CHICAGO — Ginny Clarke, author of “Career Mapping,” will discuss how to create your professional brand during a free presentation and evening open house Sept. 17 at DePaul University’s Oak Forest Campus. Hosted by DePaul’s School for New Learning, the presentation is scheduled from 6:30-7:45 p.m. at the campus, 16333 S. Kilbourn Ave. A networking reception is planned from 6-6:30 p.m.

Clarke, a nationally recognized expert in talent and career management, diversity recruiting and executive coaching, is a partner at Toronto-based Amrop Knightsbridge, an executive search network.

Career mapping is “a code you already have, you just have to work to expose it,” according to Clarke. Her book, “Career Mapping: Charting Your Course in the New World of Work,” reveals a process that is the result of her experience as a partner at the global executive search firm Spencer Stuart, where she co-founded and led the diversity practice. Clarke integrated her executive recruiter experience with her own approach to managing her career.

Clarke founded Talent Optimization Partners, a talent and career management firm offering live and Web-enabled career management programs and services for individuals and Fortune 1000 companies. She started her career in banking at First National Bank of Chicago, now Chase. After a short stint, Clarke spent the next 10 years in the institutional real estate business with Jones Lang LaSalle and Prudential Real Estate Investors. Her responsibilities included asset management, portfolio management, capital raising and client servicing. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Davis in French and linguistics, and her MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School.

Clarke is known for a wicked wit and caring and inspiring spirit. She lives in downtown Chicago and is a gourmet cook and self-proclaimed "foodie."

DePaul’s 40-year-old School for New Learning provides customized degree programs for adult learners. The school’s approach is to build upon abilities and experiences of adult learners by adding knowledge and developing skills to help them achieve personal and professional goals.

The Sept. 17 presentation and workshop is part of the School for New Learning’s reinvention mindset employability series. More information is at http://snl.depaul.edu/40. To RSVP or for a full list of events, email snlevents@depaul.edu.

A professional certificate program in Human Resources is offered at DePaul’s Oak Forest Campus in addition to several bachelor’s degree programs and non-degree continuing and professional education opportunities. The campus, which was opened in 1993 to serve students who live in the south and southwest suburbs as well as the South Side of Chicago, also is host to community events. More information about DePaul’s Oak Forest Campus is at http://suburbancampuses.depaul.edu/OakForest/index.html.