It was a pleasure to review our past year’s accomplishments and share them with all in attendance at the 2025 Minnesota Careers Conference on April 25, 2025.  For those who were not there, here is a list of what your MCDA Board volunteers and Administrator have been up to!

ACCOMPLISHMENTS in 2024-2025

1.New Website, New communications Email platform, and New membership database.

It seems a website refresh (or overhaul in this case) and updating technology platforms is needed every 5-6 years.  I thank our Website Committee members for their input and advice during key decision-points during this 6-month process:  Beth Johnson (Communications Committee Chair), Fathi Mohamed, LaBarre Spence, Tina Wagner and most importantly, our web-design company, BuildLabs.  Leading us through it all was our project manager, Lisa Kenison!

Please give us grace – if all does not look perfect or function perfectly all the time, know that we are all still learning and doing our best. We may be ‘under construction’ at times!  We appreciate your patience!

2.Some website highlights

For Job Seekers & Organizations Menu – Check out the newly refreshed Career and Job Search Resources page, thanks to Tina Wagner!  Not only are these resources helpful for career practitioners, but feel free to refer your clients to this page directly!

Two additional sections within this menu include:

Find a Career Coach Directory – If you are in private practice and are an up-to-date dues-paying MCDA Member, you can advertise your career coaching/counseling services here.  Simply email us (minncareerdevelopment@gmail.com) and we will add your information.  An improvement, in addition to the look, is that we are showcasing the way services are delivered:  Remote or In-Person. 

Feel free to refer potential career clients here!  This page shows up in many Google searches!

Find a Trainer = NEW!  This is a resource for nonprofit organizations and businesses.  Many of us in this field are also skilled trainers, specifically around career-related topics.  Therefore, I thought organizations would appreciate a way to find us.  Now we have a formal place where those who are up-to-date dues-paying MCDA Members can add their availability as a trainer to organizations.  Simply email us (minncareerdevelopment@gmail.com) with information similar to profiles here and we will add your information.  

When we receive inquiries, we will refer organizations to this list.  We’d like some more names here before we actively market this to businesses and nonprofit organizations, so please add yours!

3.Fall 2024 Professional Development Event – 

Held in November 2024 at St. Paul College (thank you, Sheryl Saul, for hosting us and co-planning this!), our topic was Minnesota’s Labor Market and AI’s impact on workplaces. Guest Speaker Tim O’Neill from Minnesota DEED (Department of Employment and Economic Development) provided valuable information and our discussion brought new insights about the healthy state of Minnesota’s labor market.  If you missed, read the Blog article recap, or Login to view the video.  (Should be posted in June.)

4.New membership category:  Organizational (for 3+ staff)    To expand discounted membership rate options, we have added a category for organizations to help three or more staff enjoy Member-rates and all the benefits of membership in our organization.

5.LinkedIn Minnesota Career Development Association Group 

Please Join if you are not yet connected with us!

As we are not supplying a spot within our website for job postings, we’re encouraging our Members and organizations that employ career professionals to post their job openings within our Minnesota Career Development Association LinkedIn Group.  

This Group is also a great place to share your achievements, ask questions of your fellow career colleagues, let us know about your availability and career transitions, and of course, expand your network here!

This summer and early fall will bring Board elections and solicitations for Committee members and chairs, plus a member vote on new Bylaws!  More to come!!

Happy Summer 2025, 

Jennifer Rogers

2024-2025 MCDA President