Gwen Schiada, Psy.D. President and Co-Founder of Career Puppy, Inc.:

     Dr. Schiada is a Clinical Psychologist and originator of the concept behind Career Puppy, Inc. Throughout her career she has been passionate about utilizing the positive power of media as a tool to improve people’s lives. Dr. Schiada has worked in the  federal government, university, non-profit and corporate sectors on critical topics related to positive youth development and community change.

     Dr. Schiada is recognized as a dynamic national trainer who has facilitated multi-media workshops with thousands of students, parents and educators to help them become effective agents of change in their own lives. She has also served as a guest expert on a number of television, web and radio programs including CNN and PBS.  Dr. Schiada’s passion for helping people reach their potential stems from her own experience as a struggling, high-risk adolescent with dormant dreams who went from a GED to “Ph.D.” She recognizes, from both a clinical and personal perspective, the power that exposure to opportunity, connection to mentors and having the tools to get from here to there can have in changing the trajectory of one’s life. Her mission is to provide those same resources to others through Career Puppy, Inc.

     Dr. Schiada is originally from the small beach community of Santa Barbara, California and now lives on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland with her husband Aric and their dog Bailey. She serves as an elected council woman for the small town of North Beach and is committed to maintaining its rare beauty and strong sense of community.

    Ms. Cosby is Vice-President and co-founder of Career Puppy, Inc., a video and web-based service for youth and career-transitioning individuals.  She is a public health professional who brings a rich educational and occupational background to Career Puppy with a unique combination of media expertise and a keen understanding of sociological and health issues. She has lead media projects  focused on public health issues affecting youth and has won several national awards for health promotion videos.   Ms. Cosby’s career path has been anything but a straight line.  As a teen, she didn’t have a clear sense of what she wanted to be when she grew up.  But while attending the University of Florida she discovered her love of film and video.  After graduation she worked in Hollywood at The Post Group, an industry leader in video post-production.  However, she had a nagging desire to help people, not just entertain them, so she left Hollywood to begin work on her nursing degree.  After completing her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at Emory University she worked for over 10 years in various aspects of nursing; all the while looking to wed her expertise in media with health promotion.   Vowing early on in nursing school ‘never to work in public health’ she soon discovered this was an area where her varied background could help many.  She learned of Healthcare Communications and knew this was the path to achieve her goal.   Ms. Cosby recently graduated from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with her Masters of Public Health.  Her studies focused on behavioral change, communication strategies and working with special populations.  Building Career Puppy is her way of practicing the school motto of “Protecting Health, Saving Lives …Millions at a Time.”   Ms. Cosby grew up on the island of Key West, Florida and currently lives on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland with her husband Gary and their three dogs Ripley, Hudson, and Lola.