NACE Faculty & Staff Fellows – Fundamentals

Niesha Taylor PhD, Director of Career Readiness, NACE

Niesha Taylor, Ph.D., is NACE's first director of career readiness and leads the association's career readiness strategy and initiatives. Previously, she served as senior director for career pathways at the New York Jobs CEO Council and as dean for academic innovation and career success at Guttman Community College. She earned her doctorate in linguistics from the CUNY Graduate Center and her master's in education from the New School for Social Research.

Elizabeth Brown, Assistant Chair and Associate Professor, University of North Florida

Elizabeth R. Brown, Ph.D., is a social psychologist specializing in motivation, leadership, and beliefs. Her work examines how helping students connect academic content with personally important information increases their motivation. Dr. Brown regularly teaches undergraduate and graduate students social psychological, methodological, and professional development classes. In her courses, she consistently highlights the specific career competencies that students are developing to reinforce that students are developing lifelong, important career competencies and to spark increased student interest in the course material. Students have used these course experiences within their job interviews as examples of how they have accomplished these important career competencies such as critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. Dr. Brown received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University, her master's and Ph.D. in social psychology from Miami University (in Ohio), and a graduate certificate in college teaching from Miami University (in Ohio). She has also completed a predoctoral internship at Procter & Gamble and a post-doctoral research position at Montana State University. She is currently the Assistant Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Florida.

Cristina Di Meo, Director of Experiential Education, Queens College

Cristina Di Meo is the Director of Experiential Education at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY). She has spent over 15 years creating, implementing, and assessing programs that help CUNY students connect to impactful experiential learning opportunities (ELOs) and career exploration. Cristina has supported faculty in embedding community-engaged learning and other high-impact practices into course curricula, and has led initiatives to integrate academic and career advising as a strategy for equitable student success. At Queens College, Cristina oversees ELO programs that engage students in projects with mission-driven community partner organizations that help cultivate their long-term success inside and outside the classroom. Prior to joining CUNY, Cristina worked in nonprofit organizations advocating for economic equity legislation and policies. Cristina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Fordham University and a Master’s in Social Work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College/CUNY, where she experienced the transformative power of hands-on learning through internships and fieldwork.

Tameka Battle, Professor, City University of New York - Faculty Fellows

Tameka S. Battle, Ed.D. is a Professor of Community Health & Wellness at LaGuardia Community College at the City University of New York. Dr. Battle’s research primarily focuses on evidence-based practice, student success, and career preparedness in health and human services practice. Dr. Battle’s pedagogy is centered on integrating career-connected information, through high-impact practices, including syllabus and curricula revision, data utilization, student support, work-based learning, employer engagement, workforce development, and building partnerships with community-based healthcare organizations. Dr. Battle's collaborative approach bridges disciplines by integrating these competencies into curricula and leveraging the resources of the college's Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD). As a faculty fellow trainer with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), she brings expertise in aligning academic curricula with NACE career readiness competencies to prepare students for success in the workforce. Dr. Battle was a 2023-2024 Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies (BRES) Faculty fellow with the BRES Collaboration Hub at the City University of New York, Graduate Center and a 2023-2024 CUNY Career Success Fellow.

Jessica Perez, Director Career Services, LaGuardia Community College - Career Services

Jessica Perez, Ed.D., is the director of the Center for Career & Professional Development at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York; she is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator practitioner with 20+ years of experience in career and professional development and employer partnership building. Dr. Perez oversees the SOAR Experiential Learning Program, Elmezzi Foundation Career Fellows Program, CUNY Career Launch, Spring Forward, and several other internship programs at the college. She previously served as the co-president of the Career Services Association of CUNY for four years, co-chair of the NACE Career Readiness Task Force from 2022-2023, and co-lead for the NACE Two-Year and Community College Affinity Group from 2019-2021. Dr. Perez’s diverse expertise is instrumental in helping her to guide and empower students to flourish in their chosen careers. She earned a doctorate in education from the University of Southern Mississippi’s higher education administration program, and her research is focused on first-generation students and how career services impact retention and graduation rates. She earned her master’s in public administration from Metropolitan College of New York and her bachelor’s degree in English and sociology from Binghamton University. In June 2013, she completed the New York City Management Academy, a selective leadership training program for City of New York managers and executives.

Chantelle Wright, Executive Director for Experiential Learning, Montclair State University - University College Career Services

Chantelle K. Wright, Ed.D., serves as the executive director for Experiential Education and Career Connections. She has 15 years of experience in college career counseling, particularly with multi-ethnic and multi-generational populations. Most recently, she served as the director for the Center for Career & Professional Development at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, overseeing the career services for all students and alumni. Dr. Wright previously served as an associate director at John Jay College managing employer relations, internships and career education. Prior to her roles at John Jay, she was the career and transfer advisor at Bronx Community College and worked as an adjunct lecturer and internship coordinator at LaGuardia Community College. Dr. Wright received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morgan State University, her master’s in psychological counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her doctorate of education in leadership for organizations from the University of Dayton.

Isabelle Monlouis, Assoc Dir, Entrepreneurship & Innov, Georgia State University

Dr. Isabelle Monlouis, Professor of Practice at Georgia State University (GSU), leverages 20+ years of leadership in strategy, innovation, and workforce development to bridge academia and industry. With expertise honed in Fortune 500 companies, she led global, high-impact projects, demonstrating strengths in critical thinking, leadership, communication, and collaboration. At GSU, Dr. Monlouis serves as Associate Director of the Russell Center for Entrepreneurship, where she drives initiatives to cultivate entrepreneurial and career-readiness skills, focusing on NACE Career Competencies. She develops interdisciplinary programs integrating immersive case studies, simulations, and real-world projects to enhance problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and professionalism among students. Her work fosters ethical leadership and prepares students to thrive in dynamic professional environments. Dr. Monlouis collaborates with Career Services to design transformative programs that blend industry outreach with competency-building. She spearheads the GSU_CodePath Emerging Engineer Empowerment Program (E3), a $25M inclusive tech excellence initiative that enhances student learning, provides paid internships, and prepares graduates for the evolving workforce. Passionate about empowering underrepresented groups, Dr. Monlouis emphasizes women’s leadership, corporate innovation, and start-up entrepreneurship in her courses. Her dedication ensures students achieve career success while contributing to GSU’s mission of advancing economic mobility. Outside academia, Dr. Monlouis enjoys meditation and exploring diverse cultures through international travel, bringing a global perspective to her work.

Vivian Senior, Senior Director of Student Engagement, University of North Florida - Career Services

Vivian Senior is enjoying a long professional career at the University of North Florida, currently serving as the Senior Director of Student Engagement in Career Services and as adjunct faculty for undergraduate and graduate courses. She personifies leadership. For over 25 years, she has effectively developed and led teams, while managing the creation and implementation of programs, services, and collaborative partnerships. Vivian is a National Certified Counselor and extends her expertise to individuals and groups targeting career and professional development, teambuilding, communication, and leadership. This extension of her services and expertise are also available through her private consulting organization. Vivian’s greatest accomplishment is her 23-year-old son, Clayton, class of 2023 college graduate, who continues to challenge everything she thought she knew.

Jason Hendrickson, Professor, City University of New York - Faculty Fellows

Dr. Jason T. Hendrickson serves as a CUNY Career Success Leadership Fellow and brings nearly 20 years of teaching experience as a Professor of English at CUNY's LaGuardia Community College. At LaGuardia, he served as a leader in the development of the Career Success pillar of the college's strategic plan. He leads trainings at the college and across the CUNY system to equip faculty with tools to embed Career Connected Learning within curricula and classroom settings. Dr. Hendrickson combines academic and administrative leadership, having co-led initiatives like CUNY’s Transformative Learning in the Humanities, LaGuardia's inaugural Career Success Summit, and the Center for Teaching and Learning's "Africana Studies Across the Disciplines" series. An Africana Studies scholar by training, Dr. Hendrickson has also collaborated with the National Urban League and is a life member and former executive officer of the College Language Association. His training specialties are career-infused pedagogy with NACE competencies, syllabus and curricular revision, administrative strategic planning, and cross-divisional/cross-disciplinary career-related collaboration.