Chip Lankert is a Talent Recruiter with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where in develops relationships with FEMA staff sections and people in career transition to find the best fit for both.  He has also worked  in the Office of the Chief Security Officer at FEMA where he served as the Staff Assistant to the Personnel Security Division Director and served as a Public Trust Clearance adjudicator determining eligibility for fitness and suitability of Federal employees and government contractors during steady state and disaster operations.  Additionally, he completed a successful detail to the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Intelligence Unit (HSTIU) at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an Intelligence Operations Specialist (GS-0132-13) providing intelligence support through comprehensive threat analysis.

Chip received his Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies from Excelsior College and his Masters in Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Amy Kass specializes in the areas of coaching, advising, training, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations for a variety of social service organizations.

Her training experience includes health promotion, interpersonal communication, interviewing, performance management, assertiveness skills for managers, and cultural orientation programs. She has used her foreign language and cross-cultural skills to serve as an advocate for ethnically and culturally diverse populations in universities, hospitals, international business, and the non-profit sector.

As a part-time Volunteer Coordinator for a dynamic nonprofit, Court Watch Montgomery, Amy is responsible for the recruitment, training, and retention of volunteers. Court Watch reduces intimate partner violence in Maryland by ensuring victims have access to responsive justice in the court system to stop the abuse. She finds it rewarding to recruit and build relationships with volunteers whose values and skills are in alignment with the mission of the organization.

Amy holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Development and Training from John Hopkins University. Having worked in the human resources field, she now serves as a job interview coach and resume writer for her business, ASK (Amy S. Kass) for Insight. She also facilitates a job club support group for the Career Gateway program under the auspices of the Jewish Council for the Aging in Rockville, MD whose objective is to provide workshops for job seekers over the age of fifty. Her passion is helping job seekers apply transferrable skills to rebrand themselves, think outside the box and discover meaningful employment opportunities they may not have envisioned previously.

Bob Levey is a prize-winning journalist who has covered the Washington scene since the Johnson Administration. For 23 years, he wrote a daily column, “Bob Levey’s Washington,” for The Washington Post.

Katherine Ponds has a diverse background that encompasses leadership roles in for-profit, non-profit, and public sector organizations. With over 20 years in the career and talent management sector, Ms. Ponds currently serves as Executive Vice President for Meridian Resources Inc., a career and talent management consulting firm, overseeing product development, marketing, and relationship management. In addition to her professional career, Ms. Ponds also serves as a volunteer Community Ambassador and Speaker’s Bureau representative for AARP. In this capacity, she represents AARP at various community events where she frequently speaks on a variety of topics including, job search and career development for individuals 50 years of age and older. The insights and expertise Ms. Ponds brings to AARP reflect not only her knowledge and expertise associated with talent and career management, but also her personal experience as a volunteer board member for a variety of non-profit organizations, including the Military Officers Association of America Foundation Board.

Contact:

Katherine Ponds

Keponds.kp@gmail.com

Michelle Press Rubin, JD, BCC is an attorney who recognized early on that her joy comes from helping people reach their goals by identifying and unlocking their underlying strengths and passions. After close to ten years of practicing law and working with more than 1,000 clients, she discovered that connecting with people is what really fuels her. Michelle loves finding creative solutions to help people solve complex problems, often by motivating clients to figure out what they really want and how to achieve their goals. 

 After practicing law for a number of years to raise her children, Michelle noticed that many of her peers were similarly situated – stuck in roles or career paths that were unfulfilling.  Many either wanted to pivot their career path or reenter the workforce after a short or lengthy career pause (often after raising children or other caregiving roles). This led her to create an informal career support group where all brainstormed about ways to help each other achieve the necessary momentum to embrace change and identify and pursue fulfilling career and life options.  Momentum was born out of a love of helping others figure out what sparks them, embrace change, and identify and ultimately achieve their career and life goals. 

​Michelle Rubin

Momentum Career and Life Coaching

https://www.momentumclc.com/

Cristin Caine is the Founder and CEO of Charity Connect, a nonprofit that facilitates volunteerism through personal connection. Cristin believes the full and expansive benefits of volunteering can only be reached when the service opportunity fits with the volunteer’s true interests, availability and goals. Drawing upon her experience matching and on-boarding volunteers with organizations, Cristin will discuss ways to incorporate service into your lives.

The key takeaways from this presentation will include:

• The importance of self-inventory before searching for volunteer opportunities
• Examples of how personal and professional goals can be incorporated into volunteering 
• How to effectively communicate with nonprofits to reach your volunteer goals 

Cristin’s background in special events fundraising and as a public school teacher combined with her fulfilling volunteer positions led to her creation of Charity Connect. Cristin engages individuals in customized community service by building relationships with her clients (potential volunteers) and organizations that utilize volunteers. In addition to individual consultations, Cristin conducts workshops to promote strategic volunteering; service which incorporates personal and professional goals. Cristin also facilitates strategy sessions for volunteer managers in volunteer engagement and retention.

Cristin Caine
Founder & CEO
Pronouns: she, her, hers
301-257-5586
www.charityconnect.us

Laura M. Labovich is an award-winning career innovator and résumé writer, bestselling author, and HR insider of Fortune 500 companies including The Walt Disney Company and America Online. As Chief Executive Officer of The Career Strategy Group, a boutique career management, outplacement, and resume writing firm headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Laura and her team teach a powerful methodology for career, communication and networking success.

Laura’s national job search & networking expertise, passionate delivery, and easy-to-implement approach have garnered attention from such national news media as The Washington Post, Sirius XM Radio, Fox 5 (DC), NBC 6 (Miami), U.S. News and World Report, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo, and Monster.com, to name a few. And, as a former amateur nightclub singer, she certainly knows how to tackle, inspire, and entertain a tough crowd.

Laura is in the top 1% of all Amazon authors for her book 100 Conversations for Career Success: Learn to Network, Cold-Call, and Tweet Your Way to Your Dream Job, a 2013 top career book selection by FORBES.com.

Jerry has been a Career Ownership Coach with The Entrepreneur’s Source for three years. He helps people gain perspective on and set goals for their careers and their lives, and gives them the chance to explore franchise business entrepreneurship as a possible career path.

As a graduate of the JCA Career Gateway, an attendee and presenter at numerous 50+ Career Expos, and as someone who started a new career as a franchise business owner at 58, Jerry is well-tuned to the goals and needs of the over 50 career seeker.

In his previous career life, Jerry was a software developer and architect, and development manager for companies like IBM, Hongkong Shanghai Bank, and Goodwill Industries International.