CareerCatchers works to promote career stability and self-sufficiency for every client through individualized counseling, training, and support. Since 2007, CareerCatchers has provided one-on-one sustained guidance for some 2,000 low-income and otherwise disadvantaged local residents.
Our services are provided through the efforts of our Staff, Board of Directors, Volunteers, and Partners.
CareerCatchers’ mission is to get every client into training and a long-term career by providing individualized employment and job skills counseling:
To ensure stable employment and upward mobility;
To identify and encourage participation in work skills and training programs;
To enhance self-esteem and foster empowerment.
About Our Services
We help our clients gain access to employment opportunities through teaching effective job search techniques, including networking and the use of on and off line resources. We draw upon community partnerships. In addition, we provide support to the newly employed to ensure they retain their jobs and advance in their positions. All clients are encouraged to seek career opportunities that lead to fulfilling their long-term goals and reaching their potential rather than accepting dead-end, entry-level positions.
CAREER CATCHERS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
To support a full productive life for all with whom we come in contact, CareerCatchers champions policies and practices which empower a just, inclusive and equitable nation and recognize the dignity of all individuals. Our vision, programs, and mission build on the core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe in being compassionate to all individuals. This belief informs our actions, including creating a racially equitable environment, and a feeling of inclusion and belonging for all of our clients, staff, volunteers, and board members.
CareerCatchers provides employment and job skills counseling to Montgomery County’s most vulnerable citizens, the very groups that are left behind when it comes to equitable job opportunities. Our clients are the underserved and the unemployed: domestic violence victims, homeless, foreign-born, the disabled, previously incarcerated, youth aging out of foster care, and disconnected youth. Our mission is to help these individuals find rewarding and sustainable jobs that provide dignity and a way out of poverty. We serve all groups without regard to race, gender, immigration status, disability, or income.
As an organization, CareerCatchers is attuned to the concept of racial equity. We have expanded our board and workforce to include individuals from diverse backgrounds, including our recent staff hires, our volunteers, and our internship programs, through which we hired and trained low-income immigrant youth for work at CareerCatchers. We collect information on our clients’ ethnicity in our CRM system, and use this as a guide to our performance in this area.
MEET THE TEAM
Mariana A. McNeill
Executive Director/Co-Founder
Mana is a Master Career Counselor who, with Ronnie Haber, co-founded CareerCatchers in 2007. From 2004-2007, she worked as a contractor to the Employment Initiative Program at the Housing Opportunities Commission. For the past twenty years she has been both employment counselor and executive coach working for both large corporations and on her own. Mana holds a B.A. and a M.A. in economics from Georgetown University and an M.A. in counseling from Seton Hall University.
K. Kunda
Program Director
Kunda has over ten years of career coaching, recruitment, community outreach and program management experience. She brings her considerable experience as career and life coach, recruiter, motivator and mentor to the vulnerable populations served by CareerCatchers. Ms. Kunda holds an M.A. in human resource management from Keller Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in psychology and sociology from the City College of the City University of New York.
Christopher Botros
Career Coach
Christopher, as a career coach, has had a vast experience working with individuals looking to make a transition in their life. Prior to CareerCatchers, he worked with hundreds of individuals to find employment and get off state assistance. He also set up the first fully-certified transitional home in the state of CT, served on an Alcohol & Drug Policy Council subcommittee and various coalitions to assist individuals in recovery, employment, and youth initiatives. Mr. Botros holds an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Capella University, an M.B.A. from Lebanon Valley College, and a B.A. in Psychology from Millersville University.
Maria Dent-Turner
Senior Career Coach
Maria Dent-Turner is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts where she earned her degree in Social Psychology, and has since gained more than 20 years case management and workforce development experience through Montgomery, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties in their Maryland American Job Centers working on local and government grant projects. Her career path has taken her from Human Resources to Employment Services and then to Workforce Development working in partnership with private and public agencies becoming serving some of Maryland’s most vulnerable job seekers. She is happy to return to Montgomery County to provide career navigation services as a Senior Career Coach with CareerCatchers.
Justin Dignan
Data Analyst
Justin graduated from American University with a B.S. in Business Administration and specializations in Information Technology and Finance. In his data analysis role, he helps expand the organizational capacity of CareerCatchers to support staff in assisting clients. He manages client data collected through the CRM database CharityEngine, compiles outcomes needed for reports or fundraising efforts, and manages the CareerCatchers website.
William Hegwood
Career Coach (ESG Lead)
William has over ten years of experience in education, community outreach and business services. He specializes in dismantling silos that impair organizations from reaching their full potential. Mr. Hegwood holds an M.A. in Education from City College of NY, a B.A. in History from Hampton University, and an Associate Professional in Human Resources from HRCI. He is currently working on a M.S. in Instructional Learning and Design at UMGC.
Maria Herald
Career Coach
Maria has over ten years of Career Coaching, Case Management, Trauma Informed Care Training for foster families, workshop facilitation, program management and teaching. Her passion is supporting and recognizing others as they move forward on their journey. She has a BA in psychology and is a certified Global Career Development Facilitator.
Emma Kunda
Volunteer Coordinator
Ms. Emma Kunda has over 10 years of experience in Management and Sales. She possesses in depth knowledge of the employment process in her area of expertise. Since joining CareerCatchers as the Volunteer Coordinator, Emma’s contributions have tapped her abilities and experience in recruitment and training. She manages our continually growing volunteer program as the liaison between the management team, clients, career coaches, and volunteers. Emma holds a B.S in Business Administration from Siena Heights University.
Chris Stephens
Career Coach
Chris provides IT and database support for CareerCatchers as well as career coaching services to clients. Mr. Stephens conducts CareerCatchers’ weekly Job Club, where existing and prospective clients can drop in to receive job-searching advice and get help in creating resumes, applying for jobs, and writing associated letters. Mr. Stephens holds a B.A. in Government from The College of William & Mary. Prior to joining CareerCatchers, he worked as a volunteer, providing IT and database support for CareerCatchers as well as job coaching. His interest in career counseling became his passion and volunteering turned into a career.
Rogger Valle
Bilingual Career Coach
Rogger has over five years of career experience in the banking industry. Rogger is Bilingual and brings his experience of counseling people from different backgrounds about their financial needs. He holds a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Certus College, Lima-Peru. Rogger is currently enrolled at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is on track to complete his Bachelor’s degree in Social Work by May 2022. Since joining CareerCatchers, Rogger provides individualized support and guidance to clients with different approaches, strategies, and techniques to elevate their career path.
Santos G Guerrero
Bilingual Career Coach
Santos’s background is Workforce Development at CASA, Community engagement, administration. He graduated from Salisbury University, Salisbury Maryland with a dual degree in Business Administration and International Relations with a minor in Spanish. He joined CareerCatchers to work with our low income Montgomery County residents.
Whitney Ridley
AmeriCorps VISTA Grant Writer
Whitney has a background in Psychology, Criminal Justice, and Business. She has also worked with nonprofit organizations on opioid outreach, tax preparation, and data analysis. She joined CareerCatchers in February of 2023, where she researches, drafts, and submits proposals that helps CareerCatchers receive grant funding.
Stevie Schaefer
AmeriCorps VISTA Digital Fundraising Manager
Stevie has five years of nonprofit experience, three years of which are in workforce development. During that time they honed their skills of engaging with clients, funders, and community members, designing educational and marketing materials, and reviewing and implementing program changes based on collected feedback. They joined CareerCatchers in October of 2022 as an AmeriCorps VISTA Digital Fundraising Manage where they engage with donors and community members via our social media platforms, newsletters, and email marketing. They graduated in May of 2022 with a B.S. in Chemistry.
Etesia Holt
AmeriCorps VISTA Grant Coordinator
Etesia has over five years of administrative experience and two years of non-profit experience in operations and project coordination. With a passion for positive impact, she joined Career Catchers in February 2023 as the AmeriCorps Grant Coordinator VISTA. She provides project management support for grant funding, which includes analyzing sources, assisting with proposals, updating documents and coordinating requirements to meet deadlines. Etesia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University.
