Courtesy Kentucky Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve
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Kelli Carter is Kentucky’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve’s “job meister.” She has helped find numerous jobs for Kentucky’s returning Guard and Reserve personnel who have served active duty tours in the past few years. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Without a doubt, when it comes to placing returning Reservists or Guardsmen in jobs, Kelli Carter is the “job meister” for Kentucky’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) organization.
Carter is one of four fulltime personnel for ESGR in the Commonwealth, a Department of Defense operation that is staffed primarily with volunteers. “Kelli Carter is our expert in terms of placing our returning vets in job or better jobs,” said D. Allen Youngman, ESGR state chair. “She is our ‘go to” jobs person – from connections with companies across the state, to interacting directly with our Reservists and Guardsmen about jobs, and serving as our primary liaison with job-related organizations.”
Carter, a Kentuckian who graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Human Resources Management, has worked in job development functions for six years, first as a as a resources management analyst for the state and now for two years with ESGR. Carter measures her success, not just in numbers of job placements, but in the good that it has meant for individuals and families. “I want my job seekers to be set up for more than a job, but for long-term career success.”
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Kelli Carter, who works with ESGR in Kentucky, helped Kentucky Army Guard Sgt. LuWanda Knuckles find her post as the Commonwealth’s new women veterans coordinator. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Scott Raymond, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs)
Specifically, Carter works with the Kentucky Career Center, Department of Labor, KY-FAME Program, Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Community and Technical College system and with employers across the state. She also is a member of the Hiring Kentucky Heroes Workgroup.
Asked to name one example of her work, Carter says that’s difficult, but there is one that is being seen on billboards across the state. That hire she supported was of LuWanda Knuckles, a Kentucky Army National Guard soldier who was recently named as the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs’ new women veterans coordinator. The Kentucky Army National Guard is posting photos of her on billboards across the Commonwealth.
Says Knuckles, “I worked through the Hero2Hired Program with Kelli, but it really should be known as the “Hand-to-Hand Program,” because that’s the kind of help she provided throughout the entire hiring process. In my position with the Kentucky Army National Guard and with my employer, I can tell any Guardsman who is seeking a job about this wonderful program and the kind of exceptional person Kelli is.”
If you’re a Reservist or Guardsman, or know someone who is, who needs a job or a better job, contacting Carter is easy. Her office phone number is (502) 607-1302 and her email address is
Kelli.F.Carter2@ctr@mail.mil. Remember, however, Carter may be ESGR’s “job meister” but she’s really more interested in being the “career meister!”