CAREER NIGHT PRESENTED BY THE SPELMAN COLLEGE ENGLISH CLUB
Featuring Diverse Industry Leaders
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ESSENTIAL CAREER PREP RESOURCES
PLUS Networking Do's
Program The Spelman College English Club welcomes you to career night! Our theme, “What can you do with an English major,” will be explored through the diverse professional experiences of our featured guests.
We are indebted to Judge JaDawnya C. Butler, Kimberly Haynes, Erica Knight, Melissa Landman, Lisa Niles, and Alina Mitchell, whose expertise will be an asset to Spelman students as they inquire about potential ways to discuss and pursue various uses of the English major.
This packet offers you access to our speaker’s biographies and contact information, as well a few handouts with useful suggestions for networking to cultivate meaningful relationships in the process of learning how to effectively contribute to a profession.
7:30-9ish Introduction and Overview of the Evening................................................................Calaya Reid
Guest Introductions and a Conversation Starter..............................................Deanna Koretsky
Name three challenges involving your profession that motivate you to get out of bed everyday Panelist Response (3-5 minutes/per speaker)
*Networking Reception*
An electronic version of this program is available via: http://goo.gl/r2MLGu This Program was Designed by: Alexandria Lockett, Ph.D.
Contents YOUR GUIDE TO CAREER STRATEGY
4 Invited Guest Profiles
Check out the inspirational biographies of this evening's featured guests representing diverse fields including law, politics, business, publishing, education, and writing.
13 100 'Major' Resources These websites, which include professional organizations, job search, training information, and portfolio builders, will accelerate your career preparation and planning.
15 8 Networking Do's You've heard all the networking don'ts, but what are you going to do about it? These eight tips for networking do's will help you make meaningful relationships
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Spelman Class of 2001
JUDGE BUTLER The youngest judge to serve on the Atlanta Municipal Court Bench
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PROFILE
JADAWNYA C. BUTLER A PROUD GRADUATE OF SPELMAN COLLEGE WHERE SHE EARNED A BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH AND HISTORY
Judge JaDawnya C. Butler was appointed to the Atlanta Municipal Court by Mayor Kasim Reed on March 20, 2015, making her the 9th and youngest judge on the Atlanta Municipal Court Bench. Prior to her appointment, Judge Butler served for over four years in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office as a Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney in the following divisions: Community Prosecution, Complex Trial, Public Integrity and Crimes Against Women & Children. Beforehand, Judge Butler started her own boutique practice immediately following law school and served the greater Atlanta community as a solo-practitioner with The Butler Law Group, L.L.C. for five years.
Judge Butler served as President of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (“GABWA”) in 2012. She is the founder of GABWA’s national awardwinning Judicial & Public Office Academy and Trial Masters Boot Camp. In the past, Judge Butler served the community as the leader of the Perkerson Elementary Reading Program, a program founded by the Gate City Bar Association’s Judicial Section to mentor third grade boys through weekly lunchtime reading sessions.
Judge Butler is a proud graduate of Spelman College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and History in 2001 and graduated with honors. Judge Butler received her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law in 2004 where she earned the highest grades in several of her classes and spoke at her law school graduation.
She also volunteered weekly in “Legal Lives” where she taught elementary school students about the legal system and led them in a mock trial competition. In 2012 & 2014 she was named one of Atlanta’s “Top 100 Black Women of Influence” by the Atlanta Business League. She was featured as the cover story for The Daily Report’s 2012 annual attorneys “On the Rise” edition, awarded the 2012 Special Commendation Award by the African Leadership Magazine and named one of Atlanta’s “Top 100 Law Leaders” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In 2012, she was also awarded “Community Prosecutor of the Year” by the Fulton County District Attorney, Mr. Paul L. Howard, Jr.
She is the recipient of The University of Florida’s Black Law Students Association’s 2006 Outstanding Alumni Award. Additionally, Judge Butler is an elected member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors and is a 2008 graduate of the State Bar of Georgia’s Young Lawyers Division’s Leadership Academy.
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Kimberly Haynes
CEO, ATTORNEY Founder and CEO at OMBI Group LLC, Kimberly K. Haynes is among Atlanta’s elite civically engaged leaders within the community. Haynes has nurtured her company into a successful full service nonprofit consulting group, with an expertise in managing professional athletes and entertainers’ nonprofit organizations. 2016 will mark the year that Haynes will expand OMBI Group into a full service sports and entertainment agency, servicing clients in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, Major League Soccer, and Boxing, and the entertainment industry. Haynes is also Principal of Haynes Johnson & Caldwell, LLC, a boutique entertainment law firm handling music, film, television, and literary matters; civil litigation; estate planning and small business needs. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Junior League of Atlanta, Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, National Alumnae Association of Spelman College, and Georgia and Louisiana Bar Associations, Haynes continues to uphold the foundation in which she was raised. Born into a family of entrepreneurs, raised by philanthropic parents, Haynes developed a natural passion for giving back, she coins “Giving Gracefully.” Haynes received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Spelman College and graduated with a Juris Doctor from Tulane University School of Law.
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ERICA KNIGHT Program Director, Technical Writer Erica L. Knight is a successful program director and technical writer. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Erica came to Georgia upon being accepted to Clark Atlanta University. After matriculating from undergraduate and graduate school, Erica worked for her alma mater as a Thesis and Dissertation Editor. In this capacity she was heavily involved in assisting graduate students complete their program and as a result harnessed an interest in encouraging more minorities to pursue higher education.
Erica is highly civically engaged and is an active member of: The National Council of Negro Women Greater Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter, The APEX Society, Sigma Tau Delta National English Honor Society Alumni Epsilon Chapter, The National Association of Graduate Admission Professionals, Clark Atlanta University Alumni Association, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, Atlanta Suburban Alumnae Chapter where she serves on the executive board. Erica has received several accolades for her humanitarian efforts and dedication to excellence, including, the Power 30 Under 30 Award for the state of Georgia, 2011 Atlanta Black Girls Rock Award, inclusion in Cambridge’s and Montclair’s Who’s Who Among Professionals and Executives, Soror Service with a Heart Award, and finalist in the 2009 L’Oreal Woman of Worth Award. As an advisor of her initiation chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated (Sigma Chapter),
Currently as overseer of Graduate Relations at Spelman College, Erica has assisted several hundred (underrepresented) women in being accepted to graduate or professional school, with the majority being funded to attend. More notably, during her short tenure in Career Planning and Development, she has negotiated articulation agreements, memorandums of understanding, and feeder program agreements totaling beyond 5.5 million dollars in tuition assistance for Spelman women.
Erica is constantly reminded of the importance of mentorship during the collegiate stages of life. She foresees a long career in academia and is interested in serving in multiple facets of the field. In her limited spare time, Erica enjoys traveling to the Caribbean, sampling various cuisines, attending trunk shows, and fellowshipping with friends and family.
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Deanna Koretsky www.deannakoretsky.com PROFESSOR
Dr. Koretsky is an Assistant Professor of English at Spelman College, specializing in eighteenth-century and Romantic literature, with further interests in political and legal theory, the black Atlantic, feminist history and theory, and critical pedagogy. She completed her Ph.D. in English at Duke University, with certificates in Feminist Studies and College Teaching.
At Duke, she was also a Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, a PhD Lab in Digital Knowledge Scholar, and a recipient of the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her current book project, The Rights of Death: Suicide and the Bounds of Liberalism in the Romantic Era, traces the epistemological significance of the concept of suicide through Enlightenment liberalism and the radical literary genres that engaged with it at the turn of the nineteenth century, including the Jacobin novel, the slave narrative, and abolitionist poetry. PAGE 8
Parts of this work have been recognized with awards from the International Conference on Romanticism and the North American Society for the Study of Romanticism. As a corollary to her literary project, She is also interested in how these developments continue to inform contemporary public policy narratives on suicide education and prevention -- an investigation informed, in part, by her outreach work as a crisis counselor with The Trevor Project, the leading national organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth.
Melissa Landman Publishing Assistant
Melissa Landman graduated in 2013 from Georgia State University with a Bachelor's in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. She went on to get her Master's in Publishing at New York University. After interning at Scholastic and Peachtree Publishers, she currently works full-time at Peachtree Publishers in Atlanta, GA as a Conference Coordinator and Publishing Assistant.
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Language Arts Teacher, Author, and Activist
ALINA MITCHELL
Alina Mitchell is currently a Middle School Language Arts Instructor in Atlanta, GA. She is also the Founder of the Enrichment through Science, Mathematics, Athletics and Research Training (ESMART) Academy, a year-round STEAM enrichment program for 2nd-9th grade students. She is working on publishing her first book, The Color of Beauty, a non-fiction chapter book about Ophelia DeVore, the first Black model in the United States of America.
She has a B.A. in English/Professional Writing/Minor in Business Management from Oakwood University and a M.A. in English/M.Ed. Secondary Education from the University of Alabama.
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PROFILE
LISA NILES: BUSINESS EXECUTIVE Lisa Nile earned her PhD in English from Vanderbilt University in 2005.
It's a pretty far leap from teaching Victorian novels!
But that wasn't either the beginning or the end of her story. Lisa has more than 20 years of academic and corporate experience, all of which have led her to her current role as the Director of Operations for World 50, a company that facilitates the most interesting and influential business conversations in the world by providing global executives a private forum for sharing insights on critical issues.
Prior to her role in operations, Lisa had the privilege to teach in Spelman's English Department from 2007 - 2012. She is eager to return to her home department and share her experience with a new group of students!
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Ask her about the challenges of making a major career transition.
From English Professor to Business Executive!
Calaya Reid WRITER, PROFESSOR
Calaya Michelle Reid has published ten contemporary African American novels under the pen name Grace Octavia with Kensington and Harlequin publishing houses. Her witty, insightful fiction, which presents wicked humor and spunk has garnered her sparkling reviews in Essence, Publisher’s Weekly, The Romantic Times, Booklist, Rawsistaz, APOOO and the Urban Reviewers. Her first novel, Take Her Man, was a selection at the 2007 Zora Neale Hurston Literary Conference in Tulsa, Okla. and she received a best new author’s award from the national Real Ladies Read Book Club. A frequent book club selection, it earned her invitations to speak to thousands of readers at the 2008 South Carolina Book Festival and the Delta Sigma Theta national convention. Her second novel, His First Wife, was the first reading selection for the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN), a Black Expressions Book Club selection, May 2008 Essence Magazine bestseller and the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award for the Romantic Times in 2008. Of her fourth novel, Playing Hard to Get, a review in Publisher’s Weekly proclaimed, “Octavia gives Sex and the City a smart Afrocentric update.” Her 2011 release, Should Have Known Better, was selected as a featured read for the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System 2012 adult summer reading program and will be read by groups throughout the public library system. The noted novel was also nominated for the Romantic Times’ 2011 top multicultural fiction novel award. She lives in Atlanta, GA where she teaches writing at Spelman College.
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Job Search, Training, and Outlook Bureau of Labor: www.bls.gov Occupational Outlook Handbook: www.bls.gov/ooh Career Onestop: http://www.careeronestop.org O*Net Career Exploration: www.onetonline.org What Can I do with this Major: whatcanidowiththismajor.com Partnership for Public Service: ourpublicservice.org LGBTQA Networking: www.outprofessionals.org Freelancer's Union: www.freelancersunion.org Student Conservation Association: http://www.thesca.org Millennium Change Corporation: http://www.mcc.gov Comprehensive Job Search: www.indeed.com Industry Data: www.vault.com A Compilation of Career Blogs: careerrocketeer.com/blogroll Federal Jobs: www.makingthedifference.org/federalcareers
Diversity and Inclusion Career Resources A Wealth of Links: www.dartmouth.edu/~csrc/diversity/black.html Diversity Employment: www.quintcareers.com Diversity Job Board: www.diversityworking.com/home LGBTQA Career Exploration: outforwork.com Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement: www.haceonline.org Professional Organizations Art, Design, and Media American Association of Advertising Agencies: www.aaaa.org College Art Association: www.collegeart.org Casting Society of America: www.castingsociety.com Public Relations Society of America: www.prsa.org National Black Public Relations Society: www.nbprs.org Society of Professional Journalists: www.spj.org/students.asp National Association of Black Journalists: www.nabj.org English, Communication, and Writing Studies American Communication Association: www.americancomm.org Association for Teachers of Technical Writing: www.attw.org Association of Writers & Writing Programs: www.awpwriter.org College English Association: cea-web.org College Language Association: www.clascholars.org/ The Linguistics Society of America: www.linguisticsociety.org National Communication Association: www.natcom.org Investigative Reporters and Editors: www.ire.org Electronic Literature Organization: eliterature.org Literary Presses and Magazines: www.clmp.org/index.html Editors, literary agents and publishers: www.authorlink.com Modern Language Association (MLA): www.mla.org National Council for the Teaching of English: www.ncte.org Rhetoric Society of America: rhetoricsociety.org Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages: www.tesol.org Law Comprehensive List of Professional Law Organizations: www.thecre.com/fedlaw/legal91.htm National Association for Law Placement: www.nalp.org Center for Regulatory Effectiveness: thecre.com
100 Essential Career Resources for English Majors
Opportunities for Spelman College English majors are posted almost every single day on the department's Facebook page. www.facebook.com/spelmanenglish
Museums and Libraries American Alliance of Museums: www.aam-us.org American Library Association: www.ala.org American Historical Society: www.historians.org PAGE 13
Industry Specific Information
Build a Professional Portfolio
Communication Careers--PR, Advertising, Marketing, etc. One of the World's Leading PR Publications: www.prweek.com Magazine Careers: www.magazine.org/magazine-careers TV Jobs (Broadcast Employment).: www.tvjobs.com Media Jobs: www.mediabistro.com Music and Radio: www.media-match.com/usa/music Creative Media Jobs: www.creativehotlist.com Fashion Industry Jobs: http://www.stylecareers.com
LinkedIn.com About.com www.moonfruit.com flavors.me www.squarespace.com www.imcreator.com/ www.wix.com www.krop.com http://www.portfoliobox.net www.allyou.net www.wordpress.com http://www.zenfolio.com/ www.brushd.com
Education Chronicle of Higher Education: chroniclevitae.com/job_search/new Higher Education Jobs: www.higheredjobs.com Inside Higher Ed: www.insidehighered.comNational Association for Independent Schools: www.nais.org Jobs in K-12: www.educationamerica.net
40 Occupations
Leadership and Politics Quality DC Leadership Internships: www.twc.edu Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals: www.scip.org Non-Profit Work and Philanthropy Funding Policy Fellowships: idealistcareers.org/fellowship-programs Social Justice Jobs: www.idealist.org Funding for Philanthropists: foundationcenter.org Chronicle of Philanthropy: philanthropy.com/resources Humanitarian Assistance/Crisis Response: www.interaction.org United Nations Opportunities: careers.un.org/lbw/Home.aspx Union Organizing: www.unionsummer.org Nonprofit Jobs and Current Events: citylimits.org Complete Up-to-Date Data on Nonprofits: www.guidestar.org National Council of Nonprofits: www.councilofnonprofits.org Young Non-Profit Professionals Network: www.ynpn.org Nonprofit Times: www.nptimes.com Publishing Children's Book Council: www.cbcbooks.org Publishing Jobs: www.bookjobs.com A Comprehensive List of Publishers: www.writersmarket.com STEM and STEM Advocacy Careers Association for Women in Science: www.awis.org Jobs for the Future: http://www.jff.org STEM Literacy: www.changetheequation.org American Association for the Advancement of Science: www.changetheequation.org Sustainability/Green Jobs Sustainable Leadership: www.ceres.org Environmental Careers: www.eco.org/ Environmental Protection Agency: www2.epa.gov/careers Foundation for Green Development: www.fsdinternational.org Green Jobs: www.ecoemploy.com/jobs and www.greenbiz.com Jobs in National Parks and Resorts: www.coolworks.com Undergraduate Research Opportunities Summer Research Opportunity Programs: https://www.cic.net/students/srop/introduction PAGE 14
Actor Accounts Executive Administrator Advertiser Author Campaign Manager Communications Director Conservation Scientist Content Manager Copy Editor Copywriter Editor Ecologist Engineer Entrepreneur Filmmaker Government Chief Executive Grant Writer Journalist Judge Lawyer Legislator Librarian Lobbyist Marketing Manager Medical Scientist Pharmacist Physician Policy Analyst Producer Professor Publicist Publisher Radio and Television Announcer Researcher Social media Manager Social Worker Teacher Technical Writer Urban Planner www.facebook.com/spelmanenglish
8 NETWORKING DO'S by Dr. Alexandria Lockett
You've probably repeatedly heard what NOT to do when networking. The following list provides you with specific ways that you can practice your communication skills. These networking do's will help you learn how to cultivate a unique approach to the spontaneous, unpredictable process of relationship building.
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INITIATE INTERACTION Walk up to at least five people you don't know at a professional event and introduce yourself with direct eye contact, a firm handshake, and a genuine smile. Establish online connections by including a personal note as part of your social media "friend" and "follow" requests.
Need some professional writing tips about various kinds of networking communication (e.g. asking for letters of recommendation, writing thank you's, emails to professors/employers, and so on)?
CONVERSATION STARTERS
https://goo.gl/eRGidq
Although speech and writing will allow for different kinds of conversation, you'll want to prepare for networking events by developing a list of at least 10 questions that will stimulate information exchange. Ex. What skills did you learn on the job?
http://goo.gl/4Xhp3S
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BE PRESENT EVERYWHERE Networking happens spontaneously, and most often when people aren't deliberately trying to! You can do it anywhere people are. Avoid ear buds, engage space. Grocery stores, taxis/UBER, planes, cafeterias, gyms, etc. present social opportunities.
FOLLOW-UP
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Most people do not follow-up. Therefore, you'll be more memorable if you do. People appreciate being remembered. A follow-up email should acknowledge how you met and identify ways to keep the conversation going--a coffee chat, walk, Skype date, etc.
GOOGLE YOURSELF The pressure to participate in social media, even LinkedIn, makes it much harder to know if discrimination plays a role in the hiring process. Do a quick search of any and all parts of your name and edit accordingly.
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FIND YOUR PROFESSIONAL ORGS Do you know which professional organizations represent your prospective career choices? See pages 13-14 for specific examples. Critically analyze the way these groups seek recognition. Analyze the distinct way this group communicates. What's their jargon? What resources does it offer? Bookmark, add, "like" and "follow" their web presences (listservs, websites, social media) to stay up to date about the group's values and activity. Some groups offer special membership and conference rates and/or funding for undergraduates. .
DIVERSIFY YOUR WEB PRESENCE LinkedIn is not the only professional social network. Test drive some of the portfolio links on pg. 14 to learn additional ways to showcase your work and connect to professionals and future employers with similar interests. Start with About.me
GENEROSITY SPREADS CHANCE Networking is not a matter of success or failure...it is a matter of opportunity. Opportunity increases when humans act generously, sharing "good things." Learning about other's needs and reaching out with a helpful resource tip cultivates trust and good will.
An electronic version of this program is available via: http://goo.gl/r2MLGu
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