2019-20 NACE Board of Directors

In addition to his work on the NACE Board of Directors, Carlson is active in the association and has served on several committees and teams, including the Graduate Student Member Task Force, Finance and Audit Committee, Future Trends Committee, NACE Conference Committee, Career Readiness Competencies Model Team, and the Career Readiness Toolkit Tiger Team. He also blogs for NACE, has presented workshops on university recruiting at the NACE conference and other events, and serves as a mentor for new professionals. In 2011, he was the recipient of NACE’s Professional Change Maker Award.

Carlson holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and obtained his Change Management Advanced Practitioner Certification through Georgetown University. He is currently pursuing a master’s in public administration from Florida Tech.

Lasater’s service to NACE includes roles as Director-College on the Board and as a member of a variety of NACE teams and committees, including the Face2Face Committee, Member Outreach Team, Ambassador Program Committee, Leadership Advancement Program Committee, and Leadership Development Task Force. She also serves as a facilitator for the NACE Career Coaching Intensive training program, and co-wrote the “Coaching Fundamentals” workshop, which is part of the coaching certification program.

Lasater is frequently tapped by the national media, including U.S. News & World Report and the Chicago Tribune, for insights into career support. In addition, she has been recognized with the Kaplan Way Leadership Award for Continuous Transformation and by TechStars as a mentor and a Kaplan Ed Tech Accelerator.

She graduated from Illinois State University with a B.S. in speech communication before earning an M.A.Ed. in educational leadership from Argosy University. Lasater is certified as a Career Management Fellow through the Institution of Career Certification International and holds a certificate in executive management from University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business.

In addition to her roles on the NACE Board of Directors, she has served the association through a variety of committees and teams, including the Revised Principles Launch Team, Advocacy Advisory Committee,  Assessment Publications Review Team, Career Readiness Competencies Model Team, Finance and Audit Committee, the Principles for Professional Practice Committee, and the First-Destinations Surveys Team. She also served as a faculty member of NACE’s Management Leadership Institute, where she presented a class on ethical issues.

Guerra Gaier has further served the profession as President of the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SOACE), the San Antonio Colleges and Universities Career Center Association, and the Texas Association for Employment in Education. For her contributions, she has won the SOACE President's Award and the Texas State University Vice President's Award.

She is a graduate of St. Mary's University, where she earned a B.A. in English-communication arts and an M.A. in communication studies.

Guerrero served as co-chair of NACE’s 2015 Conference Committee, co-chaired the Ambassador Program Committee, and was a member of the Sourcing and Nomination Committee and Graduate Student Membership Task Force. In addition, he took part in the Leadership Advancement Committee and is a 2014 graduate of NACE’s Management Leadership Institute. Guerrero was named NACE’s Mentor of the Year in 2015, and earned a NACE Innovation Excellence Award in Global Initiatives in 2010. Additionally, he has co-authored articles for the NACE Journal and regularly presents on a range of topics, including emerging technologies and leadership.

Guerrero earned his doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California, a master’s in higher education administration from NYU, and an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University.

Pallante’s involvement with NACE includes previous service on the Board of Directors (2014 – 2016). She also has co-chaired several committees—Conference Program Committee (FY17), Employer Membership Task Force (FY18), Honors & Awards Committee (FY13), and Professional Development Advisory Committee (FY14). Pallante has also served as a member of a variety of committees for NACE, including Finance and Audit Committee, Sourcing and Nominations Committee, and the Mentorship and Coaching Committee. She is an alumna of the Leadership Advancement Program.

Pallante holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Kutztown University.

Blocker served on the NACE 2018 Conference Program Committee and is a presenter at NACE’s virtual summit on branding in fall 2018.

Blocker holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Cornell University and earned his bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in industrial education-human resource development.

At AAC&U, she established the association’s national Inclusive Excellence initiative, which advanced AAC&U’s strategic priority: Aim High and Make Excellence Inclusive. In addition, she directed the work of “Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future,” a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Prior to AAC&U, she held a variety of senior administrative roles at Vanderbilt University, where she conducted more than 20 studies on campus climate for diversity, student retention, and student use and impact of campus student programming and services. In addition, she is co-author of a number of publications, including Making a Real Difference With Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Change and Enacting Diverse Learning Environments: Improving the Climate for Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Higher Education, which focus on practices designed to enhance a climate of diversity, and The Revolving Door for Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Higher Education, which identifies factors that can contribute to successful recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority faculty.

Clayton-Pedersen consults nationally and internationally on a range of higher-education and diversity-related issues, including faculty professional development, program evaluation, and diversity and institutional change.

In her role as a Knowledge-Based Director, Clayton-Pedersen will assist NACE in developing strategies and action plans around practices of excellence to fulfill NACE’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. In addition she will share her expertise by consulting with the Inclusion Committee and by engaging in the development of quality programming at the NACE conference.

Clayton-Pedersen holds both a Ph.D. and M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University and earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Fernando’s service to NACE includes participation in the Leadership Advancement Program, and a member of the National Association Strategic Relationships Action Team, the Principles for Ethical Professional Practice Committee and the Research Advisory Committee.

He earned his BA from The Johns Hopkins University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.  He was also a visiting student at the University of Oxford studying politics, philosophy and economics. 

Prior to joining the NACE Board in 2017, Harding served on several NACE committees, including the 21st Century Model Career Center Team, which developed a three-part framework for career services in the 21st century; the First Timers Committee; and the Member Engagement Committee. He has also served as president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE) and the Career Development Professionals of Indiana state association.

Harding was awarded the SoACE Imaginative Spirit award for innovation and has earned an assortment of excellence in contribution awards from his employers and organizations with which he has worked.

Harding graduated with B.A. in religion from Anderson University and with an M.S. in education from Indiana University.

She presented at NACE’s inaugural Executive Leadership Symposiums, was a participant in the Management Leadership Institute, served as co-chair on the 2016-17 NACE Honors and Awards Committee, and as co-chair for the 2018 Conference Program Committee. She also contributed as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, National Metro Programming Committee, and the “Future of We” Task Force.

Helbig earned a B.A. in English from Indiana University, Bloomington and a M.A. in higher education from the University of Arizona.

McLawhorn co-chaired NACE’s College Membership Task Force in FY18; served on a variety of NACE committees, including the 2014 Conference Committee, Member Engagement Task Force (FY17), and Conference First Timers Committee (FY17); and is an alumna of the Leadership Advancement Program. In addition, McLawhorn has been active in driving NACE’s career readiness initiative and served on both the Career Readiness Competencies Model Team (FY15) and Career Readiness Toolkit Tiger Team (FY16). In fall 2016, she co-presented a NACE webinar on the career readiness competencies. She is also active with local and regional associations, serving as president for both SoACE and VACE.

McLawhorn earned her master’s degree in vocational education and her bachelor’s degree in education from Virginia Tech.

Her service to NACE includes participation in the Leadership Advancement Program and leading as co-chair for the 2018-19 Honors and Awards Committee, 2011-12 Diversity and Inclusion Committee, 2014 Conference Committee, Leadership Advancement Program Committee, Membership Diversity Tiger Team and the Member Value Proposition Task Force. She was also a contributing member to the 2016-17 Honors and Awards Committee, 2010-11 Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the 2013 Conference Committee. In 2016 she received the NACE/DirectEmployers Catalyst Award which recognizes excellence in the recruiting field.

Quinn received a BS in Human Resources and Marketing from Boston College.

Active in NACE, Treccia has served on the Honors & Awards Committee and the Conference Committee. In addition, he has presented at the NACE annual conference, served as a mentor in the NACE mentoring program, and won the 2013 Global Initiatives Excellence Award and the 2014 Recruiting Excellence Award.

Treccia holds an M.B.A. in marketing and strategy from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Service to NACE includes participation in the Leadership Advancement Program and as a contributing member to the Principles for Professional Practice Committee, Membership Diversity and Outreach Team and the Leadership Advancement Program Committee.

Woitkowski earned a BA from North Carolina State University – Poole College of Management.

Prior to joining the NACE staff, VanDerziel was with the Field Museum, where he most recently served as chief human resources officer and as chief of staff for the 85-member Board of Trustees, driving strategic priorities and goals and delivering innovative solutions to enhance the overall museum experience for visitors, nearly 700 volunteers, 500 staff members, and 200 interns. His 23 years with the museum included experiences leading strategy, people, volunteers, marketing, educational programming, and technology functions.

Earlier roles included a corporate recruiting position with Norrell Corporation and a position in higher education as associate director of student enrollment at National Louis University.

VanDerziel also served as a volunteer leader on the NACE Board of Directors, including as vice president-employer (2004 – 2006) and as president-elect, president, and past-president (2008 – 2011). He also contributed to NACE and the membership in other capacities, serving as chair and facilitator for the task force that revised the Principles for Ethical Professional Practice, chairing the inaugural Advocacy Advisory Committee, and facilitating the development of NACE’s strategic plan. In 2014, he was inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows in recognition of his contributions to the profession.

VanDerziel is a senior professional in human resources through the HR Certification Institute and is a senior certified professional through the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).