PROFILE OF PROF. ILU OGHIE COSMAS ADOMEH Professor Ilu Oghie Cosmas ADOMEH, is a teacher at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. I had my First Degree from Pontifical Urban University, Rome, in Sacred Theology, Masters Degree in Guidance and Counselling from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan and PhD also in Guidance and Counselling from the University of Benin, Benin City. I worked at Auchi College, Auchi as the school’s Guidance Counsellor and Vice Principal (Special Duties) and I transferred my service to Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in 1999, where I rose from Lecturer II to full Professor in 2011. There, I held the following positions: • Sub-Dean, Faculty of Education • Coordinator, Graduate Programme • Students’ Adviser • Departmental Coordinator, Part-Time Programme • Faculty Liaison Officer, Teacher Registration Council • Founding Head, Department of Guidance and Counselling • Founding Editor, Nigerian Journal of Counselling and Human Development • Chairman, University Admission Board • Dean, Faculty of Education, AAU Ekpoma • Part-Time Lecturer, Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele, Ekpoma • First African Facilitator, Loyola Institute for Mission Extension, Loyola University New Orleans • Member, Governing/Academic Council, Don Bosco Science Academy, Ukhun Ekpoma • Member, TETFund Technical Advisory Group, Abuja • Patron, Afrihealth Optonet Association • Part-Time Lecturer, Institute of Leadership and Management, Uromi I am a member of four Nigerian professional bodies, namely, *Counselling Association of Nigeria {CASSON} *Academic Staff Union of Universities {ASUU} *Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria {APROCON} *Congress of University Academics {CONUA} And a member of thirteen international professional bodies, namely, *West Africa Counselling Association {WACA} *African Association for Guidance & Counselling {AAGC} *Loyola Institute for Ministry Extension {LIMEX} *International Association for Mission Studies {IAMS} *Asia Pacific Career Development Association {APCDA} *India International Counselling Association (IICA) *International Consortium for Education Development (ICED) *Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA) *International Society for Policy Research, Evaluation in School-based Counseling (ISPRESC) *International Society of Comparative Education, Science and Technology (ISCEST) *Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Africa (ACPA) I have authored and co-authored sixty-four local and international articles and published two books, delivered thirty-six public lectures, supervised sixteen PhD Theses and thirteen Masters Dissertations. I have also attended over thirty conferences within and outside Nigeria where I presented papers.

Ingrid Bårdsdatter Bakke, PhD, is an Associate professor working at the Inland Norway University in Lillehammer, Norway. Her research focuses on Norwegian and Nordic work culture and how it affects career guidance, career guidance and policy, and career guidance in the welfare system. She lectures and supervises students on PhD level and MSc in Career Guidance, and Further Education Counsellor Students. Ida Holth Mathiesen is an associate professor at the National Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research at the University of Stavanger. She is a sociologist and has for many years conducted research into counselling and career guidance in schools, as well as evaluation, implementation and collaboration in the public sector. She has written a doctoral thesis on the role of the school counsellor and how school counselling is shaped by complex expectations. She participates in Norwegian and Nordic research networks within career guidance and is the Core National Expert in Lifelong Guidance and Career Development Norway in the EU network CareersNet, run by CEDEFOP.

Ms. Earnhardt has over 30 years of experience as an educator/counselor serving pre-school through college-age students and their teachers. She has been an educator, coach, counselor, student support employee, Director of the OPI 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grant for the Montana Department of Education and the Director of the Career Lab for the state of Montana Department of Labor. The driving force behind her success in career services and career development in each of her varied roles is her passion for the students, families and communities she serves, and her understanding of how career development plays an important part in student development. As Director of the Career Lab, she put together a team which worked with the state Department of Education and the Department of Labor to design Montana’s Personalized K–12 Career program. She has been involved with the ACTE programs for the state of Montana and assisted with training and work development for Montana Career Coaches. She has experience with diverse cultures and was instrumental in bringing the F1 in Schools’ program (one of the Largest STEM competitions in the world) to Montana. This STEM competition assisted the Harlem students in being the First Native American Team to make it to the World competition. She brought the NASA program to Montana, sending a group of rural students from Hot Springs, Montana to Ireland, where they presented their research at the NASA Global Conference. She is on the Montana Technology Student Association (TSA) Board and is nationally certified as a Certified Career Services Provider and Certified School Career Development Advisor. Mary Ellen currently sits on the NCDA as a Trustee At Large. Mary Ellen has been awarded three of the NCDA Global awards: “Fellow,” "Outstanding Career Practitioner" and the "Ken Hoyt Outstanding Career Educator award.” Her experience working with workforce development and academic systems brings both the educational and business world together.

Yasmin Frazer leads financial education initiatives across Aotearoa New Zealand in her role as Learning Lead at Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission. She oversees the Commission’s partnership with the Ministry of Education to implement compulsory financial education in schools, chairs the Financial Education Provider Advisory Group, and represents New Zealand in the OECD INFE group, contributing to global financial education efforts. Yasmin heads the Sorted in Schools programme — Te whai hua, kia ora — ensuring accessible, high-quality financial capability education for secondary schools across the motu. With a background as a teacher and in various school leadership roles, she brings deep experience in curriculum design, assessment, and student wellbeing to her work advancing financial education nationwide.

Lorraine Godden is an educator, researcher, and manager. Lorraine currently holds several academic roles including National Implementation Lead for the FUSION skills development project at Carleton University, Associate Faculty at Yorkville University where she teaches educational leadership, and Adjunct Faculty at Douglas College where she is developing and will lead career development courses for educators. Lorraine is a qualified teacher, Certified Career Development Professional, and Certified LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator with over thirty years of experience teaching all ages and grades of learners. In her research, Lorraine focuses on the intersection between education and career and includes investigation on ensuring career education, work-integrated learning, and skills development programs are accessible and equitable across the lifespan. She has been involved with many diverse research projects that investigate career across the lifespan and recently published a teaching toolkit based on the findings from a pan-Canadian exploration of early career development within elementary schools. Lorraine’s passions are her work, being a life partner to Paul, and mother to three humans and six cats.

Korin Grant is a university lecturer and careers professional with over 20 years’ experience of higher education, work related learning and teaching. She currently works at the University of Warwick as an Assistant Professor teaching on postgraduate Career Development and Coaching Studies programmes. Korin leads on subjects related to labour market information, employer engagement, employability and career leadership. She also teaches on the careers professional apprenticeship programme and is strong advocate of work based and lifelong learning. In terms of research Korin has an interest in projects and studies that examine social justice and environmental concerns in career education and guidance.

https://www.nzrpa.co.nz/our-team/management/fiona-brading Fiona Brading Personal Development & Career Services Manager New Zealand Rugby Players Association (RPA) Fiona Brading brings extensive experience in personal development, career transition, and recruitment, supporting athletes through times of change. She empowers athletes to clarify their priorities, explore their interests, and turn ideas into practical, confidence-building action. Her approach is strongly person-centred and action-focused, grounded in meeting individuals where they are at, while providing clear direction and momentum. Her background includes recruitment and career coaching roles in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, supporting people through career change and into new employment. Fiona holds a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Sport & Exercise Science and Psychology, a Graduate Certificate in Career Development, and a Master of Professional Practice. She is also a Professional Member of the Career Development Association of New Zealand and a member of the Careers and Transition Education Association of New Zealand, which underpins her structured, evidence-based approach. A natural connector, Fiona is known for her ability to link athletes with relevant networks, opportunities, and resources that support their next steps. New Zealand-born, she has strong family connections to Ireland and holds dual citizenship. Fiona lives in Māngere Bridge, Auckland, with her husband Steve, their two teenagers, and their much-loved dog. Dr Glenys Ker is an Associate Professor at Capable NZ, Otago Polytechnic, and an experienced career development practitioner specialising in work-based learning and professional practice. With over 25 years in the field, she works with athletes and professionals to recognise and build on the capabilities developed through experience. She actively supports athletes to gain formal qualifications alongside their sporting careers, helping them integrate learning, identity, and performance. Glenys has been instrumental in developing the Independent Learning Pathway (ILP), enabling practitioners to achieve qualifications grounded in real-world practice. Her work focuses on unlocking motivation, strengthening identity, and supporting adaptable career pathways.

Ryan King is the Executive Director of the Manurewa High School Business Academy. Although his whakapapa is connected to Kai Tahu and Ngaati Porou, he is born and bred South Auckland. Ryan started as a student at Manurewa High School where he received the Hynds Foundation Scholarship allowing him to study Business at the University of Auckland. After completing his studies which included at the Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society Summit 2015 at Stanford University, he moved on to a graduate role at Vodafone. During this time Ryan stayed connected to his former high school which led to him gaining a position as a trustee on the Manurewa High School Business Academy Board. Ryan has spent the last 6 years at Manurewa High School; three of those in the Pathways team and the most recent three as the Executive Director of the Manurewa High School Business Academy. In this role he is responsible for executing the Manurewa High School Business Academy Vision: To awaken the courage, creativity and perseverance that will drive the businesses of the future. Ryan spends his time at school working with students in Makerspace and Te Maara Kai o Wirihana. Ryan is also the main connection between the Business Academy partners and students, facilitating programs that benefit the students, alumni, and business partners. During his time at Manurewa High School, Ryan spent part of his time working with Auckland Council and The Southern Initiative on a program for youth "Te Taiwhanga Rangatahi (TTR). As a tuakana in TTR, Ryan was supported the rangatahi and other tuakana to produce the report "Kura of the Future: enabling mana motuhake for rangatahi in a green economy. In his spare time you can catch Ryan running (more of a jog) around Totora Park or along the Takaanini Southern Path. Ryan also enjoys watching sports and playing fantasy sports, with the key sport competitions being the NRL, NFL, and NBA.

Kotoe Konishi is an Associate Professor at Yokkaichi University, Japan. Her research focuses on time perspective, career development, and career support for university students and early-career adults. She is particularly interested in how people’s views of the past, present, and future are related to career decision-making, job-search behaviour, and career formation. Her recent work examines how time perspective is associated with different stages of the job-search process among Japanese university students, including information gathering, applications, interviews, and the transition to employment. She is also interested in the career development of early-career adults, especially in how psychological factors shape their adaptation to work, future planning, and career-related choices. More broadly, her research explores how these findings can contribute to more individualised career support and educational practice. Through her work, she hopes to contribute to a better understanding of career development across the transition from university to work and into the early years of working life.

Sumie Masaki is an associate professor at Bunkyo University in Japan. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Science from the University of Tsukuba in 2014. Sumie’s research focuses on career development, with particular emphasis on workplace relationships and meaning. She is especially interested in social justice. Her recent work has been published in journals such as the Japanese Association of Industrial/Organizational Psychology Journal, and she has presented at conferences, including the Society for Vocational Psychology. References: Masaki, S. (2021). The effect of meaning-making process in work on individual and organization. Japanese Association of Industrial/Organizational Psychology Journal, 34(2), 101-113. (In Japanese with English abstract.) https://doi.org/10.32222/jaiop.34.2_101 Masaki, S. (2025). Coping with meaning-making in work and association with work related variables [Poster presentation]. Society for Vocational Psychology, 2025 Biennial Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland. https://wp.unil.ch/svp2025/

Grateful to whoever first said “advocrat,” Mary was a community nag for universal accessibility and go-to person for goofy titles for Tompkins Workforce New York from 2018 to 2021, promoting quality workforce development services through partnerships across government agencies (including Education), businesses, and community-based organisations. Officially, she was called a Disability Resource Coordinator/Workforce Development Specialist. Her previous 8 years as a job search coach for the New York State Department of Labor were critical to her successes in that role. After relocating to New Zealand, she got back to her roots as a job search coach, working in the private sector for several years before joining Karamū High School as a Gateway Coordinator in 2025. Passionate about equipping people with the tools and information they need to progress along their career journey, Mary has been fortunate and honoured to be invited to participate in several transition planning meetings as part of students’ Individual Education Plans. She intends to get herself invited to many more.

Ayumi Morooka is a doctoral student in educational psychology at Ochanomizu University, Japan.My research focuses on students’ motives for university choice and autonomous learning motivation based on self-determination theory and expectancy–value theory. I am particularly interested in how career guidance influences students’ autonomous motivation and well-being in higher education.

Damian is a young aspiring development advocate from Nigeria with a strong interest in youth empowerment, digital innovation, and agricultural transformation. His work focuses on designing practical solutions that address unemployment by integrating technology into traditional sectors such as agriculture. He is passionate about creating scalable models that can improve livelihoods and promote sustainable development across emerging economies.

Juli has 18+ years’ experience as a Careers Consultant, working with a range of clients, teachers, communities, parents and directly with careers practitioners. She has developed resources for TEC's careers website, Tahatū Career Navigator, and its Career Practice Hub - a resource designed to support activities and best practice for the careers workforce. She has also led career programmes and workshops for a range of client groups. She is currently the Senior Advisor Careers Practitioner at the Tertiary Education Commission and is a member of CATE and CDANZ.

Michael has over 40 years of practitioner experience in marketing, communications, digital transformation, research, business change management and proposition design. With a background gained in executive leadership roles and industries as diverse as education, continuing professional development, utilities, financial services, creative agencies and insurance, Michael draws on a wealth of experience to support him identify patterns and synergies. Michael has thrived in challenging corporate environments, creative hot-houses and not-for profits. Building a melting pot of experiences and wealth of insights. The vocational education sector has been an especially rewarding environment for Michael and his team to unleash all of the insights they’ve gleaned over recent years and through research. From day to day ‘business’ decision-making that supports a learner make an informed and considered choice of study, through to support for learners as they face into life post study - every touchpoint is grounded in a valuable insight. A central driver of success in his roles has been the notion to always ‘walk in the shoes’ of the customer. How to effectively bring the voice of your desired audience into the same room as those designing solutions. Whether that’s a decision-maker, influencer, learner or customer- their voice needs to be heard, always. Through deep customer listening, ethnographic research, quantitative analysis and joining often disparate dots into a cohesive story, Michael and his teams have been able to re-position brands, build businesses, enhance cultures and establish new value propositions. In his current role as Head of Corporate Marketing, Skills Group, Michael has overseen an active period of change where the voice of our learners and customer decision-maker has informed many touchpoints across the learner journey. You’ll find Michael often quoting Walt Disney, with that famous creative’s attributed quote of First, think. Second believe. Third, dream. And finally dare. Why? It’s the perfect thought and action sequence to address most of the things you’ll face in work, in life, in tackling a new challenge or simply venturing into the unknown. It’s a sentiment that expresses the art of the possible through optimism and action.

Pete Robertson is Professor of Career Guidance at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. He is a Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC), a learned society. He teaches career theory and policy to trainee guidance practitioners. His research interests include the relationship between career and well-being, and employment support for disadvantaged groups.

Hiroko Shiraishi is a specially appointed assistant professor (University Education Administrator) at Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Japan. The position focuses on career development for international graduate students, particularly in STEM fields, with an emphasis on bridging doctoral talent and industry. With over 15 years of experience in higher education and career support, responsibilities include designing and implementing programs that connect universities, industry, and international students. Current research explores ecosystem-based approaches to career development and cross-sector collaboration.

Dr. Su Xuebing, Sabrina, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong. She has five years of postdoctoral research experience following the completion of her PhD at the University of Hong Kong in 2017, where her thesis focused on occupational psychology and social work. In recent years, she has devoted her work to studying workplace well-being, organizational development, youth education, and career development, and has published 34 refereed journal articles and book chapters. Her research focuses on the non-territorial notion of collective psychological ownership, recognition theory, the concept of decent work, and the development of an extended notion of adaptive career pathways. She engages a wide spectrum of youth populations in her studies, including NEET youth, early career graduates, and young helping professionals. Since 2022, she has also applied Dialogical Self Theory and recognition theory in her career guidance and counseling research and practice for university students, incorporating the use of generative artificial intelligence.

We are kaupapa-driven social entrepreneurs committed to creating positive change for communities. Our work is shaped by a deep understanding of system-level challenges and a drive to design innovative solutions. This thinking underpins Level Up, which was developed to address the disconnect between education and the rapidly changing future of mahi. We value approaches that put learners at the centre, are culturally responsive and mana-enhancing, and are informed by rangatahi voice, evidence, and experience. As a partnership, we bring strengths in design, facilitation, and creative, learner-centred practice, alongside the ability to develop and deliver engaging, high-quality experiences. Ashley Toye brings extensive experience in youth development, specialising in facilitation and programme design for diverse learners. She has a strong grounding in mātauranga Māori and strengths-based approaches, with particular strength in working with rangatahi experiencing challenges with engagement and achievement. Alison Prins brings a proven track record of designing innovative, scalable initiatives that deliver measurable impact. She has strong strategic capability and systems thinking, with particular strength in using data and insight to drive better outcomes.

Elizabeth van den Berg is career adviser at a rural school in Northland and teacher of a range of technology subjects for Year 7 to 13 students. She is also the Self-driven Pathways coordinator at the school which is a unique programme for NCEA Level 2 and 3 students who do two core career standards, a traffic law and a financial literacy standard and for the rest of the year work on their own individualised programme that aligns with their vocational interests. Her husband, Andre, was the initiator of the binary distinction used in proposed theory.

James Whiting plays an active role in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of innovative employment and career projects to support young people experiencing mental ill-health. With 10 years experience across employment services, mental health and career development, James ensures new projects are informed by the latest theory, practice and policy. James has a particular interest in social justice, ensuring all young people experience a fair and equitable career trajectory.

Kate is the Leader of Careers and Transition at The Northern Health School and a private practitioner working at the intersection of identity and the future of work - specialising in personal branding identity and life design. Originally a graphic designer with 10 years of international experience in London, Athens, and NZ, Kate transitioned into secondary education two decades ago. A qualified career advisor for over 10 years, she combines her background in visual identity with deep pedagogical experience - including five years in a health school setting - to help individuals design meaningful career pathways.