Organizing Team 2019

David Gaston is a higher education veteran in the areas of career services, communications, experiential learning, athletics, and leadership development. Currently he serves as Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Kansas overseeing career and experiential learning at the University of Kansas, including the Center for Service Learning, Center for Undergraduate Research, Office of Fellowships, and the University Career Center. He has led the University Career Center at the University of Kansas since 2004.

Prior to KU, David worked at the University of Mississippi where he served as the assistant director of recruiting and instructor in the Ole Miss Career Center and as the director of administrative operations for the Men’s Basketball program. Gaston has served in numerous roles with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) including co-chairing the Diversity Research Team and the Leadership Strategy and Sourcing Committee. He has presented at numerous conferences including the Global Careers Summit, NACE, and several state and regional association conferences.

Eluned Jones is currently the Director of Student Employability at the University of Birmingham and a past President of the UK’s Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. During her time at Birmingham, Eluned has authored two institutional Employability Strategies which have generated multi-million pound investments, lifted Birmingham into the top rank for graduate employability, and won several national employability awards.

Eluned has a particular interest in internationalisation and is an active member of Universitas 21, a partnership of global research-intensive universities. Eluned has also recently led a national multi-partner Learning Gain research project examining students’ employability gain associated with internationalisation.

Caroline joined Ryerson Career Centre as Director in July 2014 to oversee its restructuring to a 3 Pillar Model of Career Education, bridging the curricular and co-curricular student experience to develop agile graduates able to contribute to and thrive in the new economy. Since moving to this model in 2014, the team have received five national awards for their work.

As part of supporting the evolution of career education, Caroline is a Member of the Board, Canadian Association of Career Educators & Employers (CACEE). In her Board capacity, she co-authored the creation of national competencies for employer and career professionals involved in developing tomorrow’s talent.

Previously, as Head of Careers at University of Southampton, England, Caroline integrated a university-wide careers offering across three campuses and developed the University’s first paid on and off campus work experience program. Prior to this, she brings nearly a decade of experience working with multinational companies and government organizations in Brussels, London and Budapest. Caroline holds a BA, Honours in Political Science from the University of Toronto and an MA in International Politics from the Universite de Paris, XI.

Amelia Merrick is the Director of Career Exploration and Education at the University of Toronto, where she has the privilege of supporting students as they build their future in a changing world. Amelia loves work and believes work can be one of the greatest expressions of identity and one of the most profound ways to contribute towards a vibrant world. She is passionate to see more equality at work and is currently pursuing a PhD to understand how kids who grew up working class create career paths after graduation from university. Prior to joining U of T, Amelia held several executive leadership roles in the humanitarian and community development sector, living in Laos and Indonesia and working in more than 15 countries, primarily in Asia.