Lisa Littlefield

Brainstormer, Business mentor, Connector, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Parent

Lisa Littlefield is a communications and career counseling consultant with more than 30 years of experience in journalism, public relations, higher education, and career counseling. She began her career as a broadcast journalist and then moved to public relations work that brought her to Atlanta, Georgia. There she was instrumental in the communications efforts of two of the city’s largest non-profit public attractions, Zoo Atlanta and The Atlanta History Center. Her efforts consistently produced national and international media coverage for both institutions addressing major exhibition openings, facility expansions, environmental conservation, diversity in historical narratives, raising institutional awareness, and crisis communications. She has been recognized for professional excellence as a three-time Public Relations Society of America (Georgia Chapter) Phoenix Award winner and by the International Association of Business Communicators with a Silver Flame award (Atlanta Chapter). Her experience has taken her into the classroom as well as consulting roles, and she has been a professor at Hood College, The University of Georgia, Oglethorpe University, North Georgia College and State University, and West Georgia State University. Littlefield holds a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from Southern Illinois University, a master’s of arts in communication and a master’s of science in professional counseling from Georgia State University, and a doctorate in counseling and student personnel services from The University of Georgia. Her doctoral research focused on personality factors that construct professional identity. Before moving to Maryland, she was the director of graduate training for counseling students at Georgia State University’s Career Services Center. She is currently the Dean of the Center for Career Development and Experiential Education at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Over the years, Littlefield has been involved in efforts to help others gain their footing in the world of work. She has volunteered for organizations such as Dress for Success, where she offered career counseling to the homeless and previously incarcerated women, at Trinity House in Atlanta, where she assisted men working toward recovery with career support. Most recently, she worked with disabled youth through Goodwill Industries, where she taught career classes to high school students with Autism, was a career coach, and worked with adults facing joblessness.

Equality for women in the workplace, first-generation college student success, the power of engagement and mentoring, and continuous learning through new experiences.

Learning about how we are begins with understanding who we know. Social learning helps us understand our world and where we fit in, but it can be a limiting lens through which we view ourselves. Taking action and learning through new experiences can help us see ourselves in a new light. Setting goals for the unexpected can be intimidating, but it may offer tremendous returns that redirect our paths and how we influence others.

Career Exploration, Counseling, Experiential Learning, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Interpersonal Communication, Life Long Learning, Mentoring, Public Speaking, Strategic Thinking

In 2015, I worked on my first TEDx event at Georgia State University. I was part of the organizing committee and a co-host for the event evening. I'll be forever grateful to my friend at GSU, Kristina Clements, for inviting me to get involved. Shortly afterward, I moved to Maryland and started working at a small liberal arts college. I looked for TED events in the area and found there were not any. I found a community of interested faculty and staff members, and in 2022 we hosted our first event, TEDxHoodCollege. We are getting ready to have our second event in 2023 and are excited to be welcoming and involving more people from the larger community on and off campus.

In 2020 I had a fall that resulted in broken fingers on my right hand. Two surgeries later, I had regained much of my hand functioning, but I was saddened to think about the dexterity I had lost. I took up mandala painting on recycled glass bottles to improve my dexterity. I unexpectedly found a creative outlet I had never thought of before my accident.