Career Development Practitioners Advisory Committee Members
Trish McNamara
CCS, CCDP
Trish McNamara has been in the education and employment sector for over 25 years. For the last 11 years, Trish works for KEYS Job Centre a not-for-profit, charitable organization as the Program Manager for the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark area. Trish is the Eastern Ontario Ambassador for Career Professionals of Canada. Trish was honoured to be awarded the Career Professionals of Canada Award of Excellence 2017 Winner for Outstanding Volunteer Contributor and most recently the 2018 Award of Excellence Honourable Mention for Outstanding Volunteer Team for the CPC Ambassador Team.
Some of Trish’s Board experience includes President of the 1000 Islands Gananoque Chamber of Commerce and Director on the 1000 Island Community Development Corporation.
Trish is very passionate about assisting our sector in moving forward to standardized professional certification and is honoured to join the CDPCBO Advisory Committee.
Brad Whitehorn
BA, CCDP
Brad Whitehorn, BA, CCDP is the Sales & Marketing coordinator at CLSR Inc. He was thrown into the career development field headfirst after completing a Communications degree in 2005 at York University, and hasn’t looked back! Since then, Brad has acquired certificates in Social Media (Algonquin College), and Employment Services (Dalhousie University). As well, he has worked on the development, implementation, and certification for various career and personality assessments including Personality Dimensions®, making sure that Career Development Practitioners get the right tools to best serve their clients.
Ledianis Rivero-Sosa
CCDP
Ledianis Rivero-Sosa is a career development professional with 10 years of experience working in the field. She’s currently the Manager of Client Service at World Skills Employment Centre, an immigrant-serving agency that has been supporting newcomer integration in the local labour market for over 20 years. Ledianis is originally from Cuba where she obtained a B.A. majoring in English Translation and Interpretation. The common denominator of her over 20-year career has been client and stakeholder relations, combined with strong administrative and communications skills in her various roles in Cuba and in Canada, where she landed in 2009.
A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Ledianis went on to complete three post-graduate diplomas in Foreign Trade, Hospitality Management, and Communications and Public Relations from 1999 to 2006. In Canada, she continued pursuing her passion for learning and graduated with a Management Certificate for Women from Carleton University in 2017. She has also completed multiple courses on Cross-Cultural Competency and Career Development. She became a Certified Career Development practitioner in 2018. Ledianis is a strong believer in the power of communication to connect with others and make the world a better place.
Sahri Woods Baum
M.Ed.
Sahri began her career as a counsellor at McGill University. For the past 43 years she worked as a personal and career counsellor at Ryerson University, before retiring in 2019. Sahri is a past co-chair of the Ontario Alliance of Career Development Practitioners (OACDP) as well as past co-chair of the Canadian Career Information Association (CCIA).
Honours received by Sahri include the 1998 Ontario College Counsellors Career Development Award bestowed by the Ontario College Counsellors Association; in 2011 the Ryerson University Counsellor Award and the Ryerson Faculty Association Career Achievement Award in 2016. Sahri has a long-standing interest in the area of ethics and ethical conduct as it pertains to the career development field.
Tracey Lloyd
PhD
Tracey is the Director of Career Services and Co-operative Education at Centennial College. Tracey has over 25 years of experience in career education and employment services, working in both the nonprofit and postsecondary sectors. She currently oversees career education programming and employer relations, and also co-chairs the College’s Graduate Employment Committee.
Prior to joining Centennial, Tracey was the Director of Employment Programs at Tropicana Community Services – a nonprofit organization that provides a range of services for youth, newcomers and members of the Black and Caribbean communities. She also taught in the Career and Work Counselling program at George Brown College. Currently, she serves on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committees of Experiential and Work-Integrated Learning Ontario (EWO) and Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL).
Tracey believes that career education is a social imperative that has the potential to transform lives, helping people realize possibilities for themselves in the world of work.
Krystyna Zamko
BA, CCDP
Krystyna holds a Career & Work Counsellor Diploma from George Brown College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from OCAD/Guelph and has over 22 years experience in employment services in the nonprofit sector.
Her career in employment counselling was the result of one door closing in order for another door to be opened! After graduating from university, she enjoyed several very different yet equally fulfilling positions as a Graphic Designer, Residential Real Estate Salesperson, independent business-owner (both in the transportation industry and fast food sector), along with being a self-taught culinarian having worked as a Pastry Cook in upscale restaurants and a 4-star hotel, while also working evenings as gig-worker in the catering sector.
Unfortunately, a workplace injury resulted in her having to close her culinary chapter, and move on to a new career … which ultimately has been the most rewarding career of them all! Her commitment to this industry motivated her to become certified as a Career Development practitioner in 2016.
She currently is employed as a Career Specialist with Achēv (formerly The Centre for Education & Training) for the past 11 years, along with having worked in the same capacity with Humber Employment Services and Community Microskills Development Centre. Along with having experience working remotely with internationally trained jobseekers by providing job search coaching support prior to their immigration to Canada, Krystyna currently enjoys supporting local jobseekers with finding gainful employment in line with their financial and career trajectory needs.
Laura Ducharme
MA, CCDP, OCT, RISIA, OAMHP(cert.)
Laura has applied her degree in education and graduate degree in developmental psychology to support the success of persons with disabilities, students, and career seekers. Her diverse experience for the past 20 years has included gratifying work in developmental services, education, psychometry, and counselling.
For the past several years, Laura has held student advising positions at the University of Windsor in the Career Development and Co-operative Education departments providing career advising and assessment, employment readiness, as well as the design and instruction of a professional communication course for internship students. She is currently an International Student Advisor at UWindsor where she has developed a student mentor program to facilitate students’ transition to Canada. She also continues to provide career and academic counselling in private practice offering career assessment to clients seeking post-secondary pathways and career exploration. To expand her service to students, she recently completed an Online Course Design and Delivery certificate from Algonquin College.
Laura has previously enjoyed service as a Board Member and Chair of Certification for the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals (OAMHP) and looks forward to further contribution to promote the career services sector.
Norm Wiseman
CCDP
Norm is the Director of Employment Services at Pathways Employment Help Centre in London, Ontario, leading a group of Employment Advisors. Norm is a Certified Career Development Practitioner and has over 16 successful years’ experience in the employment sector. Over the course of his career, Norm has spent time coaching clients toward reaching their educational and career goals at Pathways, Community Employment Choices, and Ivey Business School at Western University. Norm has also spent time consulting with non-profit organizations, assisting them with strategic planning, program evaluations, and grant writing.
Norm’s passion for career coaching came out of his own unemployment journey. He understood the frustrations and difficulty of job searching independently, and began to learn about the support that was available as well as the techniques and strategies needed to be successful in marketing one’s skills and successfully engaging with employers. Leveraging his transferrable skills from years of coaching adolescents and facilitating various training sessions, Norm found an opportunity within the employment sector and hasn’t looked back.
Andrew Bassignthwaighte
M.A., CCDP
Possessing over 20 years of transatlantic career development experience, Andrew has worked with individuals across a variety of contexts, including post-secondary institutes. For the last 8 years, he has worked in several roles at Brock University with the Co-op, Career and Experiential Education Department including his most recent role as Manager: Goodman Career.
Andrew is passionate about the Career Development field, and in addition to numerous articles and workshops he has been a part of to support CDP’s in their professional development, he is also an instructor with Conestoga College’s Career Development Professional Program. He is excited to join the CDPCBO Advisory Board and is looking forward to the future of the CDP field within Ontario and Canada.
In addition to his work with CDPCBO, Andrew also regularly volunteers his time as President of the Board of Directors for CMHA-Niagara and as Staff Co-Chair for the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Decolonization at Brock University.
Joyce Horne
CCDP
As the Employment Services Coordinator for Goodwill Industries in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, and a committed Career Development Practitioner, I specialize in guiding and supporting individuals to develop clear goals for successful employment within their chosen career paths. My expertise encompasses a robust understanding of human services, labour market research, developmental abilities, and the essential tools required to prepare individuals for the workforce or facilitate their transition to a second career.
I acquired my interest in becoming a Career Development Practitioner through my own career progression. Starting out in the skilled trades as a licensed Journey Person, moving to the school system as a Developmental Service Worker, then onto an Unregulated Care Provider within a retirement home along with my current role as Employment Services Coordinator, I am appreciative of what I have learned and the people I have met along the way who have greatly impacted my own career.
Adopting a client-centered approach, I am dedicated to empowering individuals with knowledge that not only prepares them for employment but also utilizes their strengths and existing skills to strive for a positive experience in their new position. I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with outstanding community and ministry leading organizations contributing to a comprehensive approach that establishes a strong foundation of support for every job seeker.
Working for Goodwill Industries Ontario Great Lakes Career Centre has provided me with the support to grow professionally and personally. My passion is assisting individuals to recognize their untapped potential, while guiding them in formulating achievable plans to pursue their desired careers.
Having completed Career Development Practitioner Certification in October of 2018, I value and understand the important part we play in the many lives we touch. As an enthusiastic member of CDPCBO Advisory Committee, I am looking forward to supporting our sector, not only in Ontario, but throughout Canada as we work towards National Certification.