Warm Greetings SCCDA members and friends!

I am honored and humbled to serve as the new President of South Carolina Career Development Association. I am grateful to all of our members for your trust in me to lead SCCDA through its next phase of growth and development.

It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention all the greats who came before me! Sylvie Golod led passionately getting SCCDA back up and running. Sherry Williams led strategically providing order to what Sylvie started. Aimeé Carter led us resiliently through COVID. And, Brenda Gardner led inspirationally while bringing the fire back! It’s my hope that I lead authentically.

  1. Retain and grow our membership

  2. Increase the value of our organization to our members

  3. Foster a greater sense of community within our organization.

Yet another important area of concentration is collaboration. Together, we are stronger, and by collaborating with others, we can accomplish a lot.

In order to take advantage of our combined talents and accomplish our common objectives, I think we should be looking for opportunities to work together and form partnerships with groups that share our values.

 Additionally, I believe that we need to foster a greater sense of community within our organization. We must continue to create opportunites for our members to communicate and form bonds with one another both offline and online.

As we cross the complicated and constantly changing world of career development, we ought to be celebrating our accomplishments, disclosing our struggles, and helping one another.

Finally, I want to say that I am enthusiastic about the future of our organization. I think that we are in a great position to have a big influence. Together, we can do this.

I'm committed to working with all of you to accomplish our objectives and develop a South Carolina Career Development Association that is more powerful, vibrant, and interconnected. I'm eager to lead our organization as president.

Susan Bennett, MHS, CCSP, GCDF
Lexington One School District
SCCDA President  | 2023 - 2024

Hello SCCDA members and friends!

Finally! There is a whiff of fall in the air, and a morning chill that surprises me every year after the unrelenting heat of summer.

Besides the cooler weather, pumpkins and football, fall brings our annual professional development conference on November 9. And this year’s promises to be the best ever!

We are back in person at Saluda Shoals River Center, which alone is great news after two plus years of isolation due to COVID. But our conference topic is one that resonates deeply right now: Navigating Mental Health in the Workplace.

According to the Department of Labor, nearly 1 in 5 American may experience some form of mental health condition each year. In Lyra Health’s 2022 State of Workforce Mental Health, employees’ mental health is at an all-time low.

“Nearly a third (31 percent) of workers surveyed said their mental health has declined over the past year—up from 24 percent at the end of 2020,” it said.
 

Dr. Samer Touma delivering the keynote address, “Mental Health Matters.” and surely the double meaning is intentional. Of course, we will discuss mental health matters, but with the statistics currently being experienced in the workplace, mental health matters above most else.

There will also be sessions on mental health topics from AbleSC, USC, SC Thrive, and Vocational Rehabilitation.
If you haven’t registered, sign up now here.

Brenda Gardner, MPA, GCDF
SC Department of Commerce
SCCDA President | 2022-2023

Hello SCCDA members and friends!
Greetings as we head into the hottest months of the year, but also the ones when many memories are made. I am humbled to serve as your SCCDA president for 2022-23, and look forward to growing the organization in numbers and in opportunities for professional development. 

My first act as president will be to publicly acknowledge Aimee Carter’s service as president before me for not one, but two years. So thank you to Aimee, who carried SCCDA through with skill and heart. And she did so during an unprecedented time of uncertainty.

The pandemic has been a silent shadow with all of us since 2020. But what impact did it really have on our clients, our students, and the workforce? There is anecdotal evidence in abundance, as students and adults have spent critical developmental years in the virtual environment without hands-on learning or in-person social interaction.

Generation Z, in particular, seems to be disproportionately affected. According to an Indeed.com survey, 82% of Generation Z said they have never worked in an in-person office environment full time. Of that percentage, 85 percent said they worry that they are at a disadvantage when it comes to learning professional “soft skills”

A new partnership between the SC Department of Commerce, SC Competes, and Tallo tackles a portion of that question with four available assessments to better identify skills gaps for long term career retention of Generation Z workforce.

The new pilot resource is available for 16- to 24-year-olds who have been negatively impacted by COVID (and really, who hasn’t?). Four assessments are available to gauge knowledge in five core professional competencies: Communication, Drive for Results, Customer Service, Adaptability and Critical Thinking. These four assessments are in: General Employability, Manufacturing Employability, IT Employability and Healthcare Employability. They take clients/students roughly 20-25 minutes and include an individualized report on where they stand in that industry and competency compared to their peers. 

This tool is free until September 15, 2022. If you have clients or know of individuals in this age range, this is a great resource to dive into those skill gaps and create remedies before they enter the workforce.

With efforts like these, South Carolina can surely make the most of every talent we have! To access the assessments or to learn more, please visit: corescoresc.com 

Brenda Gardner, MPA, GCDF
SC Department of Commerce
SCCDA President | 2022-2023

Hello SCCDA members and friends!
 
As I type, I hear the tune of The Beatles song, Hello Goodbye, play in my head.  This will be my last newsletter message as your president.
 
Serving in this role for the past two years has been both challenging and rewarding. I’m thankful for a supportive board and core members who have hung with us.  In just a few months, our president-elect and founding member, Brenda Gardner, will assume the role. You all are in good hands!
 
This is a busy time of year for everyone, and I find myself pushing the deadline to get something meaningful on paper for our dedicated communications committee to share. I looked back at previous messages and thought about how it really isn’t what I say (you read), it is the fact you’re reading it – you’re engaged, connected, and interested. We all know that’s important, but it is tough to practice for ourselves and model for others.