Meet The Team

Emily McCarthy

Director

Email: Emily.McCarthy@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-3922

Education: Graduate Certificate, Career & Workforce Development, The George Washington University
Graduate Certificate, Organization Development, Marymount University
M.A. Human Performance, Marymount University
B.S. Business Administration, University of Richmond

What experience most influenced your career, and how? Coming to work at NAU after many years living in Washington, DC and working in the private sector was a huge change for me. It reminded me of the importance of following your heart and intuition – when making career decisions or any other big choices.

Janea Byrne

Coordinator, Internships

Email: Janea.Byrne@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-9562

Education: B.S., Business Administration, Marketing, University of Arizona

What experience most influenced your career, and how? It’s difficult to pinpoint one, but my summer internship in Italy after my junior year was an incredible experience that certainly influenced my career in more ways than one. I worked with an employer to create an internship where I could learn more about internal and external communication practices for a large corporation. I not only gained valuable experience in my future career field, but I completely immersed myself in another culture in a small town in Italy and built relationships with some wonderful colleagues and friends I met along the way. It was a step out of my comfort zone but so rewarding!

Chrissy Speer

Coordinator, Employer Engagement

Email: Chrissy.Speer@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-8710

Education: B.S., Hotel and Restaurant Management, Northern Arizona University

What experience most influenced your career, and how? Since I graduated from NAU in 2001 I have always been in some form of hospitality or another.  From hotel sales to event planning and everything in between my hospitality career was always  focused around building  client relationships.  After 16 years in the hospitality industry in three different states,  I had the opportunity to come back to the university where it all started and work with employers to build relationships to benefit student success.  My experience in in the hospitality industry taught me that networking and building relationships is one of the most valuable skills you can gain in your career.  It is transferable into any other industry and has helped me in taking this new step in my current role.  It is so exciting to be doing something new while using the transferable skills I have gained through my past experience!

Career Programming

Jose Diaz Aquino

Assistant Director 

Email: Jose.DiazAquino@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-8710

Education: M.Ed. Educational Leadership, Northern Arizona University 
MBA Essentials Program, University of Minnesota 
Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), American Society of Quality (ASQ)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico- Mayaguez

What experience most influenced your career, and how? When working for General Mills as an engineer, I had the opportunity to go and recruit students at a few national conferences and was hooked with helping students figure out there career path. This led to having the opportunity to lead recruitment efforts for General Mills in my alma mater at the University of Puerto Rico. Being able to give back to my community and open doors for students in the engineering and STEM fields has had a lasting impact in my life. This was the driver for me making a career change into Higher Education and now being in Career Development.

Andrew Mobbs

Program Coordinator, Career Development Specialist

Email: Andrew.Mobbs@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-0589

Education: MA-TESL, Northern Arizona University
BA-WRITING, University of Central Arkansas
G-CERT, Communications

What experience most influenced your career, and how? My career trajectory has been fascinating, but I think that serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer has been the most instrumental experience. It ultimately helped me obtain a graduate assistantship for my master’s program, which in turn qualified me to work three gratifying jobs since obtaining my degree (including my current position with Career Development).

Erika Johnson

Program Coordinator

Email: Erika.Johnson@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Education: 

What experience most influenced your career, and how?

Danya Gorel 

Graduate Assistant

Email: Danya.Gorel@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Education: B.A. in Rhetoric and Writing, B.A. in Theatre and Dance, Interdisciplinary Certification: Environmental Studies, University of Texas at Austin
Pursuing M.A. in Sustainable Communities, Northern Arizona University

What experience most influenced your career, and how? Definitely doing my Americorps term here in Flagstaff for American Conservation Experience after backpacking through Europe. It introduced me to the town of my dreams, and also taught me how to master large trail tools and fell trees with chainsaws. It was the first job I had that taught me hard-skills and also gave me a stronger sense of community, teamwork, and leadership.

Student Employment

Nicholas Rathbone

Coordinator

Email: Nicholas.Rathbone@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-7099

Education: M.Ed. in Student Affairs Counseling, Northern Arizona University                                    G-CERT, Ethnic Studies, Northern Arizona University
B.A. Interdiscplinary Studies (Spanish, Communication, Religious Studies), University of   Arizona

What experience most influenced your career, and how? Trying a bunch of different things to see what I liked (working with college students and helping people) and disliked (sales) to find my calling in student affairs.

Mattie McClaskey

Graduate Assistant

Email: Mattie.McClaskey@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Education: B.S. Psychological Sciences with an emphasis in neuroscience & human development, Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University                                        Pursuing M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Northern Arizona University   

What experience most influenced your career, and how? I had the privilege during my undergraduate sophomore year of being invited to join my psychology professor’s Health and Human Development lab, and the experience truly shaped my development as a researcher and professional in my field. I fully immersed myself in several research projects examining reactivity to daily stress among Native American adults – one of the most memorable being the development of a smartphone application to collect momentary data on health and eating behaviors. Working as manager of the lab for three years taught me invaluable leadership and research skills as well as a passion for giving to my community. The experience helped me discover the value of applying psychological concepts to address mental health concerns for diverse populations – which has ultimately driven my pursuit of a master’s degree in counseling and now my role encouraging the career success of students in Career Development.

Career Jacks

Tatum Whitlock

Career Jack, Employer Engagements 

Email: CareerJackTatum@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Major: Criminology and Criminal Justice with a certificate in Human Resource Management

How will your experience working at NAU Career Development prepare you for your future career? Working here is preparing me for my goal to be in the Human Resource Management field. They are helping me expand my experience by working under the Head coordinator for employer engagement.

Zoe Weintraub

Career Jack, Marketing

Email: Zoe.Weintraub@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Major: Interior Design with a certificate in Event Management
Minor: Art History

How will your experience working at NAU Career Development prepare you for your future career? My experience working at NAU Career Development will prepare me for my future as an Interior Designer because of the interpersonal skills I have refined as well as transferable skills I have gained. A big part about being an interior designer is to communicate with your clients and understand what they need and want. I have refined these skills by assisting students as well as being a part of a team that works together to not only help students but each other!

Natalie Drizos

Career Jack, Social Media 

Email: CareerJackNatalie@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Major: Criminology and Criminal Justice
Minor: Psychology, Intelligence Studies

How will your experience working at NAU Career Development prepare you for your future career? Working at NAU Career Development has greatly prepared me for my future career. It’s taught me adaptability and strong communication skills, both of which are necessary for success in all fields of work. Some say the best way to determine if you know a topic is by teaching it, so by helping my peers refine their resumes, cover letters, and interview skills, I’ve also been able to enhance my own!

Kevin Kilbourne

Career Jack, Internships 

Email: CareerJackKevin@nau.edu 
Phone: 928-523-1087

Major: Computer Science (BSCS)
Minor: Mathematics

How will your experience working at NAU Career Development prepare you for your future career? Working at NAU Career Development prepares me for my future by allowing me to develop a large variety of transferable skills as well as well as provide me with valuable experience to list on my resume and cite in my cover letters.

Arielle Tortellini

Career Jack, Internships  

Email: CareerJackArielle@nau.edu
Phone: 928-523-1087

Major: English
Minor: Film

How will your experience working at NAU Career Development prepare you for your future career? Working at Career Development will not only help me navigate the working world at large, but give me the skills to help others find their unique path. I want to become a teacher, and isn’t that what teaching is all about?