Coach Carmen Duncan, MSW
Chief Coach + Founder
Coach Carmen Duncan is a social entrepreneur and the Chief Coach + Founder of Mission Accomplished Transition Services. Carmen established the organization in 2012 with a vision to create a professional and personal development resource that recognizes the potential and power of aspiring young professionals in high school, college, trade school and students who do not desire to engage in traditional higher education but are self-directed learners who lead their own educational path. She joined the journey of social entrepreneurship with a clear agenda to motivate aspiring young professionals to:
- Define their life’s purpose
- Take ownership of their life journey
- Gain a better understanding of their worth and power
- Discover the inherent valuable skills they will offer to the global workforce
- Identify and utilize resources to help them meet their goals to connect to employment or build a business
- Pursue higher education and other meaningful resources that promote them as qualified, skilled career candidates
Coach Carmen has a B.S in Psychology from Sage College of Albany and a Masters in Social Work from the University at Albany. After her first degree, she took a management position at Living Resources, a service provider and group home for adults with developmental disabilities. During her graduate degree, she began researching both home health models and youth in the foster care system. While Research Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the Northeast Parent and Child Society, Carmen researched how home health models typically applied in the healthcare field could instead be applied to support young people dealing with circumstances impacting their physical and mental health. From there, Coach Carmen worked as a Research Assistant for Foster Youth in Action. The project, “A Multistate Evaluation of Positive Youth Development,” investigated the impacts of empowering foster care youth through a Positive Youth Development Framework. The foster youth were trained to advocate for their needs and rights, interact with their legislators, and tell their personal stories in compelling ways. The results show that the youth who received training benefited from increased sense of identity and community and were empowered to affect political change related to their experiences.
Based on her experiences and clear scientific evidence, Carmen started designing a mentoring program that reflects the Positive Youth Development framework. After 6 years of providing coaching and mentoring for young professionals and entrepreneurs with a desire to pursue or advance their careers in any industry, in 2017 Coach Carmen and her team decided it best to focus their time on becoming subject matter experts in fashion, construction, mural painting, interior design/decorating and the development of social enterprises.
Through her leadership Mission Accomplished is able to challenge the status quo and break barriers with and for rising young professionals. As the organization grows she is committed to assuring the business model is sustainable and scalable.