2026 Badge Summit

As the credentialing landscape rapidly expands, organizations that support credential builders are increasingly being asked to practice what they preach. How do you design, govern, and sustain a credential ecosystem that serves a diverse national audience while maintaining quality, relevance, and trust?
UPCEA, a national association serving higher education continuing and professional education leaders, has spent the last several years intentionally building and managing a growing portfolio of digital badges and credentials for its own community. This session offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to credential the credential builders themselves.
Drawing on real-world experience, Patrick Flanigan and Melissa Peraino will share lessons learned from developing, scaling, and refining UPCEA’s credential strategy: from early experimentation to portfolio-level decision-making. Participants will explore how UPCEA aligns credentials with professional competencies and balances rigor with accessibility. Rather than focusing solely on success stories, this session will candidly examine challenges encountered along the way: what didn’t work, what had to change, and how the organization adapted its approach as the credential ecosystem matured. Attendees will gain insight into how a mission-driven organization evaluates credential value, avoids credential proliferation, and ensures that badges remain meaningful for earners and employers alike.
Whether you are just beginning to formalize a credential strategy or seeking to strengthen an existing portfolio, this session provides an honest, actionable perspective on what it really takes to build, and maintain, credible credentials for credential builders.