served in various supportive capacities, Monique Sample, stepped up to take on leadership for the program. Under her leadership, the organization has grown to support 700+ student members. In addition to PRIME, Monique has helped with DEI-related events and resources including our Diversity Career and Internship Fair, workshops on inclusive professional networking and dining etiquette practices, engaging VCU students with disabilities in the Workforce Recruitment Program, writing a VCS Team Diversity Statement, and creating and updating a new Identity + Career webpage with information on how students can best advocate for themselves during the job search and interview process, with resources that support their often intersecting identities. Past Year Award Recipients:
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Amy Feifer 
Donna Cassell Ratcliffe
Tracey Hanton
Whitney Kerr
Ana Lobaton
Erica Ely
Michael Dunn
Monique Sample
