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Fall 2020 Speaker Schedule
August 18             Welcome Back - State Director
August 25             State Officer Welcome - Student Lead Chapter Meetings
September 1          Facility Management Industry Speaker - Carolyn McGary
September 8       Unpacking the Membership Kit, Registration & Access
September 15        Manufacturing Industry Speaker
October 6             State California Dept. of Education  - CTE Update Cont.
October 13              Entertainment Industry Speaker
October 20           Contest Selection & Registration
October 27             Building & Construction Industry Speaker
November 3         Chapter of Excellence Program Tips & Resources
November 10         Medical Industry Speaker
November 17       Public Speaking with the State Officers   
December 1           Culinary Industry Speaker 
December 8         Preparing for your Virtual Contest
December 15         Architectural Design & Engineering Industry Speaker

Episode Descriptions & Recording Links

December 8, 2020

Presented by State Staff - Preparing for your Virtual Contest​

This is a quick update on where to find your contest information as well as a walk through how you will receive information like contestant numbers, contest links to appointment and upload links for files.

December 1, 2020

Speaker Series - Culinary Arts Careers, Chef Carlos Pineda

Yes Chef! Join in for the energy buffet that one of our industry experts serves in the field of Culinary Arts. A beacon in the Gilroy Community, Chef Carlos is informing our students with internship opportunities and kitchen stories. 

November 17, 2020

SkillsUSA California State Officers Present POWERR​

Join us November 17th at 2:00pm to learn more about the POWERR formula and public speaking! The CA state officers will be presenting this speaker series. Remember to invite your peers! Hope to see there ! 

November 3, 2020

A Walk Through the Chapter of Excellence Program​

The SkillsUSA Chapter of Excellence Program it a vital part of being involved in a CTSO. It provides structure to empower student leaders to prepare their chapter for their school year. And it shows advisors how to be facilitators and provide guidance for their students to do the program. SkillsUSA California Chapter and Membership Coordinator, Loretta Cabuyadao will walk through CEP and how to complete Level 1 before the deadline on November 13, 2020.

October 20, 2020

SkillsUSA California State Staff

The leadership team for SkillsUSA California presents on how to choose contest and register for the Regional Skill & Leadership Conference. This year Regional contest will be run virtually and the team provide information to help prepare for this type of contest.  

October 13, 2020

Bryan Glispie & Guest

Bryan is a former member of SkillsUSA and has served on our Arts, Media and Entertainment Technical committee for many years. His first hand experience with SkillsUSA along with his vast industry experience give our members a great opportunity to take a look inside the Entertainment Industry and how SkillsUSA members are better prepared to enter into a career in television, broadcasting and radio. Join Bryan and his guest for an inside look Tuesday at 2:00. (Recoding unavailable)

September 1, 2020

Facility Management Career Path

Did you know that the equivalent of New York City is built in the world each month?  Did you also know that the operations and maintenance of a building is the second largest cost for a company?  Who ensures the spaces are safe, comfortable, efficient, and fit the needs of the people using them?  Let us talk about facility management, a diverse and in-demand career path, the many disciplines that connect to it, and what it may mean for you!    

 

Carolyn McGary is the Wonderwoman of FM with over 15 years of facilities and project management experience in both the public and private sectors involved in managing numerous tenant improvement projects, decommissions, HQ relocations, and providing operational cost savings. 

Carolyn is a CFM, SFP, and an IFMA Qualified Instructor for the FMP credential.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Facilities Management and Technology Studies from Colorado State University – Pueblo, and a Master of Science in Project Management from Colorado Technical University.

October 6, 2020

Tara Neilson, Education Programs Consultant with the California Department of Education CTE Leadership Office

SkillsUSA State Advisor since June 2019, before that I was a Chapter Advisor and CTE teacher for 13 years at Pioneer High School in Woodland, California. I was the SkillsUSA 2019 Region 4 Advisor of the Year. In my tenure as one of the Chapter Advisors, we received a Gold Level Chapter of Excellence; sent Regional, State and National Champions over the years; supported a State Officer; established our local competitive event with industry and community college partners; and developed a leadership program with a continued full slate of chapter officers and monthly chapter meetings.

 

Topics that will be discussed:

  • Status of the State CTE Plan

  • CTEIG Application Timeline

  • Using 16-17 and 18-19 CTEIG funds before 12/31/20 deadline and how the CTSO can use those funds

  • Perkins Application Timeline

  • Presentation Slides

Seal_of_the_California_Department_of_Edu

September 15, 2020

Diana Ramirez - Manufacturing Careers

 

Diana Ramirez is the Director of Community Relations at Reborn Cabinets headquartered in Anaheim, California. She’s worked and lived in Anaheim for over 35 years, with 30+ of those years working at Reborn Cabinets. Diana is an Ambassador for the Anaheim Chamber, Board Member of the Lake Forest Chamber and serves on the Military Advisory Committee for North San Diego Chamber. Diana was selected as a 2019 District 46 Woman of the Year award by Congressman Lou Correa and Volunteer of the Year for the City of Lake Forest. Volunteering, in local youth sports programs along with various non-profit organizations, is one of her favorite ways to give back to the community in which she’s lived and raised her son. Seeing the need for community involvement, Diana hopes to lead by the example that if you want to move forward, you have to give back. Working in the manufacturing industry, Diana took this opportunity to learn the different phases of manufacturing. From product, to part numbers, to assembly to installation. Diana is a strong advocate for MFG. Day (Manufacturing Day) and is eager to help Anaheim businesses get more involved in the program by opening their doors to students and the general job-seeking public during October’s Manufacturing Month. Her passion and enthusiasm are apparent whenever she gets the opportunity to speak about skilled trade opportunities for future generations. #MFGDay20 (Recoding unavailable)

Diana Ramirez.jpg

September 8, 2020

Unpacking the SkillsUSA Membership Kit, Registration & Access

 

SkillsuUSA California staff will walk you through the online membership kit and highlight some of the best resources, marketing materials and training tools. We will also introduce the new features on the SkillsUSA membership registration site, registration best practices and how you will be able to access tools and curriculum. Students can learn that there is more to chapter operations then chapter meetings while advisors will learn how to help their student leaders navigate the system so they can facilitate more.

Digital Membership Kit

National Registration Site

September 1, 2020

Carolyn McGary - Facility Management Career Path

Did you know that the equivalent of New York City is built in the world each month?  Did you also know that the operations and maintenance of a building is the second largest cost for a company?  Who ensures the spaces are safe, comfortable, efficient, and fit the needs of the people using them?  Let us talk about facility management, a diverse and in-demand career path, the many disciplines that connect to it, and what it may mean for you!    

 

Carolyn McGary is the Wonderwoman of FM with over 15 years of facilities and project management experience in both the public and private sectors involved in managing numerous tenant improvement projects, decommissions, HQ relocations, and providing operational cost savings. 

Carolyn is a CFM, SFP, and an IFMA Qualified Instructor for the FMP credential.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Facilities Management and Technology Studies from Colorado State University – Pueblo, and a Master of Science in Project Management from Colorado Technical University.

August 25, 2020

SkillsUSA California State Officers

The 2020-2021 SkillsUSA California State Officer Team will be speaking at this week’s Speaker Series about Student-led Chapter Meetings. We would like to invite all SkillsUSA advisors and chapter officers to join us on Zoom and learn how to start the year off strong with an engaging, detailed plan of action. In this workshop, we’ll be discussing important topics such as having virtual chapter meetings, recruiting new members, finding fundraising opportunities, organizing the program of work, and starting the chapter of excellence program. These are all vital because SkillsUSA chapters must learn to adapt to the new distance learning environment. While students and teachers alike are easing into this new online setting, we hope to answer any questions that may arise and help each chapter succeed in building an active SkillsUSA community. Download Slides Here. (Recoding unavailable)

June 16, 2020

Brenda Fernandez - Geocon Consultants, Inc., Senior Staff Engineer

Brenda is a registered EIT and Senior Staff Engineer at Geocon Consultants, Inc. She obtained a civil engineering bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento. She currently provides field engineering, materials testing, and laboratory materials testing support. Her project experience includes ground-up construction, rehabilitation projects, transportation infrastructure, water/wastewater infrastructure, commercial and industrial developments, redevelopment projects, educational facilities, and institutional facilities.

June 9, 2020

Meet the 2020-2021 SkillsUSA California State Officer Team

this session will provide you with the opportunity to meet the incoming State Officer Team. We hope that you will put this on your calendar and attend the session tomorrow afternoon to learn more about this amazing group of student leaders as they begin their year of service as SkillsUSA California State Officer Team Members. SkillsUSA California would like you to join and welcome your 2020-2021 State Officers:  

 

Region 1;  Priyanka Prasad attends Abraham Lincoln High in San Jose; Derek Thach, attends Silicon Valley Career Technical Education in San Jose

Region 3; Jocelyn Gonzales attends Van Nuys High School in Van Nuys; Layali Homod attends Academies of the Antelope Valley in Lancaster; Jolene Lee attends South Pasadena High School in South Pasadena; Vani Tyagi attends Academies of the Antelope Valley in Lancaster

Region 5; Natalya Enriquez attends Franklin High School in Stockton; Maria Moreno attends Venture Academy in Stockton

Region 6; Janessa Baza-Lazalde attends Desert Hot Springs High School in Desert Hot Springs; Eshan Subramaniam attends Apple Valley High School in Apple Valley

May 26, 2020

Student State Officer Speakers

 

Join your 2019-2020 State Officers. Parliamentarian Jenifer Barajas and Reporter Ayush Pareek will discuss Empowering Student Leadership, the connection between our mission and the SkillsUSA Framework.  These officers have displayed the skills to advocate that everyone has a voice and to become a leader in many different ways 

 

Region Vice President, Micah Mekhitarian and Vice President, Jennifer Lopez  will talk about their experience and the importance of implementing Career Essentials into the classroom.  As all State Officers are required to complete the Fundamental Course they can inform the teacher and students the ease of use of this program to help measure their career-readiness skills

 

Jenifer Barajas plans on studying Global Studies, Ayush Pareek will attend the University of Southern California and major in Business Management, Jennifer Lopez will attend the University of California, Santa Cruz and major in Electrical Engineering while Micah Mekhitarian will return for his senior year of high school at South Pasadena High.

May 12, 2020

Kimberly Pease - Cyber Security Careers

Kimberly Pease is co-founder and Vice President of Citadel Information Group, Inc., a California Information Security/Cyber Security Management firm. Ms. Pease has been awarded Cybersecurity Professional of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal CTO Awards 2017. She has an extensive background in the applications of technology and security solutions. During her career she has implemented computer systems for a wide-range of organizations in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Additionally, she has led installation projects at the Pentagon, the Government Printing Office and many state government offices. She is a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and a vCISO-for-hire (virtual Chief Information Security Officer) for her clients. Ms. Pease has been a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association since 2002, and has served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer (2008 – 2011) and Education Director (2006 - 2007). She also served as Chair of the annual conference, ISSA LA Information Security Summit, for over 7 years. She has been a member of Infragard since 2002, which is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the private sector. She is a former CIO (Chief Information Officer) for a privately held company. Ms. Pease was previously a member of ASQ (American Society of Quality) and has held a Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) certification. She speaks frequently on information security, has published several articles and has been interviewed numerous times on ABC News Good Morning America and NBC News.

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