Our Career Coaches and Professional Resume Writers 

She is a contributing author of Seeing the Light: Personal Encounters with the Middle East and Islam and has published academic papers in the Michigan Journal of Political Science and the Michigan State Journal of International Law. She received the Virginia Voss Memorial Award for Excellence in Writing in two categories – Journalism and Academic Writing.

After serving as a U.S. diplomat in Africa and Italy, Katherine worked as a human rights professional in the Middle East, where she won $3M for grant projects she developed and wrote. As executive director of a civil rights non-profit in New York, Katherine did extensive public speaking. Katherine’s nine years’ teaching and tutoring experience and two years’ professional acting experience also enable her to provide mock interview services and coaching.

She ghost wrote the five-star-rated Success: Tales from the Front by Darnell Palmer. Katherine supervises all services and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Newly wed to Michael Akbar, Katherine is planning a family. When not working at YES, Katherine can be seen acting on area stages and screens.

mature, and growth business environments. He has a unique blend of sales, marketing, and operations experience in the IT, manufacturing, services, and federal sectors, as well as nonprofit board of directors experience. In addition to 7 years helping people get their dream job, Michael has spent 14 years as an entrepreneur coaching business owners to break through their barriers to success. Throughout, he has demonstrated strong communications and process skills, offering strategic and tactical leadership during significant transitions. Michael’s CPCC certification is from the same association that provides Certified Professional Resume Writers with Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) certification. Wed to the pres (aka “jefe”), Michael specializes in keeping Katherine sane as well as dreaming up ideas for YES’ expansion.

Jamal has overseen departments and programs for numerous international companies and U.S. agencies. These include Constellis, Inova, Comcast, DynCorp International, AECOM, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State. Jamal specializes in coordinating expatriate and veteran hiring initiatives. He is also experienced with high-volume and executive recruiting. Using his diverse skill set, Jamal has built top-performing teams both domestically and internationally. He holds a master’s degree in human resources management from Concordia University.

industry. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University. Kristen specializes in directing recruitment efforts for domestic and international staff. While with CSRA, she oversaw HR services for 500 employees. At CyberPoint, she established a focus group to develop diversity issues, such as an annual Women in Cybersecurity event that drew over 100 attendees and led to new hires. Kristen also spearheaded the talent acquisition process for the CyberPoint Abu Dhabi office, facilitating growth from 20 to over 130 expatriate staff.

legal services industries. While at Arora Group, Inc., she led HR functions for more than 800 geographically dispersed employees. As the director of employment with Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, PC, she led a recruiting team to hire over 120 physicians, executives, and operational staff members per year. Pattie develops and implements full-cycle professional recruitment, organizational development, workforce planning, and employee onboarding and engagement programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Cincinnati and is certified as a leadership and training instructor.

University of Bridgeport and has over 10 years of HR and organizational development experience. Tamika specializes in talent management, training, and leadership coaching. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), as well as a SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). Tamika is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, Northern Virginia Society for Human Resource Management, American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, and LeadingAge Virginia HR Committee.

recruitment and employee retention. As an HR manager for the United States Air Force, Renata assessed and placed over 600 Air Force recruiters. While at GroundProbe Pty Ltd, she provided HR guidance to 8 business managers located throughout Australia, China, Indonesia, South Africa, South America, and the United States. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Trident University International.

Anita has overseen recruiting for the Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, helping it grow from 100 to 160 employees. At Lee Technologies, she transformed the employee benefits process, introducing changes that significantly reduced costs. Anita holds a master’s degree in HR administration from the University of Maryland—College Park. She specializes in implementing strategic initiatives for talent acquisition and retention.

and maximizing employee productivity. As the director of talent management for National Quality Forum, he has recruited, trained, and led engagement initiatives for a workforce of over 100 employees. During a time of rapid growth, he instituted the use of an applicant tracking system, enabling easy tracking of data used in affirmative action planning. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree from Salisbury University. He is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) certified, a SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), and a Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist (CEAS).