Name: Opening Luncheon + Badgesplaining Talks
Start: 2026-07-13T11:30:00-0600
End: 2026-07-13T13:00:00-0600

2026 Badge Summit @ CU Boulder
In-person July 13-15 | Online August 4

Opening Luncheon + Badgesplaining Talks

Monday July 13, 2026 11:30am - 1:00pm MDT

Glen Miller Ball Room

Speakers

Cate Tolnai, MAT

Director, Microcredentials & Innovation Credentials Strategy

Cate Tolnai is a strategic leader, educator, and connector dedicated to bridging innovation with equity across the education ecosystem. As Director of Micro-credentials and Innovative Credentials Strategy at the University of Phoenix, she leads initiatives that redefine how learning... Read More →

Geeta Verma

Professor, STEM education and Founder, LivedX, University of Colorado Denver

Geeta Verma is a professor of science education at the University of Colorado Denver. She has founded an online platform, LivedX, that accredits students’ lived and learned experiences into essential life skills credentials. This enables youth to succeed in educational and workforce... Read More →

Kelsey Draper

Employee Development Manager, CU Boulder

Keith Look

Vice President of Education Solutions, Territorium

Dr. Keith Look serves as the Vice President for Education Solutions at Territorium. A former principal (of all grade bands) and superintendent, Dr. Look and his teams facilitated meaningful growth in districts large and small, urban and rural, resourced and challenged. A therapeutic... Read More →

Chris Newlon

CEO & Co-founder, Team Democracy

Chris Newlon is the CEO & CTO of Team Democracy. With more than 30 years at IBM, Chris brings deep expertise in systems architecture, platform development, and organizational transformation. He is the architect of the Civics Credentialing System (civicscredentialing.org), a scalable... Read More →

Thania Guardino

HR Marketing Expert + Editor, The Conquer Company + SkillsScoop

Thania Guardino is an HR and workplace marketing expert who helps decode how hiring actually works—so people and organizations can better communicate their value.
She’s worked with startups from day one to over $100M+ in growth, helping them to clearly communicate their value... Read More →

Nadia Starr

CEO, South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)

Qualifications custodian and mobility advocate

Jeremy McQuigge

Secretary-General, Council Advancing Work-Based Learning (CAWBL)

Konrad Sowa

Deputy Director - Human Race Research Center, Kozminski University

dr Konrad Sowa is an Assistant Professor, AI Product Manager, and Deputy Director of the Human Race Research Center at Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. His research and applied work is focused on human–AI collaboration and the adoption of generative AI in organizations, drawing... Read More →

Monday July 13, 2026 11:30am - 1:00pm MDT
Glen Miller Ball Room

2026 Badge Summit

Alan Heppenstall