Award Recipients

Congratulations to the 2021 Winners!

Tribute Award

Dr. Alicia Monroe
Rowan University

Dr. Alicia Monroe is a PK-20 experienced educator and international education consultant. She has served as classroom teacher, supervisor, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, adjunct professor, and education consultant. At Rowan University, Monroe has taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level courses which focus on diversity and inclusion content. Particularly, as adjunct faculty in the Africana Studies program, she teaches the course that she designed titled, “Black Lives Matter: An Ethnographic Perspective of the Movement.”

Monroe also works in the Office of Career Advancement at Rowan University. Notably, in this role, she created and implements the Rowan First Star STEAM Academy, the First Star STEAM College and Career Readiness Conference, and the engineering apprentice program’s “Effective Engagement with Employers” workshops and networking events. She is currently responsible for three research studies focused on first year initiative, neurodiversity, and effective student engagement with career services. Her partnership with the Academic Success Center and Disability Resources and Autism PATH program has provided for collaborative planning, mentoring, career coaching, and job placement for differently abled students and alumni.

Monroe is the inaugural Director, Diversity and Inclusion for Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) and Co-Chair of the FY ’21 Principles of Ethical Professional Practice Committee for the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). She is also the CEO and Founder of Solutions for Sustained Success, LLC., which provides services and professional learning in the areas of education, organizational change, leadership, diversity and inclusion, and equity and access.

Monroe received a Doctorate of Education and earned the coveted Larry Marcus Medallion for Excellence in Doctoral Studies from Rowan University, a master's from Pratt Institute, and a bachelor's from the College of the Holy Cross. Her published articles and blogs have garnered national and international recognition. Monroe most recently received the President’s Award for Excellence in Innovative Instructional Delivery, Distinguished Student Leadership Development Award- ASPIRE Student Leadership Development Program, Gary J. Hunter Excellence in Mentoring Award- Rowan University, Mentor of the Year Award- NACE, Distinguished Leadership Award- EACE, Heartland Hero- Pascale Sykes Foundation, as well as the Excellence in Diversity Award for Social Activism and Higher Education Supervisor of the Year from Rowan University. 

Outstanding Member Award

Cheresa J. Fewell
St. John's University

Cheresa has ten years’ experience in workforce development where she worked with and guided disconnected youth from the ages of 18-24, prepared women to return to the workforce, advised college students, and coached professionals desiring career advancement.  In 2016, Cheresa attended the EACE’s Newcomers Lunch, where she joined the Mentoring Committee and later transitioned into the Continuing Education Committee.  Being a part of EACE allowed her to tap into her leadership skills by working on a variety of projects. This allowed her to exchange ideas and initiatives with other career service professionals.  She is a proud alum of Queensborough Community College with an AS in Psychology. She also has a BA in Psychology, from St. John’s University and an MS in Human Resource Management with a Post Master’s Certificate in Organizational Development from The New School.  Cheresa is currently employed at St. John’s University as a Career and Internship Advisor, volunteers at Dress for Success as a Career Center Specialist and is a private Career Coach to mid-level professionals. She resides in Queens with her mom and her dog, Chica Bella. 

Rising Star Award

Kayla Lauricella
Fordham University

Kayla Lauricella is the Assistant Director of Career Services Student Engagement at Fordham University. She is currently the Webinar Sub-Committee Chair, where she leads the team’s efforts in conceptualizing and executing innovative webinar topics that will benefit all members of the career services community. Kayla joined the Webinar Sub-Committee in 2018, and began chairing in 2019. Kayla is passionate about student leadership development, enhancing the student experience, and encouraging students to pursue the unexpected in their career journeys. Kayla is also a huge “side hustle” advocate, encouraging students to pursue their entrepreneurial passions. In her spare time, she runs her own clothing business! 

Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Award

University of Connecticut
Center for Career Development

Program Title: Revamping the Career Center's Internal DE&I Efforts

In the summer of 2020, the UConn Center for Career Development critically examined our diversity efforts, identifying the need to revamp our internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) committee. Our goal with restructuring our committee was to initiate a culture shift—fully integrating DE&I into the individual and collective work of our department. The outcome of our restructuring efforts resulted in a new 10-member committee, monthly Town Halls to bring the rest of our staff into DE&I conversations (with more than 21 participants), affinity community student resource pages (with more than 170 blog posts by more than 33 different authors), an inclusive language document to guide our blog writing/content development, and an anonymous form for on-going suggestions from our staff (with 15 submissions so far). The response to these changes has been very positive and has allowed our team to accomplish a great deal in relation to DE&I this year.

Innovation in Program Development Award

University of Pittsburgh
Career Center

Program Title: APPLYmania! Your Successful Job Search Starts Today! - Increasing Job Applicants in Handshake

Thousands of jobs expire monthly without even a glance. APPLYmania, a unique program piloted with liberal arts majors, was designed to build awareness of and increase applications to the wealth of opportunities awaiting Pitt students on Handshake. APPLYmania replaced the traditional workshop as a 3-day, 2-hour virtual event. Together, a career consultant and employment development team of two provided students with individualized and tailored help during a 20-minute one-on-one job search coaching session.

Students received a six-step job search guide, and a curated list of job postings matched to over 40 liberal arts majors, assuring every participant received at least 3 – 5 job leads linked to Handshake.

Of the nearly 60 participants, 46% applied for approximately 180 jobs over 12 weeks following the event. One student shared that after attending APPLYmania, they changed their resume to fit a specific job posting and received an interview with the company.

Innovation in Crisis Leadership Award for Small Schools

Haverford College
Center for Career and Professional Advising

Program Title: Summer Skills Accelerator

As soon as classes at Haverford went to virtual learning in March, 2020, the Center for Career and Professional Advising realized some of our students' internships and jobs were going to be cancelled. While we couldn’t control that, what we could control was coming up with ways to provide a forum for students to develop professional skills and gain industry knowledge that they would have gotten from a summer experience.

The Center quickly created summer programming – Summer Skills Accelerator -  for students to expand current skill sets and gain valuable experiences through free, non-credit bearing seminars and workshops. Alumni and college staff led 36 summer seminars. We additionally promoted self-guided learning experiences. This curated list of seminars, workshops, and self-guided learning opportunities allowed students to develop and expand their skills and could be listed on resumes as an experience or education item. 291 unique students participated in 1820 sessions.

Innovation in Crisis Leadership Award for Large Schools

University of Pittsburgh
Career Center

Program Title: Graduate Support Task Force

Just weeks into the 2020 pandemic, the Pitt Career Center determined that the need to provide personalized support to graduating seniors was a top priority. The Career Center shifted focus from simply collecting post-graduation outcomes to forming an institution-wide committee to support those entering an uncertain economic environment. From March through December, the Graduate Support Task Force (GSTF) worked together to support recent Pitt graduates through the development of targeted resources and programs and University-wide partnership and communication as they transitioned to their next steps in unprecedented times. Ultimately, the task force did not want the Class of 2020 to fall significantly below the 94% placement rate that had been typical in previous years, and considered this to be a target benchmark for success throughout the process.

Past Year Award Recipients: