Creating Career Continuity: A Blueprint for the PCS’d and ‘Voluntold’

Our military service members aren’t the only ones who sacrifice during their active-duty years; their spouses do, too. This is not widely acknowledged or appreciated, so we will begin our talk by recognizing the unique challenges military spouses face when trying to establish and/or maintain a career. We will then overview the essential steps they should take to begin, relaunch, or pivot in their careers: 1) define and express their brand; 2) identify and understand their audience; and 3) connect the two through research, resources, and reaching out. Attendees will be given a template (PDF) to help them begin their own personal career journeys, and all will be welcomed to apply for a seat in the fully underwritten Fourblock 10- week Career Readiness program.

Susan Rietano Davey (She/Her)

Bridget Finkeldey

Susan began her career in Fortune 50 Tech where she rapidly moved up the ranks from producer to manager to staff roles, and earned many top performance honors. After taking a career break to care for her children, she became a pioneer for the flexible workspace as a partner in a consulting and recruiting firm, Flexible Resources, Inc. Later, she ran a robust executive coaching practice. She is a LinkedIn Learning author-instructor and the co-founder of Prepare To Launch U -a learning company that provides instruction, inspiration, and community to women navigating work-life transitions along the continuum of life. Susan and Kelley Biskupiak co-founded the learning company Prepare to Launch U that provides instruction, inspiration, and community to people navigating work-life transitions along the continuum of life. In partnership with the veteran organization FourBlock, they lead the renowned Career Readiness Program supporting military spouses. Together, they have helped launch thousands of career returners globally.

Kelley Biskupiak (She/Her)

Bridget Finkeldey

Kelley began her career in Education as a teacher, then later in Administration and Curriculum Development, providing educational consulting services to urban school systems. After taking a career break to raise her children, she opened a thriving practice as a CTI-trained certified Co-Active coach. She is a LinkedIn Learning author-instructor and the co-founder of Prepare To Launch U - a learning company that provides instruction, inspiration, and community to women navigating work-life transitions along the continuum of life. Kelley and Susan Rietano Davey co-founded the learning company Prepare to Launch U that provides instruction, inspiration, and community to people navigating work-life transitions along the continuum of life. In partnership with the veteran organization FourBlock, they lead the renowned Career Readiness Program supporting military spouses. Together, they have helped launch thousands of career returners globally.

Employees who take charge of their career report greater engagement and satisfaction at work. Since managers are often busy with competing company priorities, leading people may be a challenge. Take back your career with these professional and effective tips for managing up from Nekpen Osuan Wilson, Certified Career Coach & Salary Negotiation Expert.

Nekpen Osuan Wilson

Bridget Finkeldey

Nekpen Osuan Wilson is the Co-Founder & CEO of @WomenWerk and a certified career coach with a decade of experience in business development strategy, mentorship, and non-profit board service. As a UN Global Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 5, Nekpen leverages her passion for women’s empowerment to advise leaders on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Nekpen serves as a talent and career strategy coach for The Muse and WIN Summit with key expertise in professional development training, career placement and workplace culture. Her work with WomenWerk has led to brand ambassador roles with The Council of Urban Professionals, Walkers Legacy Foundation and Forbes Women’s Council.

Nekpen has was recently named a 2021 Vital Voices Fellow, a 2019 NYC Five Borough Future Fellow by The Arena, a BlogHer 2018 Voice of the Year, the 2017 Baylor University Young Alumna of the Year, a 2018 92Y Woman in Power Fellow, a 2018 Walkers Legacy Women in Leadership Honoree, and a 2017 Council of Urban Professionals Fellow. Nekpen serves on the DNC’s Young Professionals Committee and Women's Leadership Forum, and is a volunteer on professional non-profits including Vote Run Lead, The Council of Urban Professionals, The New Leaders Council, and the famed Apollo Theatre.

By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reimagining outdated recruitment methods, we'll break free from costly, inefficient processes and uplift veterans in their job search. Our speaker Robyn Grable will address the misuse of applicant tracking systems, limitations of job boards, and the ineffectiveness of job fairs, which hinder both employers and job seekers. Discover how skills-based sourcing can match candidates with positions based on their unique abilities, ensuring veterans, military spouses, people with disabilities, and justice-involved individuals are no longer overlooked. Join us to shape a more inclusive and prosperous future for veteran employment.

Robyn Grable (She/Her)

Bridget Finkeldey

Robyn Grable is the Founder and CEO of Talents ASCEND and Veterans ASCEND, now part of The ASCEND Collective (501c3), which she created to help employers invest in a skills-based talent acquisition strategy that is an intentional model of inclusivity for military talent, people with disabilities and justice-involved candidates. An award-winning advocate, speaker, author, entrepreneur, CEO, and proud Navy veteran Robyn Grable does many things. Yet woven throughout her diverse pursuits is a mission of service—and a passion to give a voice for underserved talent to be included. Her unwavering commitment to inclusive employment is well-served by her corporate and military experience, including more than 30 years of private sector human resources after nine years of service in the U.S. Navy. Her ongoing study of America’s workforce has made her a leading voice on advocacy, removing barriers and providing connections to successful employment for our underserved talent pools. In recognition of her work, Robyn was named among the 2023 GSA Women of Influence and a 2023 Veteran Champion of the Year in Corporate America by G.I. Jobs Magazine. In the private sector she focused primarily on workforce management, human capital planning, recruitment, process and procedure evaluation, strategic alignment and relationship management. She created skills assessment programs at blue chip companies McDonald’s Corporation and McGraw-Hill and during her tenure as a Strategic Client Partner at ADP, a leading human capital management firm, Robyn successfully managed and grew the largest client portfolio of Fortune 100 companies. Today she is focused entirely on ensuring the skills of veterans, military spouses, the disability community and second-chance candidates are recognized and valued for their talent and that America’s employers implement intentional change to realize the full value of diversity, equity and inclusion for all to truly ascend.

Learn what it's like to join PwC as a member of the military and veteran community first hand from a proud military spouse: Katie Burns, PwC Consulting Solutions Director and an active member of the PwC Veterans Affinity Network (VAN) since 2010. Since 2018, Katie has served as the co-deputy lead of the national VAN and has helped to drive key initiatives across the 19+ VAN chapters across the firm along with the PwC Charitable Foundation.

Katie Burns (She/Her)

Rob Ribar

Katie Burns, PwC Consulting Solutions Director, is a leader in the Finance Transformation and global automotive practices, and based in Detroit. She specializes in finance process improvement, organizational design and technology implementations. Katie’s husband is an Army Veteran, and she has been an active member of the PwC Veterans Affinity Network (VAN) since 2010. Since 2018, Katie has served as the co-deputy lead of the national VAN and has helped to drive key initiatives across the 19+ VAN chapters across the firm along with the PwC Charitable Foundation. Katie has a BBA from the University of Notre Dame and a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Outside of work, Katie spends her time rooting for the Irish and chasing after her energetic four-year-old, Maddie.

Gary Halstead, Military Veteran Recruiting Program Manager at Collins Aerospace, will share about his experience as a veteran who transitioned out of the Air Force into the SkillBridge program at Collins. He then will share about how other fellow veterans and military spouses can leverage programs like SkillBridge and Re-Empower to join the Collins team.

Gary Halstead (He/Him)

Rob Ribar

Gary leverages 20 years of experience gained serving in the United States Air Force (8 years in airborne radar and electronic warfare & 12 in talent acquisition) as the Military Veteran Recruiting Program Manager at Collins. He was offered a SkillBridge fellowship to enhance his understanding of cooperate recruiting by working with some of the best recruiters and executives at Collins. After his fellowship, he was offered a full-time position to stay with the company and inspire the best, technicians, engineers, and people/program leaders in the country to join him at Collins Aerospace, an RTX company. He is excited to grow veteran hiring and champion initiatives that open the door of opportunity to as many fellow veterans as possible, especially those with security clearances.