by Dear SoACE,
It is an honor to serve as your 2020 – 2021 president. This year has indeed delivered us a new vision. We have all been led to think differently about our health, the humanity of others, and the way that we deliver services to our students, employers, and clients. As we all work to adjust to this different way of being and seek new approaches to our work, SoACE is eager to help members through this change in our world. We are committed to helping build the next generation of career services and recruiting professionals.
As an association, we are reimagining the way that we provide professional development support to our members through a new leadership development program. We will call on our board and committees to provide programs to help professionals adapt to our new, technology-focused, virtual work paradigm. Our response to COVID 19 has shown us how we can work together to be nimble and help our students succeed amid a crisis. During our swift transition, we witnessed innovative virtual programming from schools and employers throughout the region. Many organizations stepped up to provide webinars and trainings to help us adapt. We have stood strong and we will continue to prevail. We have thrived during this global pandemic and our community of professionals has helped us along the way.
The SoACE Board of Directors has reaffirmed our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the first African-American president of SoACE, I am thankful for the inclusive nature of our organization. During our last conference, we made meaningful strides in this direction with the APEX Black Career Professionals Summit and our enlightening visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. We will continue to explore ways to enact supportive programming for our members and the students we serve. This year, we have an opportunity to model our inclusivity to the world by continuing our practices of diversity and inclusion. We will build on our momentum and continue to provide a space where diversity, equity and inclusion is celebrated. SoACE recognizes that we are stronger and better together.
We are eager to share this new paradigm with you this year. Our board will spend the 2020 – 2021 year focused on member development, diversity and inclusion, virtual services, and employer engagement. In addition, we will roll out our new, year-round sponsorship model. Ultimately, we will utilize this unique environment in our world to reframe and redesign the way we support the work of career services and recruiting professionals.
We are excited about all that this new year has to offer and cannot wait to connect with you again soon. The SoACE conference committee is working hard to provide you with a phenomenal virtual conference experience December 14 – 16. This year’s theme is Career Services and Recruiting in Focus. Be sure to register soon. It is an event you do not want to miss. Believe me, our SoACE DJ will not disappoint! We hope you will join us.
In the meantime, let us remember to appreciate how far we have come this year and take pride in what we will accomplish together. Cheers to a healthy and enlightened new year of opportunity!
Yours truly,
Erica J. Lake
President
