Editor’s note: The following is a press release from ROI. Bloom has republished it here with edits for style and clarity.
Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI) has selected the first cohort of its Career Coaching Fellowship. Nineteen individuals serving across the Indiana Uplands as school counselors, career coaches, work-based and internship coordinators, teachers, adult educators, and an HR administrator have been selected for the fellowship. The ROI Career Coaching Fellows will begin a 10-month fellowship focused on growing leadership and expertise while developing regionally relevant career connections that will equip Fellows to provide guidance and support to individuals preparing for high opportunity and high wage jobs.
Six individuals from Monroe County were accepted to the program: Dennis Faust, a high school counselor with the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation; Jaime Miller, Ready Schools coordinator with the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation; Stacia Myers, a business teacher with the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation; Joann Novak, a business teacher with the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship; Mary Priester-Hanks, a postsecondary readiness coordinator with the Monroe County Community School Corporation; and Andrew Smith, a pathways and remediation coordinator with the Monroe County Community School Corporation.
“The Career Coaching Fellowship was developed as the next essential step in a maturing strategy for supporting both individuals and industry through focused talent pathways and workforce pipeline strategies,” says ROI President and CEO Tina Peterson.
“Response to this opportunity exceeded our expectations and serves to affirm the significance of focused career coaching strategies,” she adds. “ROI’s inaugural cohort represents an impressive group of educators and career development professionals within our region. We are pleased that participants will bring diversity of experience to the cohort and feel confident that this group of professionals will grow their capacity to positively impact thousands of K-12 students and adult learners in the Indiana Uplands region.”
ROI’s most recent Occupational Needs Assessment indicates that key sector employers in the Indiana Uplands region will add thousands of new jobs in the coming years. Many, if not most, of these jobs will require some form of postsecondary degree or credential. Under the current trajectory, the region will need skilled talent with the credentials necessary to keep up with employer demand in the advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and defense sectors.
ROI’s Career Coaching Fellowship will strengthen the skills of individuals serving in career coaching roles throughout the Indiana Uplands and complement recently developed career pathways in all schools.
“The need for meaningful career connections and articulated pathways towards high opportunity and high wage jobs is now more important than ever,” says Peterson. “Our region’s long-term growth and prosperity will depend on a skilled workforce ready to meet the future demands of employers. There is no better time than now to build a new network of career coaches that can incorporate research-based innovative practices within their organizations. We are excited by the possibility of this program and its potential to increase the number of students/adults pursuing and completing relevant pathways that lead to successful postsecondary opportunities, continued education, or high opportunity employment.”
ROI’s Career Coaching Fellows will participate in monthly professional development programs and connect with regional and state-wide career partners and resources. The inaugural cohort will form an active regional career coaching network, build relationships with employer and community partners, and model delivery of successful evidence-based career coaching within their organizations.
Read more about ROI’s Career Coaching Fellowship here.
