Creating Your Career Portfolio

Anna Graf Williams, Ph.D, is a successful business woman and cofounder/senior partner of Learnovation, LLC, an Indianapolis-based publishing and career advancement company. Anna has her roots in food service, strategic planning, and marketing, with her undergraduate degree in consumer and family studies from the University of Illinois and her master's degree in Restaurant Hotel Management from Purdue University. Technology and instructional design work together with curriculum design in Anna's second master's degree to frame her Ph.D in Educational Administration.

Anna has coauthored over 29 books, among whose titles are: Creating Your Career Portfolio At-a-Glance Guide for Students. 3d ed.; Immigrant's Guide to the American Workplace; Family Guide to the American Workplace; Quick Reference Guide to Food Safely and Sanitation; and, Food Safety Fundamentals. Plus 11 videos and a book on tape to name a few!

Anna was formerly one of the youngest full professors in the country having worked at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. She developed several courses including both graduate and undergraduate diversity management courses. Anna expanded her outcomes assessment expertis through team efforts of standardizing of internship programs.

Anna edited the national career advice publication, Hosteur, for hospitality students for five years from 1990-1995. She was also active in Council for Hotel Restaurant Intuitional Education (CHRIE), where she chaired the professional development committee for seven years. Anna is an active member of the Food Service Consultant Society (FSCS), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN).

Anna has published over 250 articles on the topics of career advancement, experiential education, outcomes assessment, hospitality/tourism, and career portfolios. Anna is a popular guest on the nationally syndicated The Career Clinic (c) radio show. Anna is a national public speaker on life skills, career portfolios, and career advancement, having given over 500 presentations. For more details visit the web site www.learnovation.com.

Anna and Karen Hall have focused on career portfolios since 1995, standardizing the process, data collection systems, and standardized curriculum to teach the process. They have written articles and sold tens of thousands of books on the topic. Anna and Karen also co-own Careers with Promise, a company targeting life skills and the delivery of services.

Karen J. Ball. Karen Hall is the "how-to" specialist of the Learnovation, LLC team. As co-founder and senior partner, Karen's focus is in instructional design and product development. Over the past seven years, Karen has spent time refining the mechanics of the career portfolio including the three-hour emergency instructions, templates, and e-portfolio concepts.

Karen has a master's degree in Instructional Computing from Purdue University where she specialized in instructional design and computer-assisted instruction. Karen has a bachelor's degree in office administration, with emphasis on management information systems from Illinois State University.

Karen has a background in corporate training, from the design and development of materials and documentation to classroom and onsite delivery. She worked as a corporate trainer for a software development company for seven years where she designed and created training programs, materials, and documentation for several different products for the nonprofit industry.

Karen is the coauthor of Creating your Career Portfolio At-a-Glance Guide for Students. 3d ed.; Creating Your Career Portfolio Practical Exercises; 791e Family Guide to the American Workplace; and the Immigrants Guide to the American Workplace. She has given many presentations on the Career Portfolio concept and has presented at national conferences and workshops.

When not writing, she is managing the graphic arts and leadership projects in e-training and life skills development for Learnovation, LLC. She is also a co-owner of Careers with Promise, a life skills and services delivery company.

Kyle Shadix, CCC, MS. RD. Chef Kyle is a Certified Chef de Cuisine (American Culinary Federation), and received a B.S. degree in Consumer Foods and Nutrition with a minor in Food Science from the University of Georgia, Athens. He spent his junior year abroad in Orleans, France, where he was immersed in French language and culture. Chef Kyle trained at the famed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he graduated with honors.

While at New York University, Chef Kyle was a teaching fellow in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies where he graduated with an M.S. degree in Clinical Nutrition. He completed his dietetic internship at the prestigious Mount Sinai Medical Center (NYC) and God's Love We Deliver. He is a registered dietitian.

Chef Kyle has worked for various companies and institutions including Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Food Group New York City, Daily Soup Company, Gotham Bar & Grill, Mitchl/Abdale Associates for the United Way, Bouley Bakery, personal chef to playwright Terrence McNally and his late partner Glary Bonasorte, and other freelance work.

As an active member in the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Chef Kyle serves on the Membership Advisory Board. Kyle is also the founder and president of the National Organization of Men in Nutrition (NOMIN), a networking group of the ADA. He is a contributing author to the MinuteMeals cookbook series (published by Wiley), and he and Milton Stokes, RD, are co-writing Becoming a Nutritionist, to be published by Prentice Hall in 2005. Chef Kyle also writes a monthly column for Today's Dietitian, a monthly news magazine for nutrition professionals, where he also serves on the editorial advisory board.

Kyle is also the managing partner, along with Milton Stokes, in Culinary Nutrition Consultants, Inc. Please visit www.culinarynutritionist.com for more on this exciting venture.

D. Milton Stokes, RD. Milton Stokes is a registered dietitian in New York City who works as clinical nutrition manager for Sodexho at North General Hospital. In addition, he's managing partner of his business, Culinary Nutrition Consultants, Inc. (www.culinarynutritionist.com), and a freelance writer.

Milton is very involved with the American Dietetic Association and its affiliates, including newsletter writing and editing, Photo courtesy of Erin McCall book reviewing, and serving in various volunteer and elected positions. His freelance writing has appeared in Newsweek, WeightWatchers.com, Family Doctor, American Health and Fitness, IDEA Fitness Journal, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, The Guide to World Nutrition and Health, and numerous contributions to Today's Dietitian. Milton also spent 15 months as a weekly nutrition and health columnist for S1imFast.com.

Milton's undergraduate degree is from Murray State University in Kentucky, and he received a dietetic internship appointment to Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. He is currently working on his master's of public health and finishing his second book, Becoming a Nutritionist, for Prentice Hall.