Jocelyn Coalter has over 17 years of experience in career services and student affairs. She is currently the Director of Career Services on the Staten Island campus of St. John’s University in New York. Prior to St. John’s, she worked at Yeshiva University as Director of Employer Relations, and LIM College as Assistant Director of Career Development and then Assistant Director of Student Affairs. Jocelyn holds an MSW from Stony Brook University and a BA in English and Sociology from Providence College, and is a Licensed Master of Social Work in New York State. 

Kisha is a Higher Education professional with extensive experience in operations management, project management, curriculum building, event management, and leadership. She is committed to relationship building, student engagement, student success by designing programs that integrate 21st-century skills, and advocating for educational reform and equity. She believes in and supports cultures that are creative, diverse, and collaborative. She thrives in spaces that allow her to use historical information as a baseline to resolve, create, and reimagine solutions to any critical gaps in the systems in place.

Justin is an experienced higher education professional with a history of providing career counseling to a diverse population of students and alumni while developing positive relationships with students, faculty and employers. He have a proven ability to design, coordinate, and run career related programs that offer opportunities to learn more about potential fields, gain a better understanding of how to find and apply for jobs and internships, and develop networking connections.

Cheresa has 12 years experience of career coaching individuals into finding the right career path through resume writing, career exploration, mock interviewing, branding your persona for networking, career transition, career assessments, and preparing for life after sports with student-athletes.

Maria is a Career Services professional who has worked at colleges in the U.S. and Colombia for over ten years. She is currently the Assistant Director of Career Services on the Staten Island campus of St. John’s University. Before St John’s, Maria was the Director of Career Services at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology. Before moving to New York, she worked for five years in academic advising, employer relations, internship programs, career services, and international accreditation at a renowned university in Bogotá, Colombia. Maria is native from Colombia and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universidad Santo Tomas. She received a Master of Business Administration degree in international business from Montclair State University.
She is very proud of her very successful track record of developing partnerships with employers in numerous industries and working with those employers to provide career workshops and programs, attend career fairs, offer site visits and job shadowing opportunities, engage in mentoring programs, and provide students with internship and post-graduation career opportunities.

Laura Smith has been working in the field of career services in higher education since 2005. Currently, Laura is a Career Counselor and Instructor at Nassau Community College where she specializes in career development counseling and teaches a career orientation course. She sits on various committees at the College that contribute to initiatives of applied learning and student activities. In her spare time, Laura volunteers with the College’s food pantry. Prior to her role at Nassau, Laura served as Senior Career Counselor at St. John’s University where she focused on working with students and alumni in the liberal arts and sciences. Laura has been an active member of MNYCCPOA for many years, having previously served as co-chair of the Alva Cooper Awards Committee and currently as the chair of the Membership Committee. Laura earned a MSEd in Counseling from Fordham University and a BS in Sociology from the University of Scranton.

Jia Wei is currently serving as a Career Coach for students within the Applied Analytics program. Prior to Columbia, Jia Wei worked in career services, particularly focusing on students from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds at his alma meter, Stony Brook University. Jia Wei’s favorite part about working in career services is being able to guide students in their job search, explore different career opportunities, assist students in recognizing and developing their brand, and see it all come together. Prior to working in career services, Jia Wei worked in a number of various roles in higher education, such as academic affairs, academic advising, student orientation, and residential life.

Jia Wei was born in Shanghai, China, and is a first generation immigrant and a first generation college student. He holds a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stony Brook. Although he has been living on Long Island for almost a decade now, rumor has it that Jia Wei still claims to be from Brooklyn and NYC raised.

Mariela Torres is the Assistant Director of Industry Relations at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies (SPS) Career Design Lab (CDL) since May 2019. Mariela is an experienced professional with over 24 years of experience in Career Counseling and the Fashion Industry. Mariela has experience managing small to large Career Services Centers that provide comprehensive career and internship services to college students and alumni. She has held Director level positions at The College of New Rochelle, Berkeley College, and LIM College. She is also a certified Myers Briggs (MBTI) Practitioner. Mariela is very passionate about student success and has provided career coaching for students and alumni, advised student clubs, and taught undergraduate and graduate-level career preparatory courses. Mariela has worked for organizations such as Avon Products, Perry Ellis and Macy's Merchandising Group. Mariela has been actively involved in MNYCCPOA since 2015 and has held the 2nd Vice President and Treasurer previously. She is excited to hold the 1st Vice President role for 2019-2021. Her professional accomplishments include an impressive student career transition rate of 85% into full-time positions within six months of graduation; managing merchandising, marketing and product development efforts for a $350 million cosmetics business; The LIM College Rising Star Award and Fashion Group International (FGI) Spirit of Volunteer Award. Mariela holds a Master of Science degree in Career Development from the College of New Rochelle and a Bachelor of Professional Studies from LIM College in Fashion Merchandising. Connect to Mariela on LinkedIn.