WCDA - Wisconsin Career Development Association

What WCDA - Wisconsin Career Development Association does

The Wisconsin Career Development Association (WCDA) is a Wisconsin-based non-profit professional association and the official state affiliate of the National Career Development Association (NCDA). It serves career development professionals across six defined member segments — practicing career counselors, K-12 counselors and career educators, post-secondary career planning professionals, HR professionals, graduate students in career counseling, and human service trainers/providers — through professional development, networking, and continuing education.

WCDA's offerings center on membership access ($25/year professional, $10/year student), a Speaker Bureau directory connecting 27+ named member experts for collaborative projects and speaking engagements, and a recurring calendar of Lunch & Learn sessions, Annual Meetings, Professional Development Workshops, and Drive-In Conferences. The organization does not sell a technology product; its digital infrastructure is the Wild Apricot membership management SaaS platform, which powers self-service join/renew, event registration, and member communications.

Revenue is generated exclusively through low-cost annual memberships and event activity, with no advertising, sponsorship, or grant disclosure in the available data. Membership renewal is manual (no automatic recurring payments), and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. WCDA is governed by a Board of Directors, operates with approximately 5 employees, and is headquartered in Kenosha, WI, serving only the Wisconsin market.

Name

WCDA - Wisconsin Career Development Association

Legal name

Wisconsin Career Development Association

Website

https://wcda.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wisconsin-based non-profit professional association and NCDA state affiliate serving career counselors, educators, HR professionals, and graduate students through memberships, events, and a Speaker Bureau directory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

WCDA is a Wisconsin-based nonprofit professional association and state affiliate of the National Career Development Association (NCDA). It sells annual individual memberships and delivers professional development, continuing education, networking, and curated career development resources to its members through events, a Speaker Bureau directory, and online member services.

Product overview

WCDA is a professional membership association serving career development professionals in Wisconsin. It is not a technology product company but rather an organization that provides membership services including a Speaker Bureau for networking among members, professional development events and workshops, and curated career development resources. The organization operates on Wild Apricot membership management software, but this is internal infrastructure rather than a product offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Professional Membership Annual individual membership for career development professionals in Wisconsin priced at $25.00 USD per year on a 1-year subscription term with no automatic recurring payments. Provides access to continuing education, networking via the member directory and Speaker Bureau, and participation in events and workshops.
• Student Membership Annual individual membership for graduate students enrolled in career counseling programs priced at $10.00 USD per year on a 1-year subscription term with no automatic recurring payments. Provides networking, mentorship, and access to professional development resources.
• Professional Development Events Calendar of in-person events including Lunch & Learn sessions, Annual Meetings, professional development workshops, and annual Drive-In Conferences for Wisconsin career development professionals. Events deliver continuing education, trend updates, and networking opportunities.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Ohio Career Development Association: An NCDA state affiliate serving Ohio's career development community with membership and PD programming parallel to WCDA's Wisconsin focus.
• Illinois Career Development Association: Another NCDA state affiliate organized around membership, networking, and continuing education for Illinois-based career practitioners; directly comparable to WCDA in scope and operating model.
• Michigan Career Development Association: Another Midwest NCDA state affiliate serving Michigan career practitioners, representing an adjacent regional peer with near-identical structure to WCDA.
• Minnesota Association for Career Development: A Midwest state-level professional association for career development practitioners that mirrors WCDA's structure, segment focus, and NCDA affiliate model in an adjacent state market.
• Pennsylvania Career Development Association (PACDA): An NCDA state affiliate providing membership, events, and speaker bureaus to Pennsylvania career practitioners, structurally identical to WCDA's offering.
• New York State Career Development Association (NYSCDA): An NCDA state affiliate serving New York career practitioners with the same membership, speaker bureau, and PD-workshop model as WCDA, making it the most direct structural analog to WCDA in a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): The dominant national HR professional association. HR professionals are an explicit WCDA persona segment, and SHRM's PD, certification, and state-chapter structure overlap operationally with WCDA's mission.
• American School Counselor Association (ASCA): National association for K-12 school counselors, a defined WCDA member segment. ASCA competes for K-12 counselors' PD dollars and attention via its own state chapters and certifications.
• National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE): National association serving college career services professionals and employers; directly overlaps with WCDA's post-secondary career planner segment and competes for the same PD and credentialing spend.
• National Career Development Association (NCDA): The national umbrella organization of which WCDA is a state affiliate. NCDA sets career development standards, credentials, and continuing-education frameworks that WCDA operationalizes locally, making it the closest incumbent above WCDA in the value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wcda-wisconsin-career-development-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WCDA - Wisconsin Career Development Association