Career Development Office

Laurie Sedgwick has been providing career advising for graduate and undergraduate Cornell students for over 15 years. Laurie also has experience as an executive search consultant, program manager for a biotech start-up, and was the director of human resources for a non-profit. She had a six-year career with the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a parachutist, jumpmaster, platoon leader, and company commander. Laurie received a B.A. in English Literature from Michigan State University. Laurie is a certified executive coach – certified through IPEC.

Nicole is based in the NYC area and began her career at Kidder Peabody then moved to Bank of America Securities where she worked in Fixed Income Sales and as the Global High Grade Business Manager. After a decade on Wall Street, Nicole pursued her creative passions as a writer and producer with her most notable project at BBC Productions. As a career coach, she has worked with executives and emerging leaders with organizations such as Deustche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and Target. Most recently, she worked with MLT, a non-profit focused on career development for MBAs. Nicole completed the Coach Training Program at Columbia University and she is certified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) and Suite of WholeBrain Creativity Assessments (NBI™). She graduated with a degree in History from the University of Virginia where she has served on the Ridley Scholarship Board. Areas of advising concentration: Executive MBAs.

Liz Colodny led corporate recruitment efforts for 20 years, and then established a human resource and consulting business, now focused on coaching executives and professionals globally from all industries and functional areas. She worked in the financial services, consumer product, professional services and industrial manufacturing industries, and consulted to additional industries such as healthcare and information services. Liz also has a background in executive search and outplacement. Her expertise includes executive coaching and transition coaching, including job search strategy, effective networking, interviewing, résumé, cover letter and LinkedIn profile development, offer negotiation and on-boarding. In addition to coaching clients through career transitions, Liz helps executives to navigate successfully in their current environments. She earned her MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and her BA at The University of Chicago.Liz is a Certified Professional Coach and Certified Professional Résumé Writer.

Tara Padua (ICF-PCC, CMC) has nearly 20 years of experience including roles in leadership development, private equity, public finance and political administration. She is sought after to develop leaders in challenging and fast-growth environments, and has worked with executives at companies including Cartier, Citigroup, Conde Nast, Culture Amp, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Facebook, Louis Vuitton, Microsoft, MTV, Siemens, Skechers, Soundcloud, T-Mobile, The Federal Reserve, Volvo and many more. Tara is also the Founder of NextFem and host of the NextFem Podcast, where she’s leading the conversation about what it means to be a modern woman. Tara previously served as Partner and Senior Leader at Accomplishment Coaching, facilitating their flagship training program in five cities. Tara is a Professional Certified Coach and Certified Mentor Coach through the International Coaching Federation. She received her B.A. in Spanish Literature from Bard College. Tara is a native of the Catskills region of New York and resides in Manhattan.