Career Development Practitioners Board Directors

Gillian Johnston

Gillian Johnston

CCDP, Director, CDPCBO
[email protected]

Gillian has worked in the field of career development since 1977 as a counsellor, counselling coordinator, Ontario regional counselling consultant and counsellor educator. She is the past Coordinator of the Career and Work Counsellor Programme and Career Development Practitioners graduate certificate at George Brown College and currently is a part time professor. As a Director of CDPCBO, Gillian is engaged in assessing applications for certification for Ontario CDPs, delivering Ethics and Career Development Theory training and representing CDPCBO and its members across the province.

Gillian has been actively involved in the creation of the new National Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners as a member of the National Stakeholder Committee and the National Certification Steering Committee. In addition, she was one of the four-member team creating the new National Code of Ethics for CDPs.  She was the Ontario representative on the creation of the National Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners from 1998-2002 and from 2010-2011 worked on the addition of Diversity standards and guidelines. She was co-founder and co-chair of the Ontario Alliance Career Development Practitioners from its inception to 2002.

Gillian has been a well-respected leader in the field regionally and internationally and has been awarded numerous honours including the National Career Development Association (USA) International Award for her work in introducing the profession in the United Arab Emirates.

Gayle Takahashi

Gayle Takahashi

[email protected]

Gayle has been involved in the Career Practitioner field for over 3 decades. She worked for over 30 years in the Federal government department (HRSDC) dealing with employment counselling and programming. Roles included counsellor, supervisor, manager and counsellor educator.

Since 1992 she has been involved with the Career and Work Counsellor Program at George Brown College where roles have included teaching and assessing students in the Diploma Program as well as staff of external agency partners. She is the former Coordinator of the Program, retiring in September 2014. In addition, she is serving on the Board of Directors, ACCES Employment and chairs their People Committee.

Zana Dragovich

[email protected]

Zana Dragovich championed projects of substantial scope and complexity related to economic and LM integration of individuals and businesses, by conceptualizing and growing essential, career-related services into high quality, full swing, highly responsive and sustainable operations. Zana plays a recognized role in the industry of talent engagement and employability enhancement, and continuously advances processes, tools, and strategies. She specializes in accreditation and qualification information, professional recognition and sector-specific alternative solutions. Zana is a Certified PLAR/RPL Practitioner and Portfolio Advisor, Certified in Adult Learning, Expert in Enterprise Case Management, and in Comprehensive Needs Assessment for Spectrum of Different Learning Abilities. At present, she is the Chair of the Board of Association of Career Professionals International – Toronto Chapter.

Lorraine Katanik

Lorraine Katanik

Acting Director

[email protected]

Lorraine Katanik holds a diploma in Career Counselling from George Brown College and has over 30 years of managerial experience in the not-for-profit and private sectors.

Lorraine has worked in the sector from frontline through to program management. During the last fifteen years developing resources, tools and professional development opportunities that support the skill enhancement of staff and managers in the sector. She is a member of the steering committee of the Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD), the Career Development Practitioners Certification Board of Ontario (CDPCBO) and has served as the Provincial Co-Chair of the Ontario Alliance of Career Development Practitioners (OACDP). In 2008 Lorraine was recognized for her leadership and dedication to the sector as the first recipient of the George Brown College Crystal Leadership Award.

David Hurlbut

[email protected]

David is a graduate of the Career and Work Counsellor Diploma program at George Brown College and holds a Master of Arts Education: Community College from Central Michigan University.

Over the past 20 years, David has worked in the not-for-profit and the private sectors with most of his career in the post secondary field at George Brown. While at the college, David had the great fortune to try on many hats including Career Advisor, Accessibility Consultant, Professor and in Management.

A reoccurring theme in David’s work is the support of people with disabilities. For his last two years at George Brown, David was assigned to the Work Integration Learning project and was the lead developer of a college wide system to better support students with disabilities moving into field placement. Over the course of his career David also served a three-year term with the MTCU Committee representing the OCCE, Postsecondary Advisory Committee on Disability Issues (PACDI) Chair Elect, Central Regional Chair, and active member of the Ontario College of Career Educators (OCCE).

Since retiring in 2021, David has volunteered at Woodgreen Community Services and with Able Sail Toronto. David is thrilled to now be a part of the CCDP Advisory Committee during these exciting times.