Senior Career Coaches

Katherine Akbar

Senior Interview coach

President, Interview Aikido coach, and award-winning writer Katherine Akbar holds a BA in political science with high honors from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.

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, as well as 17 journalistic articles. She ghost wrote the five-star-rated Success: Tales from the Front by Darnell Palmer. She received the Virginia Voss Memorial Award for Excellence in Writing in two categories—Journalism and Academic Writing.

After serving as an aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy and U.S. diplomat in Africa and Italy, Katherine worked as a human rights professional in Palestine, 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 19 years’ teaching, tutoring, and coaching experience and two years’ professional acting experience also prepared her well to provide mock interview services and coaching.

Katherine supervises all YES services and is a Certified Career Strategy Coach, Certified Interview Prep Coach, and Certified Talent Optimization Consultant. When not working at YES, Katherine can be seen trying to keep her devoted, hyper-vigilant pocket bully out of trouble or volunteering as a human rights advocate and party activist, often failing to keep herself out of trouble.

Michael Akbar

Career Success Coach

Michael Akbar is a Certified Professional Career Coach, Certified Federal Career Coach, Certified Diagnostic Coach, and Certified Business Advisor. He is also a senior executive with extensive experience working in start-up, 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.

Krasi Shapkarova

Sr. Editor & Career Coach

Krasi is a Certified Strengths Coach and a Certified Career Management Coach with 11+ years of experience as a career coach, writer, English tutor, and educator. She holds Masters of Arts (MA) in international human rights from the University of Denver and in clinical psychology from University of Houston - Clear Lake, as well as a Certificate in Teaching Writing from the Johns Hopkins University. In her role as associate director of coaching & education at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Krasi leveraged her enthusiasm for life design and professional storytelling to support business professionals through all steps of the career journey, including career exploration, networking, and mock interviewing. Writing has always been an essential aspect of Krasi’s life, and she is excited to help clients communicate their value to potential employers through high-quality documents and optimized LinkedIn profiles. When not working with clients, Krasi can be found exploring new and familiar places through walking, often hot on the trail of the most delicious baked goods in town.

Dana Westerfield

Senior Career Coach

Leveraging a complimentary background in coaching, recruitment, and psychology, Dana utilizes her unique experiences to help job seekers navigate the job market and land their dream job fast. Dana is passionate about forming authentic connections and helping others. She has spent over a decade coaching individuals from varying industries and across all levels of organizations in developing, designing, and implementing successful job search strategies.

Dana is client focused with a passion for analyzing needs and generating actionable solutions that achieve objectives. She excels in facilitating conversations that promote client growth, and her ability to understand client aspirations enables her to provide sound guidance regarding next possible career steps. Dana holds a dual M.A./B.A. in counseling/psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP).

When she’s not working, Dana sometimes runs away from her two rambunctious boys and naughty goldendoodle to practice her plane flying skills. “Boeing, take me away!”