2018-19 NACE Board of Directors

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.

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.

Fowler’s service to NACE includes roles as Director-Employer on the Board and as a member of a variety of committees and teams, including the 21st Century Career Services Model Team, Conference Committee, Sourcing and Nomination Committee, Finance and Audit Committee, and the Awards and Honors Committee. In addition, Fowler has been active in developing key frameworks for the profession: In 2012, he served as part of an advisory group that developed NACE’s professional standards for university relations and recruiting, and, in 2016, he served on a team that developed competencies for university relations and recruiting professionals on behalf of NACE. Fowler is also involved in mentoring those new to the field.

Fowler has also been active at the regional level, providing leadership as President of the Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges and Employers, and helping to develop the association’s 3i Program, which supports innovative programming in career services and recruiting.

Fowler earned a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in public management from the California State University, Sacramento. Also, he is a member of the National State Auditors Association.

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.

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.

Before joining NBCU, Blocker served at Bank of America, as vice president, diversity manager of campus recruiting and as vice president, campus recruiter and intern program manager. He also served as a college recruiter at Bank of America and Lowe’s.

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.

Previously, he served as the executive director of the Career Center at Hofstra College and as associate director of the Office of Career Development at Vassar College. His earlier professional experiences include roles at Westfield Companies and Miami University.

Burke is a member of NACE’s career coaching faculty. In addition, his service to NACE includes co-chairing the 2017 Membership Ambassadors Committee and the 2014 Conference Committee. He also served as a member on various NACE committees, including the NACE Conference First-Timers Committee, Career Readiness Toolkit Tiger Team, Professional Development Advisory Committee, and Face2Face Committee.

Burke holds a master’s of professional studies in humanistic education from SUNY-New Paltz, and earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of Saint Rose. In addition, he earned a certification as a community mediator through the Albany Law School.

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.

Active in NACE, Flanary co-chaired the Honors & Awards Committee in FY18 and the Principles for Professional Practice Committee in FY17. In addition, he has served as a member of the 2016 Conference Committee and Strategic Relations Committee (FY15). He also participated in the Leadership Advancement Program (FY15) and is part of NACE’s university relations and recruiting faculty, presenting workshops and webinars on assessing the URR function, school selection, and leadership.

Flanary holds a master’s degree in higher education from Harvard University and earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and accountancy from Auburn University.

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.

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.

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.

Saleem served as both the co-chair and as a member of the NACE Principles Committee, and contributed to NACE’s effort in developing competencies for university relations and recruiting professionals, as well as joined NACE leadership in presenting the competencies during the annual conference. She was most recently a member of the NACE 2017 Conference & Expo Committee. Saleem also took part in the NACE Leadership Advancement Program.

Saleem holds an M.P.A. with a focus on nonprofit, public, and organizational management from Marist College, an M.P.H. in public health from SUNY-Albany, and a B.S. from SUNY-New Paltz.

His service to NACE includes serving as a member of the Sourcing and Nomination Committee and as co-chair for the Professional Development Advisory Committee. He also has taken part in NACE’s Mentor Program to provide guidance to others in university relations and recruiting, and is an alumnus of the Leadership Advancement Program. He currently serves as a facilitator for the "Assessing the University Relations and Recruiting Function" training offered via NACE.

Soltys earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in economics from Rutgers University.