Partnering to Give Students a Head Start

Presented on April 26, 2022

Because of their vital role in business, professional sales people are among the best paid employees for a company. Their knowledge, expertise, and experience is essential for businesses to succeed in today’s competitive environment. The Center for Sales Leadership and Education (CSLE) at CEHD gives students a head start furthering their sales education by instilling practical skills and offering applied business experience through education, research, and its many partnerships. During the pandemic, CSLE Executive Director Todd Williams partnered with Signature Consultants, a national IT staffing and recruiting agency, to develop a new approach to bring the benefits of CSLE to support the classroom, students, and the sales community. Hear from Todd Williams and Signature Consultants’ University Recruiting Manager KJ Brown as they talk about their insights and their case study with this collaborative approach.

About the presenters

Todd Williams
Todd Williams

Todd Williams is the executive director of the Center for Sales Leadership and Education at the University of Minnesota. He is responsible for helping better prepare students for a variety of sales and marketing careers, from positions in Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial startups, and international organizations. Prior to his current role, he served as director of Target Corporation’s diversity and inclusion team. Williams holds a bachelor of science in business degree from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a master’s in business communication degree from the University of St. Thomas. He also is an alum of the Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s Career Advancement Program.

KJ Brown
KJ Brown

KJ Brown is a university recruiting manager at Signature Consultants, a Disys company, who partners with university contacts, sales program directors, and executives within her organization to hire 200+ full-time candidates and 70+ intern candidates nationwide each year. With her passion for people, especially college students, Brown built a campus recruiting strategic program from the ground-up to help her organization take their hiring to the next level. Brown has been at Signature Consultants for almost five years, and resides in Boston, MA. She is responsible for overseeing all of the university partnerships for the organization, and also for targeting future universities to engage with. Brown holds a BA in mass communications and public relations from the University of South Carolina, and she is a proud Gamecock!