Rebecca Dedmond

Rebecca Dedmond is Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Arts in School Counseling program at The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, at the Alexandria Education Center. She works closely with local and national school systems through ongoing partnerships and impacts national conversation about career development for all populations, and school counseling.

Rebecca’s counseling career launched after ten years in the business world. She received her Master’s and Education Specialist degrees from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and was hired as an elementary school counselor in a Career Education position as outlined by the United States Department of Career Education. She was active in the Virginia Vocational Guidance Association (VVGA) and served on the team that advised on private licensure for counselors in Virginia, the first state to obtain this status. She also served on the Ethical Standards Committee. She made state and national presentations with the two groups and was recognized for her work by the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of VVGA.

Moving from North Carolina to Virginia, Rebecca’s counseling contributions expanded when she was hired as one of the first elementary school counselors in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Working with state and University leaders, she co-authored the first elementary school counseling curriculum with Virginia Vocational Guidance (VVGA) leaders. Virginia Commonwealth University professor, Dr. Gaynelle Whitlock, who later chaired her doctoral dissertation. Representing the Shenandoah Valley, she worked closely with leaders to craft the Virginia Code of Ethics, that served as a model to the VVGA Code.

Rebecca has been an elementary, high school and vocational school counselor. She was hired by the Commonwealth of Virginia as the Supervisor of Career Counseling for all counselors in Elementary, Middle and High Schools. In this position she was tapped for projects working with the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) and the National Consortium of State Guidance Supervisors (NCSGS) and was President of the NCSGS for two terms.

Rebecca co-founded The Agere Foundation, to promote leadership in business and educational partnerships. She worked with numerous businesses, community organizations, localities and states, in Australia, and as a consultant for the World Bank in the Universities of Ghana in West Africa for one year.

Under her two-term presidency of the National Consortium of State Career Guidance Supervisors, the Planning for Life career planning recognition program was developed and disseminated to every state, in partnership with the United States Army Recruiting Command. Recognition of effective comprehensive career planning programs, in collaboration with USA Today, was initiated and adapted by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). She is active in related professional organizations.

Working with World Bank affiliates, Rebecca worked for one year in Ghana, West Africa with the three University Counseling Centres to design, establish, implement, and evaluate career services programs. While there she established University and government and business leader partnerships, a University student advisory and training program.

For five years she was School to Work Director for the Territory of the Virgin Islands, until the sunset of the legislation. She was adjunct professor in psychology at the University of the Virgin Islands and was appointed Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Resource Center for the Disabled, a 501.c.3. She co-founded The Connections Group, a 501.c.3. that designs learning and outreach centers through faith based communities, in partnership with One Church One Family (OCOF) of Washington, D.C., the Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress, Father George Clements (One Church, One Family), and Pfizer Corporation. She assisted Virgin Islands leaders to develop classes and certificate programs designed to meet the plethora of needs of underprivileged and under-served populations.

For the, National Career Development Association Rebecca has been recognized as a Fellow and has received awards for work in legislation and service. She served on the NCDA Board for two terms, and Co-Chaired the Government Relations Committee. Currently she is a member of the International Centre on Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) and one of four members of the United States team who researched national policy and presented the findings at national conferences in Korea and Norway. She helped establish and Co-Chaired the Counselor Educator Academy (CEA) and most recently, co-authored the School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) curriculum and is an Instructor where she instructed the first class in South Dakota that was an initiative of its Governor.

In 2004 Rebecca founded the Freshman Transition Initiative, a grassroots effort addressing the critical need for classroom-based, comprehensive career guidance. A passionate champion for creative solutions to redesign challenges, Rebecca has worked for more than a decade to stem the rising tide of dropouts at both the high school and college levels. She wrote Standards for a Freshman Transition Course and the 10-step Plan for implementing a systemic Freshman Transition initiative for whole-school redesign and school retention. She has co-authored articles and briefs and co-authored The Project Planning Guide for Implementing a Freshman Transition Initiative used in Freshman Transition Leadership Institutes. She has recently written Middle Level Transition Standards (freshmantransition.org). Yearly conferences continue to attract educators from across the country, resulting in impacting thousands of school children’s lives yearly.

Under her two-term presidency of the National Consortium of State Career Guidance Supervisors, the Planning for Life career planning recognition program was developed and disseminated to every state, in partnership with the United States Army Recruiting Command. Recognition of effective comprehensive career planning programs, in collaboration with USA Today, was initiated and adapted by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). She is active in related professional organizations.

For the, National Career Development Association she has been recognized as a Fellow, has received awards for work in legislation and service. She served on the NCDA Board for two terms, as a Trustee is immediate past Co-Chair of the Government Relations Committee. Currently she is a member of the International Centre on Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP), Co-Chair of the Counselor Educator Academy (CEA) and co-author of the School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) curriculum.

Deeping her focus on career development, Rebecca has co-authored textbook chapters, the most recent focusing on career development starting in early childhood. She has co-edited a book on leadership for school counselors and has written and edited numerous articles, chapters, and journal articles on youth transitioning through the grade levels and into the workplace. She is lead author on a series of career planning curriculum classroom materials. Her most recent achievement is co-developing resources to assist parents to help their children with strengths journaling and career planning.
Rebecca is an invited speaker for leading organizations throughout the United States, in Guam, South Korea, Australia, England and conference lead presenter for the Asia Pacific Career Development Association in Beijing, China. She has been lead presenter for the Principal Leadership strand at the Focus on Freshman (Freshman Transition Initiative) three-day annual conferences since 2005. That Initiative has expanded from the freshman course for 9th graders, through all the remaining high school years, and into the first year of post-secondary education, and includes planning for each grade level and for dual enrollment. The recognized Ten Year Education and Career Plan is an outgrowth of this work.

Most recent awards include: 2017 NCDA Legislative Award; 2016 NCDA Presidential Service Award; 2015 NCDA Service Award to Board Members; Outstanding Award for Service to Counselor Educators, 2014 by the Washington DC Counselors Association (DCCA); and, 2013 “Professional Development Award” by American Counseling Association (ACA).

Rebecca M. Dedmond, Ph.D., LPC
804-928-5890
Rdedmond@gwu.edu

r. In 2018, the Virginia Counselor Association recognized Rebecca with the Career Services Award for lifelong services to the profession.

Rebecca’s counseling career launched after ten years in the business world. She received her Master’s and Education Specialist degrees from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and was hired as an elementary school counselor in a Career Education position as outlined by the United States Department of Career Education (Dr. Kenneth Hoyt). She was active in the Virginia Vocational Guidance Association (VVGA) and served on the team that advised on private licensure for counselors in Virginia, the first state to obtain this status. She also served on the Ethical Standards Committee. She made state and national presentations with the two groups and was recognized for her work by the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of VVGA.
Moving from North Carolina to Virginia, Rebecca’s counseling contributions expanded when she was hired as one of the first elementary school counselors in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Working with state and University leaders, she co-authored the first elementary school counseling curriculum.

Rebecca has been an elementary, high school and vocational school counselor. She was hired by the Commonwealth of Virginia as the Supervisor of Career Counseling, working closely with the Supervisors of Elementary, Middle and High School Counseling. In this position she was tapped for projects working with the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) and the National Consortium of State Guidance Supervisors (NCSGS) and was President of the NCSGS for two terms.

Rebecca’s most recent textbook chapter on early childhood career development is in press. She has co-edited a book on leadership and has written and edited numerous articles, chapters, and journal articles on transition. She is lead author on a series of career planning curriculum classroom materials, and most recently was tapped by the American Counseling Association to compile and edit articles on Career Readiness. Her most recent achievement is developing resources to assist parents to help their children with strengths journaling and career planning. And under NCDA she co-authored the new School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) curriculum and is working with the implementation team. Rebecca is an invited speaker for leading education organizations around the country, in Guam, South Korea, Australia, and England. She has been lead presenter for the Principal Leadership strand at the Focus on Freshman (Freshman Transition Initiative) three-day annual conference since 2005. That Initiative has expanded from the freshman course for 9th graders, through all the remaining high school years, and into the first year of post-secondary education, and includes planning for each grade level and for dual enrollment. The nationally recognized Ten Year Education and Career Plan is an outgrowth of this work.

Most recent awards include: Recognition in 2018 Fellow Status in the NCDA; 2017 NCDA Legislative Award; 2018 Outstanding Services Award by the Virginia Counseling Association; 2016 NCDA Presidential Service Award; 2015 NCDA Board Member Service Award; 2014 Outstanding Award for Service to Counselor Educators by the Washington DC Counselors Association (DCCA); and, 2013 “Professional Development Award” by American Counseling Association (ACA).

Rebecca M. Dedmond, Ph.D., LPC
804-928-5890
Rdedmond@aol.com