Career Center Team

Nanette Cooley is the Executive Director of the Center for Career Development at Washington College. She leads the career center’s efforts to advance career education, experiential learning, and graduate outcomes. Additionally, Nanette and her team provide personalized, meaningful experiences for students, alumni, employers, and families. A true advocate for the liberal arts, Nanette connects students to opportunities aligning with their core values and interests.

Having completed a master’s degree in counseling services from Rider University, she has worked in higher education for more than 30 years. Prior to her role at Washington College, she led career services at Lafayette College in Easton, PA where she was presented the President’s Award for distinguished service. During her tenure at Lafayette, she managed employer relations, served on various boards and committees, and was responsible for compiling and reporting first destinations outcomes.

Currently, her role involves providing strategic direction for career development within the student affairs division. Nanette provides individual career coaching and counseling to students and alumni, facilitates workshops, and coordinates on- and off-campus programs including alumni panels, career fairs and regional networking events. Additionally, she is a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers, Middle Atlantic Career Counseling Association as well as the Maryland Career Consortium.

She is the parent of two WC alumni and lives in Chestertown with her family and adorable cockapoo, Millie. Her favorite lunch spot in town is Cafe Sado.

Lisa Moody joined the Career Development staff in April 2014 and currently serves as the Associate Director of Career Development.  Her areas of responsibility include providing one-on-one career coaching, managing the First Year Career Awareness Program (FYCAP), data collection, management and reporting, workshop facilitation, employer relations and outreach, and other professional development services. Lisa is also the advisor for the Black Student Union (BSU) and Women In Business campus organizations.

Before coming to Washington College, Lisa served 8 years in Career Services at Delaware State University, where her last position was Director, and spent 16 years in management in Corporate America in Operations with a brief period in the non-profit sector. Outside of higher education, Lisa’s background includes 16 years in the financial services industry in credit cards and consumer deposits in a variety of fields ranging from collections, imaging, new accounts, fraud, individual retirement accounts, and corporate facilitating. She also has a background in ministry and residential real estate.

Lisa earned a B.S. in Christian Ministry from Chesapeake Bible College and Seminary and earned her MBA from Delaware State University. She enjoys utilizing her past and current experience to help others develop to reach their professional and personal potential.

Georgina loves her role as an Assistant Director & CliftonStrengths Certified Coach. Contact Georgina or register for an appointment; Georgina sees students for all appointment types and loves helping students develop Life Design plans and pursue their purpose. A fun fact: Georgina loved French and pursued a career using her French – in cosmetics marketing!  Reach out to her LINK HERE. 

Georgina is certified in Gallup CliftonStrength, a leading Education Assessment Model measuring an individual’s natural processing and action talents. (based on what you do!) Georgina participates in the JEDI initiative and is a proud captain of the JEDI  (Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion) team, Identity & Privilege | Intersectionality. 

Georgina will be instructing Principles of Marketing (BUS 111) this fall and has supported Junior and Senior Seminars, Courses in Advertising, Sales, and Marketing, co-taught the AMA Case Competition (2018-19) and more recently launched a 7-week course called “Discover Your Strengths” (WPD 394).  Sign up for one of Georgina’s programs or her course!

Georgina is passionate about marketing and co-advises the campus chapter of the American Marketing Association Student Marketing Team. Since 2019, the team has won an award every year including Top Small Chapter for 2 years.  The AMA is treated as a practicum for aspiring marketers and is open to all students and majors.  Learn more HERE

Georgina completed a  Master of Arts in Leadership Studies at Northern Vermont University/Vermont State in 2022, presented her inquiry project, “An Analysis of Clifton Strengths Development Education as a core element of Higher Education Curriculum”, and won second prize at the annual AMA Collegiate Conference. Georgina is a proud graduate of the University of Vermont where she completed a double major in French and Political Science with Honors and obtained a Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing and “Dealing with Difficult People”.

Georgina spent 30 years as a brand marketing manager-strategist working for the New York-based prestige consumer product industry, including Estee Lauder International, Guerlain, Inc., Sanofi Beauty, Davidoff of Geneva, and consultant at Veranda.  She has taught in a wide range of settings for 25 years having received formal training from the Virginia Theological Seminary. 

Alumna, Laiken Reed ‘19 joined the Career Development team in May 2024 as the new Assistant Director of Experiential Learning. Laiken is an experienced writing guide and recently completed her Masters in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of South Carolina, where she also instructed First Year English.

Some fun facts about Laiken are that she climbed the third tallest mountain in England during the Kiplin Hall trip in 2017 and got married on a Christmas tree farm in July 2023! Laiken is also involved in managing a children’s Christian ministry and is currently helping a friend write his memoir. She loves to support other writers through every step of the writing process. During her time at UofSC, she won The Montgomery-Stowe Award for excellence in writing tutoring, and she loved working with students from all majors on a variety of genres. Laiken also loves to cook and bake.

Make an appointment on Handshake to meet Laiken and talk about your career exploration strategies. Laiken also coordinates the externship program and provides internship assistance. Come visit her!

Penny has dedicated her entire career supporting and guiding students of all ages, first as an elementary school teacher and then as the Associate Director of a children’s summer camp. She is also a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant and was very helpful as a Covid tester for WC during the pandemic.

Penny is the Office Manager in our Career Center and keeps all the programs flowing.  If you need anything related to the Career Center, Penny is available from 8:30 – 4:30, Monday – Friday.

Isabella is our career development research and analysis intern from Florida, the Sunshine State! She’s majoring in Economics with minors in Philosophy and Data Analytics. Alongside her internship, she’s a Peer Mentor, Presidential Fellow, member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, a part of the Brown Advisory Student-Managed Investment Fund, and a part of the women’s tennis team. Isabella aims to leverage her Economics background and data analytics skills to drive impactful decision-making in financial services.