APCDA LEADERSHIP
Officers
President: Momoko Asaka, CEO of Veriteworks, graduated in Arts in Library and Information Science from Keio University, Japan. JCDA Certified Career Development Adviser, JPA Certified Psychologist, Mental Health Legal Advisor, Health and Productivity Management Advisor. Started an independent business after working as a medical corporation staff, HR staff of a large company, an HR director of a private IT company. She has participated in all the conferences since 2013 and held many leadsership roles. She hopes to contribute to the welcoming community spirit of APCDA. Contact Ms. Asaka at President@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Past President: Satomi Yaji Chudasama, NCC, CCC, GCDF, is a founding member of APCDA. Her past leadership positions with APCDA include Treasurer, Chair of Public Relations, Chair of Membership, and Lead of Membership Engagement through Technology Taskforce. She is currently Senior Associate Director, Student Engagement at the Center for Career Development at Princeton University in the United States. Since embarking on her journey in the career development field nearly 20 years ago, Satomi has gained significant experience in career counseling, career educational programming, employer and alumni engagement, and technology. She is active in the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) among other organizations. Contact Ms. Chudasama at PPresident@AsiaPacificCDA.org
President-Elect: Dr Serene Lin-Stephens is a senior lecturer and manager of the Postgraduate program in Career Education and Development at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Serene has been a career and vocational researcher, educator and practitioner for over 20 years. She has taught in the Master of Rehabilitation Counselling program at the University of Sydney and facilitated the embedment of career development learning in curricula at over 20 courses at Macquarie University, University of Wollongong, and Western Sydney University. She also led the glossary project at APCDA (Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean). Serene is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, the Australian representative of APCDA and the 2023 President-Elect of APCDA. Contact Dr. Lin-Stephens at PElect@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Treasurer: Constance Jenkins Pritchard, PhD, works in leadership, business consulting and career development. The Pritchard Group serves clients internationally in face to face consultation and trainings as well as through her corporate eLearning site. Dr. Pritchard has been active in career development associations regionally, nationally, and internationally. Currently she is treasurer of APCDA and a Board member of the Institute of Career Certification International. She has developed curriculum contributed to professional publications. Dr. Pritchard has earned a doctorate in education from the University of South Carolina. US. Contact Dr. Pritchard at Treasurer@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Secretary: Dr. José F Domene, Professor in the Counselling Psychology program within the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, is a lifetime member of APCDA, and over the past six years has served in numerous leadership roles within our organization. Dr. Domene has nearly 20 years of experience teaching students to become counsellors and psychologists, focusing on courses such as career development/counselling, professional ethics, and research methods. Dr. Domene is also a Registered Psychologist in the province of Alberta. His counselling work includes a focus on the intersection of career-life and mental health concerns. Contact Dr. Domene at Secretary@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Board of Directors
Officers and Staff serve on the Board, plus:
Mr. Allan Gatenby, Committee Council Chair
Ms. Sini Parampota, Committee Council Representative
Mr. Yoshinobu Ooi, Area Council Chair
Dr. Lorraine Godden, Area Council Representative
Dr. Brian Schwartz, Area Council Representative
Mr. Baktiar Hasnan, Area Council Representative
Journal Editor
Journal Editor: Poh Li Lau, PhD, is a senior lecturer in Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at University of Malaya. She received her BA and PhD in Counseling from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. Her research interests include career counseling, positive psychology, resilience and well-being, special needs programs, cross-cultural and psychological testing. She is responsible for in teaching and learning, evaluation activities in undergrad and postgrad counseling program, and consultation projects. She is also a registered counselor in Malaysia. Contact Dr. Lau at Journal@AsiaPacificCDA.org>
Committee Chairs
Awards & Scholarships Committee Co-Chair for Awards: Prof. Dr. Narender K Chadha is an emeritus Professor at Manav Rachna International University, Past President of APCDA, former Head, Department of Psychology, University of Delhi; and former Director, Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension; and Chairman, Board of Research Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Delhi, India. Dr. Chadha was awarded the National Career Development Association, USA presidential award, June, 2017 and Global Practitioner of the Year Award in 2015. Dr. Chadha received the Lifetime Achievement Award from APCDA in 2019. Contact Dr. Chadha at Awards@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Awards & Scholarships Committee Co-Chair for Scholarships: Tuan Anh Le, is one of the first-generation career professionals in Vietnam. He is the author of 5 bestselling books on career and personal development topics. His strength is to use social media to interact and convey career messages to clients. He has a career blog with 4 million views, a career podcast with 250K listeners and a career TikTok channel with 150K followers. He is the career manager at AV Careers - a company that provides online career services. He is also a guest lecturer at many prominent universities in Vietnam. Contact Mr. Le at Awards@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Bylaws & Policies Committee Chair: Allan Gatenby, FRIM CMF, Bylaws and Policies Committee Chair, is a thought leader in career and talent development. Began practicing as a school-based careers adviser in 1977, consultant to schools 1980 – 87. Established his private practice in 2007 and now is globally networked and servicing. Active member of APCDA, CDAA, ACPI and Chairman of the Board of Governors Institute of Career Certification International (ICCI). Recognized by UNDP as an expert practitioner in career education and partnering with AIM in the development of Leadership for IR4.0 training. Contact Mr. Gatenby at Bylaws@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Ethics & Standards Committee Co-Chair: Vandana Gambhir Chopra, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi, and the Former Area Director of India for APCDA. She started her professional career as a medical physician, excelled and later received her doctorate in Psychology. Known as an expert in Psychometrics, Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management and Vocational & Career Counseling, she helps corporations with their employee wellness and productivity through training and assessments. Her field of involvement in psychology research work spans across career competencies, personality, social psychology, competency mapping, positive psychology, and consumer behavior and geriatrics mental health. Contact Dr. Chopra at Ethics@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Membership Committee Co-Chair: Kunimitsu Kuki has been with Kanebo Cosmetics for 38 years, where he current works as a Career Consultant. He lives in Nara, Japan, but attended high school in the U.S. and, as a marketing manager, spent many years living in different Asian countries. In addition to helping employees of Kanebo find career satisfaction. he is eager to share his love of Japan and its traditions with non-Japanese who work in Japan or visit Japan. Contact Mr. Kuki at Membership@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Membership Committee Co-Chair: Natalie Kauffman, M.S., NCDA Certified Career Counselor™, FCD-I, NCC, NCCC, GCDF-I, has been providing comprehensive career counseling, education & transition solutions to the global community for more than 35 years. Her digitally fluent and face-to-face experiences continually infuse the eight domains of wellness as well as aequanimitas. Her career development work has traversed business, government, education & NPO settings. She is also an active member of the National Career Development Association Global Connections Committee. Ms. Kauffman’s M.S. in Applied Behavioral Counseling with a Career Counseling concentration is from The Johns Hopkins University. Contact Natalie at Membership@AsiaPacificCDA.org
News Committee Co-Chair: Tam Nguyen, JCDC, JCTC, CLC, is a career and life coach based in Montreal, Canada. She earned her Master of Science in Management from Concordia University, Montreal specializing in sustainability and optimization. Her professional career in career coaching started when she decided to step off the corporate ladder and help people design career paths with meaning and purpose. She currently helps professionals going through quarter-life and midlife crisis reclaim their voices, discover their career purpose to lead a meaningful life. Find Tam online: Empurpose’s website, LinkedIn. Contact Ms. Nguyen at News@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
News Committee Co-Chair: An Le is an Admission & Career Counselor who helps Vietnamese K-12 students with their university, course selection, and career orientation. Her students successfully secure admissions to top-ranking universities in Vietnam, the U.S. and Australia. She also has 10 years of experience in different professions, such as marketing and project management. One of the projects she led was Talent Generation (UNESCO-CEP), with the mission to help more than 20,000 Vietnamese university students evaluate and enhance their career readiness and competencies based on employers' criteria. She is passionate about helping students raise their self-awareness and build resilience and competencies before entering the global job market. Contact Ms. Le at News@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Program Committee Co-Chair: Elisabeth Montgomery, PhD, is Nanshan Education Bureau’s first foreign Senior Advisor on Internationalization for public schools 1-12. For over ten years she has innovated education groups in Shenzhen’s central Special Economic Zone. Specializing in school-based curricula design training, Green STEAM programs and implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She serves as Foreign Deputy Vice Principal for South China University of Science and Technology (SUSTECH Education Group). She is the founder of several model international programs in Shenzhen’s premier high schools. Specializations include career supervision and training of education providers; International college preparedness and placement; Job search, job shadows and internships; and Social Entrepreneurship. Contact Dr. Montgomery at Program@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Program Committee Co-Chair: Sini Parampota is a global citizen with more than 20 years of diverse experience. As a career development expert and a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion advocate, she works on untapping career guidance potentials to improve the transition of People with Disabilities into Labor Market systems, create more opportunities to grow their skills, make informed choices about their professional future and encourage employers to create inclusive workplaces. Her latest research focused on the impact of infertility on women leaders’ career aspirations. Contact Ms. Parampota at Program@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Public Relations Committee Co-Chair: Cherry May Rotas-Palacio, VP for Operations of POEC Consultancy International, Inc. and the National Administrators for the International for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience-Philippines. She is a licensed guidance counsellor and psychometrician in the Philippines. Before she moved to industry, she spent 10 years in academic settings where she developed various career programs for college students. She is also the Guidance and Career Program Consultant in the Philippines. She is a social entrepreneur, life coach, trainer and international ambassador for humanitarian projects. Contact M. Rotas at PublicRelations@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Research Committee Co-Chair: Poh Li Lau, PhD, is also our Journal Editor. Contact Dr. Lau at Research@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Research Committee Co-Chair: Hsiu-Lan (Shelley) Tien, PhD, Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at the National Taiwan Normal University, earned her doctorate at the University of Iowa and was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Maryland. She has served as Director of the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, Director of the Counseling Center, and Vice director of Student Personnel Services at the National Taiwan Normal University. She has served as president of Taiwan Career Development and Consultation Association, the Taipei Counseling Psychologist Association, and the Asia Pacific Career Development Association. From the National Career Development Association she has earned the awards of International Career Practitioner and Fellow. Contact Dr. Tien at Research@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Area Representatives
Australia Representative: Felicity Brown. You can contact Ms. Brown at Australia@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Azerbaijan Representative: Toghrul Alakbarov is an experienced personal development trainer, coach and mentor. Mr. Alakbarov is currently Head of Career Guidance Sector at State Employment Service of Azerbaijan. As a Fulbright scholar, he did his master’s degree in the field of Workforce Education and Development at Bowling Green State University. Moreover, he got a professional ICF certified coaching education from Adler International Learning. Mr. Alakbarov is passionate about human capacity development and for the last 10 years he has been engaged in plenty of educational, social and community building initiatives throughout Azerbaijan. You can contact Mr. Alakbarov at Azerbaijan@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Bangladesh Representative: Dr. Mohammad Khalid has worked in Business Development, Human Capital Development, and Training and Logistics Management for the last 40 years at home and abroad in Multinational Corporations. He is on the faculty of the MBA & EMBA Program at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Bangladesh and has directed similar academic programs at other institutions. He is also a well-known keynote speaker at national and international conferences. Contact Dr. Khalid at Bangladesh@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Cambodia Representative: Somaly Leap, a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and Performance Management Coach, Behavioral and Career Development Consultant, and Human Resources Management Specialist, has over 10 years’ experience working for NGOs, banking, and trading companies in human resource management. She holds a master’s degree in Management from National University of Management (NUM), Phnom Penh. Currently, she is a professor in faculty of management at NUM, Head of HR at TB-Group, and a Training Committee Member of the Talent Excellence Development Partner Co, LTD. Contact Ms. Leap at Cambodia@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Canada Representative: Lorraine Godden, PhD, is an adjunct Assistant Professor at both Queen’s and Yorkville Universities where she teaches policy, leadership, and adult education courses on bachelor of education and masters programs. Dr. Godden’s research is rooted in understanding how educators interpret policy and curriculum to make sense of career and life planning, work-integrated-learning, adult learning, school-to-work transition, and other educational multidisciplinary and public policies. Her research has been published in national and international journals and conferences, and she has successfully completed many collaborative, empirical, and community-based research projects that have informed theory, policy, and practice-based initiatives. Dr. Godden currently serves on the Board of Representatives of CERIC and was a Member of Team Canada for the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (2017-2019). Contact Dr. Godden at Canada@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
China
East China Representative: Ivy Liao is the lead of PAC International Education Group. She combines the NCDA curriculum and training systems and PAC. She has nearly 30 years of professional psychological assessment scale development experience, and Chinese career education practice experience to create a Chinese career development consultant training certification system (CD Program); in various provinces with the joint support of the Municipal Education Commission, Bureau of Education, Education College, school leaders and other educational leaders. Contact Ms. Liao at EastChina@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Hong Kong Representative: Fred Wu is a certified career facilitator and registered corporate and personal coach, specializing in career coaching, personal development and mindfulness. He has over 15 years of experience in talent development and coaching. He has coached over 1000 clients, from Junior Grade to Senior Directors, to unleash their potential and to facilitate mindset transformation. Currently, he is working as a Careers and Employability Consultant with a local University. Prior to his consultancy, he served as the team lead for Staff Career Development in a thriving local enterprise boasting approximately 1500 employees. Fred holds a Master’s Degree in Professional Accounting and a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering. Contact Mr. Wu at HongKong@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Macau Representative: Jacinta Ho is the Founder and Managing Director of JC Human Resources Consulting, awarded the “Best HR Consultancy Firm” in Macau by the Global Brands Magazine from UK. She has more than 20 years of expertise in Macau’s hospitality industry and retail sector and is a regular speaker at local and overseas universities, NGOs and corporations on career matters and human resources policies and practices. Ms. Ho holds a Master of Business Administration in Management & Finance from Chaminade University of Honolulu. She is President of the Macau GBAHR Association, Vice President of the Association of Macau Philippines Employment Agencies, Chief Supervisor of China Macau & Portugal (Macau) Tourism and Commodity Exchange Promotion Association, and formerly the Chair of the Human Resources Committee at the British Chamber of Commerce in Macao. Contact Ms. Ho at Macau@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
North China Representative: Chunyu Li is currently a partner at New Elite Development Program in Beijing, China and a distinguished expert of Chinese Ministry of Education. He graduated from the Chinese Academy of Science at Peking University and was a former counselor at Capital Normal University for 5 years. He joined NEDP in 2010 as a College Business Department Director. As a host of NEDP, he worked on the 2018 APCDA conference in China with Tsinghua University. Having developed more than 10 training programs of career development, he has trained more than 10,000 career development facilitators, which come from 1000 Universities in China. Contact Mr. Li at NorthChana@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
- South China Representative: Elisabeth Montgomery, Ph.D. See her description above under Program Co-Chair. Contact Dr. Montgomery at SouthChina@AsiapacificCDA.org.
Taiwan Representative: Chao-Mei Chiang, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University, is a licensed and registered counseling psychologist in Taiwan and has over ten years of clinical practice and supervision. Dr. Chiang’s research interests include: (a) multicultural, social justice, and counseling psychology training, (b) violence and trauma issues, and (c) intersections between gender and socio-cultural contexts. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Chiang provides supervision and consultation for guidance counselors, who work at elementary and junior high schools, and counseling psychologists. Contact Ms. Chiang at Taiwan@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
West China Representative: After over 35 years in organization development building participative management cultures in the USA, UK, Europe and China, Dr. Brian Schwartz founded Suzhou Success Partners Consulting Company (social entrepreneurship model) in China in 2013 to provide employment readiness training and assessment to youth and consulting services to companies and government agencies throughout China. Dr. Schwartz has developed online tools to assess career fit and talent management strategies for individuals and organizations using CareerDNA, TalentDNA and TeamDNA products and services. He is currently working on projects in Singapore, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Canada, India, Vietnam and Australia. He specializes in training career counselors and coaches, career and executive assessments, career and life design counseling/planning/management, career coaching, talent management consulting, executive coaching, organization development consulting and career transition counseling. Contact Dr. Schwartz at WestChina@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
India
North India Representative: Ms. Malavika Kishore has over 20 decades of experience in K-12 schools and administration. She started her career with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a documentation assistant and thereafter moved to schools as a counselor and librarian. She is currently working with a residential school catering to tribal students in Chatisgarh. She is a member of National Career Service, and Indian Library Association. Ms. Kishore has done double master’s in chemistry, Library Science and Information Technology. Contact Ms. Malavika Kishore at NorthIndia@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
South India: Rahul Nair, is a Lifologist, Occupational Psychologist and an Organizational Development Professional with over more than 12 years of intensive experience in Organizational Development industry. Have coached and mentored senior managers and top officials of MNCs. Corporate houses, Governmental Agencies and brought out tremendous positive results. Mr. Nair is the Representative – Technology and Academics to Lifology.com, a Guinness World Record Holding organisation. Contact Mr. Nair at SouthIndia@AsiapacificCDA.org.
Indonesia Representative: William Gunawan, Ph.D., CLC, is a Senior Lecturer with more than 15 years of experience in Counseling, Coaching, and Training. He is a strong research professional with an S3 focused on Career Development from Griffith University, Australia and an S2 focused on Educational Psychology from the University of Indonesia. Dr. Gunawan has a special interest in Career Development and acts as a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology, Krida Wacana Christian University (UKRIDA). Dr. Gunawan is also the founder and chairman of the Center for Career Development and Assessment (CCDA). Contact Dr. Gunawan at Indonesia@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Japan Representative: Yoshinobu Ooi, MBA, CDA, is a freelance career development support and management consultant. After obtaining a master's degree in electronic information engineering from Toyama Prefectural University, he worked continuously for over 20 years at a Japanese telecommunications company. Mr. Ooi acquired CDA qualification when assigned to the HR department in charge of new employee training and supported a wide range of people from career development for university students to company employees He is a member of the Japan Career Development Association. Contact Mr. Ooi at Japan@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Kazakhstan Representative: Gaini Yessembekova, Director of the Career and Advising Center of Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, has over 25 years of experience in higher education. She earned a master's degree in Educational Leadership and Management from the University of Warwick, the United Kingdom. As director of the career center, she promotes lifelong skills through workshops and professional development programs to prepare students for a world of increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. She is currently working towards the expansion of cooperation with potential employers and companies, broad interaction with schools to inform on labor market trends, and establishing a National Association of Career Centers. Contact Ms. Yessembekova at Kazakhstan@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Korea Representative: Bora Lee, PhD, earned her Ph.D. from Penn State University in Human Development and Family Studies. She is currently an associate professor at Korea University. Her research interests revolve around work, family, and gender. Questions that Dr, Lee is particularly interested in are the role of family contexts in youth’s career development, why the world of work is gendered, and how men and women navigate their work and family lives. Contact Dr. Lee at Korea@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Malaysia Representative: Baktiar Hasnan is President of the National Career Development Centre Association (NACDA Malaysia) and a Career Advisor at Multimedia University (MMU) Career Connect with 20 years of experiences in leadership training, career coaching, and personal development at various universities. He earned a Bachelor of Human Sciences (Honors) in Psychology from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and is a HRDF certified trainer who has completed Nurturing Expert Talent (NEXT) 1.0 - Talent Corp Malaysia Career Counselor Training, NCDA’s Facilitating Career Development Training, as well as Solution Focused Career Coaching. Mr. Hasnan is also a social services provider involved in youth leaders development and social services for various NGOs. Contact Mr. Hasnan at Malaysia@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Nepal Representative: Mohit Jain, Founder of Discover Within, is an International Certified Career Coach who believes in pursuing the soul purpose. He has been working in the field of sustainable development goals, majorly concentrated on SDG 4. In 2019, he attended the World Youth Forum in Egypt is a member of the Global Peace Chain and Global Goodwill Ambassadors. He coaches high school students and undergraduates to discover their career paths. He inspires them to look inward and discover their potential. He loves to dig into people’s perspectives to understand their mindset and nature. He provides direction and meaningful insights through expanding their awareness and level of perception. Contact Mr. Jain at Nepal@AsiapacificCDA.org.
New Zealand Representative: Pratishtha Purohit is the founder and Career strategist at EduventureNZ. In addition she is the Workforce Development Manager with Te Waka, Waikato’s economic development agency. Ms. Purohit proudly serves as a National executive committee member for CDANZ, and is an active board member for Seed Waikato, a dynamic youth community in the mighty Waikato region. Ms. Purohit is a TEDx Speaker, an ICF certified coach, and an Intercultural communication trainer. She holds a master’s in business, a postgraduate in education with scholarships and several qualifications in career development, adult and tertiary education, and workplace training from New Zealand. Contact Ms. Purohit at NewZealand@AsiapacificCDA.org.
Pakistan Representative: Gulnaz Zahid, Ph.D., is the Head of the Department of the Behavioral Sciences at National University of Sciences & Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan. She started her career journey with advocacy in child rights and worked extensively to promote vocational development of out-of-school children. Her postdoc research experience in career guidance from the University of Derby (UK), equipped her with a global perspective on career guidance and research. She has developed a keen interest to explore career development in connection to mental health and well-being. Dr. Zahid continues to uplift the status of career guidance in Pakistan through research, advocacy, and networking. She has published in international journals, initiated campaigns on teacher training in careers education, and supervised students’ research in careers education and intervention. Contact Dr. Zahid at Pakistan@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Philippines Representative: Maryrose Macaraan, is a University Counselor of De La Salle University College of Law. She is a registered guidance counselor, licensed psychometrician and a professional teacher. Currently, the Auditor of Philippine Association of Counselor Education, Research and Supervision, Inc. (PACERS). She was the former chair of the Student’ Career-Industry Linkage and Placement in the University of Santo Tomas. She took her Bachelor's and Master's degree in the University of Santo Tomas and graduated with honors. She loves mentoring the youth in aspects of personal growth and development. Her current research interests include mental health and career development programs for legal education students. Contact Ms. Macaraan at Philippines@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Singapore Representative: Ms. Charlotte George, Singapore Representative, Head of Employment and Student Affairs at Kaplan Singapore and adjunct lecturer at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), has been a professional in Career Development and Planning for almost two decades as a coach in career, transformational coaching, life coaching, transition and coaching for change. Ms. George is passionate about what she does well – working with people, helping them discover themselves, enabling and empowering them. Like her peers, she enjoys a good dose of knowledge exchange and keeping a breast with new happenings within the CD world. She is currently the President Elect of PCDA and hopes to lead the association to the next league. Contact Ms. George at Singapore@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Sri Lanka Representative: Jaliya Rathnayake is a Career Guidance Counselor at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka with 8 years of experience in planning and conducting training and development for youth and employees and 6 years of experience in training and development in government, and corporate sector institutions. He served as President of National Career Guidance Association in Sri Lanka from 2016 to 2022. He earned a Master of Human Resource Management from the University of Kelaniya and a teaching diploma from the National Institute of Education. He is also a certified NLP trainer. He continues to design and improve the training of career practitioners in Sri Lanka. Contact Mr. Rathnayake at Srilanka@asiapacificcda.org.
USA Representative: Jenn Leard, MEd, NCC, is a certified Counselor and Coach with 16+ years of combined consulting industry, career development and higher education experience. She currently serves as Director, Coaching & Education in the Career Development Office at Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. Previously, Jenn served as the Associate Director of Career Advising & Student Engagement at Goucher College, Manager of Career Counseling in the College of Business at Colorado State University, Team Lead with The Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner), and Consultant with Rich Feller & Associates. She earned her Masters of Education from Colorado State University in Education and Human Resource Studies, Counseling and Career Development specialization. Jenn is inspired to empower people across all stages of career development and transition to strategically navigate and thrive in the changing, global world of work. Contact Mrs. Leard at USA@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Vietnam Representative: Phoenix Ho, Founder and CEO of Song An Career Development Social Enterprise, was raised by traditional Vietnamese parents and influenced by educator mentors in the Bay Area of California, USA. She completed a Bachelor of International Business in the US, Master of Educational Leadership and Management in Australia, and Master of Career Development Counseling in the US. Ms Ho has trained herself to become bilingual and bicultural in Vietnamese and American cultures. Her career development journey took 12 years to discover her current career. As a result, her passion is to enable young Vietnamese discover their motivated skills and find a suitable career. Ms Ho’s current projects include creating a career assessment tool for Vietnamese youth and building a Dictionary of Occupational Titles in Vietnam. She wishes to achieve those goals by working closely with local community associations, business entities, and government offices. Contact Ms. Ho at Vietnam@AsiaPacificCDA.org
Staff
Marilyn Maze, PhD, Executive Director, has organized the annual APCDA Conference since its inception, conducted numerous research projects on hot labor market and career counseling issues, and presented at international conferences. Dr. Maze received NCDA's Eminent Career Award in 2022, became an NCDA Fellow in 2017, NCDA's President’s Award in 2016, and the NCDA Credentialing Commission Service Award in 2016. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland Career Development Association in 2010. Dr. Maze formerly developed the ACT Profile (previously called DISCOVER). Contact Dr. Maze at Info@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Emily Rose L. Lizada, Administrator, is a Career Advisor in the Office of Placement and Career Services at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines since 2011. She is a licensed Psychometrician. Emily is a recipient of Excellence Award for Professionals in Ateneo de Manila University for school year 2017-2018. She is an active professional and formator in Ateneo serving as Retreat Guide in the Office of Campus Ministry and core team member/Homeroom Adviser for Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Tradition (InTACT) – formation subject for first year students. Emily worked as Guidance Counselor and Student Activity Coordinator at John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University from 2001 to 2011. She finished her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and MA Ed Psychology and Guidance (completed academic requirements) at the University of San Agustin. Contact Ms. Lizada at Info@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Arun Mittal, Executive Administrator, is a management consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the education industry, where he has worked on Business Development, Strategic Planning, and New Market Development. In 2020, Mr. Mittal established the National Program on Career Awareness (NPOCA), a social initiative to encourage career education in Indian schools. Over 600 schools and 30,000 Indian students are supported by the effort across Asia. Mr. Mittal is an alumnus of Delhi University and the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. Contact Mr. Mittal at Info@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Grace Koamesah, Administrative Assistant, graduated from Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, Indonesia with a degree in Psychology. She coordinated the 2022 APCDA Conference as an intern. She has worked as a teaching assistant in Quantitative Research Methodology in Universitas Ciputra Surabaya. In 2019, she was a psychologist assistant who helped in the process of both cognitive and personality assessments in Universitas Ciputra Psychological Services Center (UCPSC). Grace has an interest in exploring clinical psychology and career development through research and practices around the world. Contact Grace at Info@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Mr. Tuan Anh Le is the Website Editor and is described above under the Awards Committee.