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Minnesota Careers Conference 2026

Friday May 1, 2026 from 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Normandale Community College in the Activities Building (Rm A2564 and A2566)
This event is in person—ample, free, on-campus parking is available.

$45 per person (breakfast/snacks included)
This conference provides contact hours for recertification.

Join Normandale Community College and MCDA, the Minnesota Career Development Association, at the Minnesota Careers Conference on Friday, May 1st. Again, this year, the conference will be hosted at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN, from 8 am- 12:30 pm.

Embracing the themes of change and connection, this year’s spring conference features a new half-day format. This approach gives participants the flexibility to also attend the 2026 NCDA Global Career Development Conference, hosted this summer in Minneapolis. It also allows us to reimagine our signature event while keeping it dynamic, engaging, and relevant.

You’ll still experience a content-rich conference with two keynote speakers and ample time for networking. And, as always, we’ll count on you to bring the most important part: the human element.

Coffee, breakfast, and snacks will be available throughout the morning, and CEUs will be offered.

Please note that capacity is limited. Please register ASAP to secure your spot.

Agenda

  • 8 - 8:30 am: Check-in/Networking/Breakfast
  • 8:30 - 9 am: President's Welcome & Membership meeting
  • 9 - 10 am: Anna Anderson, Helping Career Changers Translate Experience into New Careers

    Anna Anderson is pleased to present: Helping Career Changers Translate Experience into New Careers - An Ethical, AI-Supported Framework for Career Practitioners.

    Her interactive presentation will equip career development professionals with a practical framework for helping career changers translate their existing experience into new career paths using both human-centered coaching methods and ethical AI support tools.

    The session will guide participants in identifying transferable skills, reframing professional narratives, and preparing for interviews, while maintaining ethical standards, client confidentiality, and professional judgment when incorporating AI-based tools into career development practice.

    Anna will blend career development theory with real-world case examples, guided activities, and applied techniques that practitioners can immediately integrate into their work with clients navigating career transitions.

  • Break: 15 minutes (snacks provided)
  • 10:15 - 10:30 am: MCDA awards
  • 10:30 - 11:15 am: Tom Colosimo, Networking for Success

    Networking is all the rage! You hear about it everywhere as a way to tap into the hidden job markets. But is it really that difficult to build professional relationships?

    In this session, we will cover the components of effective networking strategies and apply these ideas through 3 breakout exercises that use purposeful themes, habits, and tactics. After practicing each of the 3 activities, we will come back together and discuss how the interactions went. The objective will be to learn and build confidence by focusing on the hows, whys, and wheres of networking.

    Get to know your colleagues in the session and find out why career development is “all about networking!”

  • Break: 15 minutes
  • 11:30 am - 12:30 pm: Dr. Aja King, When the Job Search Hurts: Addressing Emotional Barriers to Career Progress and Performance

    Dr. King’s presentation, When the Job Search Hurts: Addressing Emotional Barriers to Career Progress and Performance, will focus on mental health and self-care strategies for career practitioners and their clients.

    Prolonged job searches and career disruption often activate emotional responses such as shame, grief, frustration, anxiety, and identity instability. When these emotions go unaddressed, they can impair confidence, decision-making, motivation, and interview performance—ultimately impacting client outcomes and practitioner effectiveness.

    This session equips career development professionals with trauma-informed, consultation-based strategies to ethically address emotional barriers while maintaining forward momentum in their careers. Participants will gain practical tools that can be immediately integrated into career counseling, coaching, workforce development, and higher education settings—without crossing clinical boundaries.

    The goal is not therapy within career practice, but emotionally intelligent, scope-aligned intervention.

Speaker Details

Anna-A

Anna Anderson

PMI-PMP®, CAPM®, PMI-ATP, CSM, CSPO

Anna is the Founder of the Women in Project Management Network and ProjectPilot - an AI Powered Co-pilot for Project Execution. She is a certified PMP and Scrum Master with over 10+ years of experience leading complex IT and Business transformation projects across tech, government, healthcare, finance and insurance. She is also a LinkedIn instructor for the course "Succeeding in Project Management as an Introvert.” She blends enterprise delivery experience with coaching and mentorship to help people build confidence, visibility, and long-term momentum in their project management work and careers.

Dr-King

Dr. Aja King

Ed.D., LPCC

Dr. Aja King, Ed.D., LPCC, is an organizational wellbeing strategist, counseling psychologist, and founder of Brave Defiance Consulting. With over 25 years of experience in behavioral health, leadership development, and community systems work, she helps organizations strengthen workforce wellbeing, leadership resilience, and workplace culture. Her work focuses on translating psychological insight into practical strategies that support employee engagement, burnout prevention, and sustainable leadership practices. Dr. King has delivered leadership development and wellness programming for healthcare systems, universities, nonprofit organizations, and municipal initiatives, impacting over a thousand professionals. She is also the author of the children’s books “Finding My Cool” and “The Art of Sitting,” and is a frequent speaker on workforce wellbeing, trauma-informed leadership, and community healing.

Tom

Tom Colosimo

Career Architect & Strategist Consultant

Tom Colosimo is a career architect and strategy consultant with over 15 years in the career education/development field, five years in staffing/recruiting, and over 25 years in operational accounting across manufacturing, retail, and compliance. He has a strong reputation as a knowledgeable professional in networking for careers, promotional tactics, and job success, as well as resume content and format, LinkedIn use, and interviewing skills. Tom has presented at numerous signature events across various state chapters of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Institute of Supply Chain Management (ISM), as well as at many professional community organizations and university institutions.

This conference is offered in partnership between
Normandale Community College and the Minnesota Career Development Association (MCDA)
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