Morning Workshop Presentations for Jobseekers

Human Resources Specialist, Montgomery County Government

With over 20 years of recruitment experience spanning both the private and public sectors, Amina Getaneh brings deep expertise and insight to the field of talent acquisition. She has contributed over 11.5 years of dedicated service to Montgomery County Government. She currently serves as a Human Resources Specialist within the Recruitment Division of the Office of Human Resources. Her work focuses on aligning talent strategies with organizational goals, and she finds the daily challenges and rewards of recruitment both energizing and fulfilling. Passionate about connecting people with purpose-driven opportunities, Amina is dedicated to advancing effective, equitable hiring practices in public service.

Your LinkedIn Driving Instructor is a LinkedIn trainer, communications strategist, and workforce educator who teaches adults 45 and older to harness the power of LinkedIn for job searches, career transitions, nonprofit leadership, and encore entrepreneurship.

As the Owner, CEO, and Lead Trainer at Of a Certain Vintage Workforce Education, LLC, Dr. Barnes provides LinkedIn training in partnership with public libraries, nonprofits, and career, workforce, and business development organizations, as well as graduate school and university alumni programs throughout the United States.

Dr. Barnes also facilitates the Jewish Council for the Aging’s Career Gateway program, a career development course for 50+ jobseekers, and teaches nonprofit leaders to use LinkedIn for effective donor research and management and board member recruitment and engagement in partnership with the Westchester (NY) Library System.

Dr. Barnes is a graduate of the Leadership Montgomery Encore program and earned a BA from Yale College, a JD from Stanford Law School, and a doctorate in the history of U.S. foreign policy from the Ohio State University.

Email Dr. Barnes at elisse@vintageworkforce.com

Your Message Matters: A Purpose-Driven Approach to Career Transition

Kim Murphy is a Professional Certified Coach who helps individuals navigate career transitions by reconnecting with their sense of purpose and translating it into clear, compelling direction. With over a decade of coaching experience—and a career that spans service as a Peace Corps Volunteer, USDA Civil Servant, and State Department Foreign Service Officer—Kim understands firsthand what it means to evolve professionally while staying grounded in what matters most.

Having navigated dozens of transitions herself, she brings both lived experience and professional training to her coaching. Kim believes that when individuals articulate their purpose with clarity and intention, they unlock more aligned opportunities and more meaningful success. Her approach integrates purpose-driven reflection with practical strategy, empowering clients to shape careers that are successful and deeply fulfilling.

Kim is certified by the Co-Active Training Institute and credentialed by the International Coach Federation. She is passionate about helping people own their stories, communicate their value, and move forward with confidence and intention.

Contact Kim:

LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kimberlymurphy-coach

Email: kimberlymurphy2010@gmail.com

Debra Steppel, President and Founder of Essays Plus More, has been helping people present their experience, qualifications, and interests to decision-makers since 1985. As an undergraduate Psychology/Sociology major at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, she held campus jobs as a Career Assistant and Writing Tutor, where she began her career helping students and alumni with their resumes and writing skills, teaching them how to share their experiences in ways that demonstrate transferable skills for future positions. Debra also earned a Masters in Public and Private Management at Yale School of Management, where she focused on Strategy, Marketing, and Organizational Development. Her decades of industry experience span Silicon Valley, government contracting, financial planning, and political marketing. Since last year, she has been helping jobseekers write resumes that will be "found" in a hiring environment where over 98% of hiring organizations now use AI-based Applicant Tracking Systems.

At her happiest when she is helping others achieve their career and educational goals, Debra sees her career as a Coach, Mentor, and Editor to be her way of fulfilling the highest level of Maimonides' Seven Levels of Charity, which is to help individuals build dignity by finding gainful employment and self-fulfillment.

Debra can be reached at debra@essaysplusmore.com or 703-473-3276. Her company website is https://www.essaysplusmore.com.

Justin is owner of Volman HR Strategy LLC, which helps companies find solutions to attract, hire, and retain talent.

He is a 4x Award-Winning SHRM-CP certified Strategic Talent Acquisition Expert who has successfully hired over 1,000 individuals across 7 countries in less than 10 years across the startup, corporate, and non-profit sectors.

University of Alabama Alumni - “Where Legends are Made”

Case Manager/Outreach Coordinator with the WIOA program.

Ivonne Salazar is currently a case manager/outreach coordinator with the WIOA program.

Ivonne has years of experience serving others, having worked for BDAG, Inc., a nonprofit organization that collaborated closely with WIOA case managers. BDAG helped people with barriers to employment, such as language or skills, to start their own businesses, gain income, and become self-sufficient. She then joined a home care agency, where she served as office manager and worked closely with caregivers, office staff, clients, and their families for 10 years.

In 2021, Ivonne began working with the Fairfax County Health Department as a COVID-19 Navigator. As a navigator, Ivonne would often go into the community to conduct outreach and assist at vaccine centers, translating as needed.

In 2022, Ivonne transferred to the Department of Family Services' PAES division and worked in the Employment & Training side. She has previously worked in the ELEVATE and SCSEP programs, helping individuals find employment by offering training or work opportunities.

Ivonne has leveraged her extensive background in customer service, working with individuals of all ages, ethnicities, and income levels, to get to know her clients, their skills, goals, and how to effectively reach them, often by thinking outside the box.

Fun Fact: While working at a BDAG, Ivonne applied her knowledge of starting a business and launched her own. Her love of art led her to start her own face-painting business. Seventeen years later, she is still working and has expanded her business to include glitter tattoos, fairy hair, henna, balloon twisting, and airbrushing.

Shira Lotzar, with Purposeful Hire, is a seasoned career coach, small business coach, and recruiter passionate about helping people do what they love!

Through her dynamic career branding process, she helps job seekers and small business owners discover their career passions and showcase their professional superpowers through compelling LinkedIn profiles, standout resumes and websites, pinpoint networking, and memorable interviews.

She also co-founded a community service program, BoomerWorks.org, helping 50+ professionals’ re-career into self-employment. Her passion is best captured in her tagline: For every hire, there is a higher purpose.

Contact Information: Purposeful Hire, shira@purposefulhire.com, 703-508- 9573

Mark Rasch is a lawyer and computer security and privacy expert and a lawyer in Bethesda, Maryland and is the General Counsel of Threat Intelligence firm Unit 221B.

Rasch’s career spans more than 35 years of corporate and government cybersecurity, computer privacy, regulatory compliance, computer forensics and incident response. This includes expertise in GDPR, CCPA, and US and international privacy laws and regulations. Earlier in his career, Rasch was with the U.S. Department of Justice where he led the department’s efforts to investigate and prosecute cyber and high-technology crime, starting the computer crime unit within the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, efforts which eventually led to the creation of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division. He was responsible for various high-profile computer crime prosecutions, including Kevin Mitnick, Kevin Poulsen and Robert Tappan Morris. He was also the Chief Privacy Officer of Fortune 100 company, SAIC and Chief Security Evangelist for Verizon.

Mark has taught white collar crime, computer law, and legal ethics courses, at various institutions and currently teaches a course in computer crime at George Washington University law school.

Mark is a frequent commentator in the media on issues related to information security, and is the author of hundreds of articles about the Internet, Internet privacy, hacking, cryptocurrency, blockchain and ransomware and is an adjunct professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law.

Katherine Ponds has a diverse background that encompasses leadership roles in for-profit, non-profit, and public sector organizations.

With over 20 years in the career and talent management sector, Ms. Ponds currently serves as Executive Vice President for Meridian Resources Inc., a career and talent management consulting firm, where she oversees product development, marketing, and relationship management. In addition to her professional career, Ms. Ponds currently serves as a volunteer Community Ambassador and Speaker’s Bureau representative for AARP. In this capacity, she represents AARP at various community events where she frequently speaks on a variety of topics including, caregiving, job search and career development for individuals 50 years of age and older. The insights and expertise Ms. Ponds brings to AARP reflect not only her extensive knowledge and expertise associated with talent and career management, but also her personal experience as a volunteer board member for a variety of non-profit organizations.

Contact: Katherine Ponds, Keponds.kp@gmail.com