Lynette Hepburn-Richardson

Lynette Hepburn-Richardson is the Career Evaluation Counselor liaison for the College of Business, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Science and Math, College of Social Work, and Speech-Language Pathology. 

Her favorite aspect of her job is witnessing students' "aha!" moments and hearing their success stories after graduation. She believes that ongoing student participation in career planning is critical to student success.

Lynette has over 30 years of’ international business and entrepreneurship experience.  She has worked 10 years in higher education at Valdosta State University in the Office of Career Opportunities, the Office of Institutional Research, the Center for Programs Analytics and Evaluation, the Department of Political Science, and South Georgia State University/Valdosta State Entry Program.

Lynette is committed to the field of career development where she serves on several committees at VSU to include VState Recruitment Experience, Extended Orientation, the Student Affairs Assessment Committee and the Mental health Task Force. She is the advisor for the campus organization Bodsivity and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Additionally, she serves on NCDA Higher Education Constituency Group, Research Committee and NCDA ISSC and GACE Career Fair Committee.  This year her sub-committee was instrumental in awarding a $10,000 grant to fund pragmatic research that highlights and demonstrates the overall effectiveness of career development interventions, counseling, and programming.

She served on the Board of Directors for the Quitman/Brooks County Tourism Initiative, and member of the Lowndes County Democrats where she was the Campaign Coordinator for the Obama for Georgia Office. She is a member of the IndigoLife Women Board of Directors, where she has facilitated workshops of Cultural Tourism and Writing Your Story, and regularly contributes to the IndifoLife Women’s Magazine. She has held the position of Vice president of Education and President of Title Town Toastmasters. She also collaborates and does research on best practices for career counseling, having researched and presented at NCDA conferences on the barriers for International Students. She has also spoken on a panel and conducted a workshop for AARP on transitioning businesses through the pandemic and writing memoirs. Lynette is very committed to assisting others in succeeding, and used virtual platforms during the pandemic to promote the notion of becoming self-sufficient through entrepreneurship.