Keynote Speakers
Opening Keynote Presentation
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
8:30 - 9:45 am
Bridging the Four Generations: Building on Common Ground
For the first time in U.S. history, four distinctly different generations are working side by side. Each of these four generations (Matures, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y) is guided by a different set of values, beliefs, and expectations. In this entertaining and informative presentation, Jason Ryan Dorsey reveals each generation’s preferences and priorities to highlight what they bring to the workforce or classroom—and where to build on their common ground. Learn about Jason’s frontline-tested process that reinforces a culture of cross-generation communication, innovation, trust, teamwork, and discretionary performance. Filled with laugh-out-loud stories, surprising statistics, and step-by-step strategies, this presentation will help participants better understand, inspire, and work effectively with their colleagues, students, and clients.
Jason Ryan Dorsey knows the difference one individual can make, because one educator changed his life forever. Growing up in a rural community, Jason faced seemingly few opportunities and abundant challenges. At a critical time, a teacher inspired Jason to leave his “troublemaker” friends behind and start college early. Jason attended college programs in Florida, Israel, and New York before becoming an 18-year-old junior at the University of Texas. Realizing he could help other young people get a head start on success, Jason authored Graduate to Your Perfect Job in his college dorm room. This step-by-step book became a national bestseller and supplementary course in 1,650 schools and colleges. It is estimated that 100,000 young adults have used Jason’s first book as a resource to enter the workforce.
After the success of his book, Jason launched into speaking at schools and colleges where he developed a reputation for using comedy to motivate hard-to-reach youth and inspiring school stakeholders by reinforcing the difference they can make. Now 29, Jason has spoken on-site at over 700 schools and colleges across the United States and as far away as Finland and India. Exposure to so many different schools prompted Jason to write his acclaimed book, 50 Ways to Improve Schools for Under $50. In recognition of his achievements, Jason won the Austin Under 40 Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Education at age 25. He has been featured on 60 Minutes, 20/20, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s The View, and in Fortune Magazine. His newest book was published by Random House and is titled, My Reality Check Bounced!
General Keynote Presentation
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
8:00 - 9:30 am
How Families Influence Our Career Choices…and How to Engage Them
How does the family of origin affect the process of deciding on a career path? What interventions can family members use to assist in the career development process? In this engaging presentation, Dr. Chope draws upon his extensive experience in education and counseling to address the family's role in career decision making. Participants will learn about innovative counseling tools and interventions that deepen the career and life planning process in efficient and systematic ways. With these new techniques, you can understand how family background, history, mobility, support, conflicts, nurturing, and exposure to new ideas influence the counseling process. By incorporating a more integrative, holistic approach, you can engage family members as partners in a collaborative planning process. Career counselors/educators and their clients/students don't need to work alone. Explore how bringing in family members to help in the career decision making process can be wonderfully beneficial to everyone.
Robert C. Chope, Ph. D., is a Professor and former Chair of the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University, where he founded one of the first fully accredited Career Counseling programs in the nation. He is also founder of the Career and Personal Development Institute in San Francisco, one of the nation's oldest professional career development practices. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Psychologist, and has been in the private practice of psychology since 1979. Previously, he was a research director with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Regional Rehabilitation Research Institute and a vocational psychologist with the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Chope has made many scholarly contributions regarding the integration of personal and family issues in the career development process. His books include Dancing Naked: Breaking through the emotional limits that keep you from the job you want and Family matters: The influence of the family in career decision making. He has written 65 refereed articles or chapters, made more than 125 presentations, and has been heard on more than 125 radio and television shows around the country.
Chope is a fellow of both the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the American Counseling Association (ACA). He is the recipient of numerous rewards recognizing his outstanding contributions. These include the NCDA Merit Award, the Judy Geohagen-Doi lifetime achievement award by the National Employment Counseling Association, the Ohana award from the Counselors for Social Justice (ACA), the Judith Grutter Career Development Practitioner of the Year Award and Robert Swan Lifetime Achievement in Career Development Award from the California Career Development Association, and the James Saum Government Relations Award by the California Counseling Association in appreciation for his "outstanding public policy, legislative, and licensure advocacy to the California counseling profession." In 2008, Chope was initiated into the H.B. McDaniel Hall of Fame at Stanford University for his "exemplary contributions to the field of counseling and guidance," and in 2009 he received the outstanding service award from the California Counseling Association.
Chope is a past president of the National Employment Counseling Association. He has consulted around the world, most recently in Chengdu and Xiamen, China. He has made major presentations in Beijing, China, Canada, The Netherlands, Germany and Croatia. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, where he wrote his dissertation under Dr. David P. Campbell of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and Campbell Interest and Skills Survey fame.