2026 Badge Summit

2026 Badge Summit

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

9:00am MDT

Registration | Pre-Conference Workshops | Campus Tours Glen Miller Ball Room

11:30am MDT

Opening Luncheon + Badgesplaining Talks Glen Miller Ball RoomAlan Heppenstall • Cate Tolnai, MAT • Geeta Verma • Kelsey Draper • Keith Look • Chris Newlon • Thania Guardino • Nadia Starr • Jeremy McQuigge • Konrad Sowa

1:00pm MDT

1:30pm MDT

The Traitors Among Us: When Digital Credential Initiatives Don’t Add Up UMC 247Elizabeth Robertson Hornsby

Beyond the Badge: How Arizona Is Aligning Micro and Milestone Credentials for Learner Mobility UMC 415+417David Borofsky • Elisabeth Fellowes • Dr. Lisa Young

Designing for Skills Visibility Across Learning Pathways UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Meghan Raferty • Colin Reynolds

How Do We Center Learner Voice and Experience in Designing Credentialing Ecosystems? UMC 382+384Tania Curry

How do we create real use cases for interoperability? UMC 235Madelyn Rahn

How Might We Truly Enable Learner Mobility? CASE CTL (E390)Rob Coyle

Making Contributions Visible: Turning Lived Experience into Mobility CASE E351Dr. Julie Keane

Skills at Scale Roadmap CASE E422Kathryn Green • Mary Gwozdz • Kelly Hoyland

2:20pm MDT

2:40pm MDT

Examining Equity in the Micro-credential Movement CASE E351Cami Cooper • Trevor Cox

From Anyone to Everyone: The Real Economics of Open Recognition CASE E422Duncan Cox • Taylor Kendal

Gaining Employer Buy-In: What’s working, what’s not, and how we'll fill existing gaps UMC 247Greg Watkins

How Might We Add Decision Education to Your Badge Stack? CASE CTL (E390)Bruce Umpstead

How might we design a “commons” infrastructure to make microcredentials discoverable, adaptable and reusable? UMC 235Başak Büyükçelen • Dr. Lisa Young

Let's Talk Decoupling: A Functional Design Challenge UMC 415+417Courtney Lang

Mobility by Design: Turning Credentials into Real Opportunity for STARs UMC 382+384Tara Laughlin • Rebecka Ramos

What Changes Because This Badge Exists? UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Meghan Raftery

3:30pm MDT

3:45pm MDT

1.85 Million Credentials: Credential Engine's Counting Credentials Research and What it Means for YouDeb Everhart An Inclusive Future; building skills-based ecosystems based on guidance from skills practitioners, ontologists, and technologists.Emily Scheines Ask My Anything....about Open Standards for MicrocredentialsRob Coyle Better Evidence for Skills Validation: An Assessment Use Quality RubricDanielle Saunders Credentialing Civic Participation: From Engagement to EvidenceChris Newlon Designing with, Not for: Co-Design Lessons from K–12 Micro-credential and LER ResearchMarilys Galindo From Publishing Standards to Recognizing Demonstrated CompetencyBruce Umpstead Getting Started with MetadataTomás Mindlin • Jim Vernon Help! I'm not a nerd! (but I think I want to do an LER)Madelyn Rahn ITRAK - Culturally Reflective and Responsive Professional DevelopmentDaniel Flores Learning Mobility Collaboratives: Add Your Piece to the PuzzleHolly Custard Make Contributions Visible: PathLedger as a Public Interest Infrastructure ToolLeigh Gillis Mapping Competencies for Career Programs: Driving LER Adoption with Credential EngineTim Hathaway Mapping Regional Credential Ecosystems: Stitching Together a Pathway in ConnecticutSasha Goldman Project Infuse: A New Infrastructure for the Modern TranscriptMike Simmons Signal or Noise? Identifying Evidence That MattersAlison Griffin Unlocking Human potential through skills visibilityMargo Griffith “Wait, What’s a Micro-Credential?”—What Faculty Are Really SayingCami Cooper • Trevor Cox

8:00am MDT

Breakfast Keynote featuring Keisha Katz Glen Miller Ball Room

9:30am MDT

10:00am MDT

Accelerating LER Adoption: Lessons, Models, and Momentum from the LER Accelerator UMC 235Mike Simmons EX-Marks the Spot: What Former Faculty and Former EdTech Get Right (and Wrong) About Digital Credentials UMC 247Elizabeth Robertson Hornsby • Christopher Nitsch From Completion to Application: Badges as Evidence of Learning Transfer UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Stella Porto From Prototype to Practice: Applications of DCC Technology and Tools UMC 415+417Kerri Lemoie Issuing at Scale: How Maricopa, ASU, and DXtera Are Building a Cross-Institution Credentialing Network CASE CTL (E390)Brooke Lipsitz • Sasha Flores Making Experience Count in K–12: A Common Language for Internships, Capstones, and Career Stories UMC 382+384Meghan Raftery • Mason Pashia

10:30am MDT

10:45am MDT

Banking on Skills: A Cross-Sector Model for Workforce-Aligned Microcredential Pathway UMC 247Sasha Flores • Dr. Lisa Young Exploring Definitions and Implications of Micro-credentials and Digital Badges in Higher Education and Workforce UMC 235Marilys Galindo • Thomas Gauthier Making South African qualifications machine readable and transferable UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Nadia Starr Self-disclosing allyship: leveraging digital credentials to improve support for neurodivergent learners UMC 382+384Javier Motta-Mena

11:15am MDT

11:30am MDT

Considerations for Digital Credentialing in Higher Education: Guidance and Emerging Best Practices in Support of Learner Mobility UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Dale Allen • Jon Furr • Jeff Merriman • Nate Otto Credentialing the Credential Builders: Lessons from managing a national credential portfolio UMC 382+384Patrick Flanigan • Melissa Peraino Designing for Scale: How Public Higher Education Systems Are Embedding Google Microcredentials for Career Mobility UMC 235Kelvin Bentley Essential Skills - The Key to the Future of Work UMC 247Kelly Strong Good Badge, Bad Badge: A Hands-On Badge-Making Lab CASE CTL (E390)Wendy Palmer Lessons from a Digital Badge Pilot Implementation CASE E422Tomás Mindlin • Jim Vernon

12:00pm MDT

Tuesday Luncheon | T3 Innovation Network Mid-Year Meeting Glen Miller Ball RoomNate Otto • Robert Bajor • Colin Reynolds • Madelyn Rahn • Joseph Davis • Amanda Winters • Jeanne Kitchens • Karen Passmore • Jim Goodell

2:00pm MDT

2:30pm MDT

Building the Framework- Why building a styleguide is key UMC 382+384Derrick Ramsey, Ph.D. Don’t Be a Free-Badger – Align Criteria and Evidence to Ensure Workforce Value UMC 247Sandra Bullock • Randy Bowman How Do You Spell L-E-R? Spotlighting Scalable Practices Beyond the Transcript UMC 235Mike Simmons I Value Badges! Making the Micro-Credentials Case on Campus UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Carmen Bain • Amy Mendee Indigenous Recognition Systems (IRS) —Interfacing Knowledge Systems (IKS) with Global Credentialing CASE CTL (E390)Simone Ravaioli Making Micro-Credentials Stick: Tools for Faculty Support and Employer Engagement CASE E422Andrea Fortin • Kristen Vanselow When Skills Become Visible: Veterans' Stories from the Field CASE E351Sanjana Seth

3:00pm MDT

3:15pm MDT

3:15pm - 4:00pm Concurrent Breakouts Early Outcomes Leveraging the Trusted Career Profile to Facilitate Employer Adoption UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Madelyn Rahn Teaching, Research, Service: Building an Academic Ecosystem for Career Readiness Through Digital Credentials at HBCUs UMC 235Kristy Williams • Nicole Westrick • Elizabeth Robertson Hornsby Build Your Own Badge UMC 247Tomás Mindlin • Jim Vernon

Designing Badges for Democracy: A Civic Participation Design Challenge CASE CTL (E390)Chris Newlon

From Pitcher to Catcher: Designing SIS Workflows for Digital Credential Ingestion UMC 382+384Mike Simmons

Testing Mobility: Can a Simple Ladder Help Us Measure What Actually Moves the Needle? CASE E422Nishita Chheda

When Credentials Cause Harm: Unpacking the Risks of Verifiable Learning and Work Records CASE E351Dr. Kelly Page

4:00pm MDT

Reception in the Connection

8:00am MDT

Wednesday Breakfast + Badgesplaining Glen Miller Ball Room

9:30am MDT

Critical Partnerships for STEM Career Pathways via Skills-Based Microcredentials UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Garrett Groves • Alyssa Reinhart, Ph.D. • Jennifer Fong Designing Skills Evidence that Employers Trust UMC 247Angela Consani Idea to Badge- A Practical, Human-Centered and AI-Powered Pathway for Microcredential Creation UMC 235Hilary Gibson Lessons from Year One: What We Learned Building a Microcredentialing Program (and What We’d Do Differently) CASE CTL (E390)Christina Goldsmith Making Badges Stick: Practical Steps for Policy, Access, and Lifelong Learning UMC 382+384Dr. Sarah Korpi Open-Source Skills Analysis Tools Ready for Action: Two Opportunities to Leverage LAiSER in Higher Education UMC 415+417Kritika Berry • Luis Gonzalez • Divya Narula • Mike Sanders Recently Launched: Quality Assurance Evaluations for Short-term Credential Providers CASE E422Karen Solomon

10:00am MDT

10:15am MDT

Achieving Interoperability Through Translation: Advancing State Digital Credentialing Ecosystems UMC 235Kyle Albert • Mike Sanders • Tom Weko Evaluating the Technical Foundations of Badge and LER Systems: A Ready-to-Use Self-Assessment Tool UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Robert Bajor • Nate Otto Making the STEM Microcredential Landscape Less Bumpy UMC 247Kent J. Crippen • Sooomin Lee • Rob Moore Microcredentials, Major Shrug: What Are We Really Signaling? UMC 415+417Cate Tolnai, MAT Operationalizing the LER: What We’re Learning About Employer Needs and Credential Transport CASE CTL (E390)Rob Coyle When Badges Fail and When They Work: Governance, Faculty, and the Power Behind Credentials UMC 382+384Keith Look • Nicole Westrick Where Skills Really Get Assessed: Mapping the Signals That Shape Opportunity CASE E422Nishita Chheda • Meghan Raftery

10:45am MDT

Exhibitor Break

11:15am MDT

Ensuring Trusted and Transparent Credentials in Higher Education CASE CTL (E390)Penny Ramirez • Preston Trebas Skills based hiring for employers UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Nate Otto Student Skill Sprints: Accelerating Career-Ready Learning on Campus UMC 235Jenny Lane • Mikayla Rochelle The Learning Outcome to Skill to Competency Highway. Why is it one-way? UMC 382+384Christine Hubbard • Andrew Fisher Understanding Federal and State Requirements for Skill and Credential Portability UMC 247Rob Coyle Using the CREDO Process to Launch STEM Microcredentials UMC 415+417Rob Moore

11:45am MDT

12:00pm MDT

Closing Plenary Luncheon Glen Miller Ball Room

TBA

Badge Frameworks: Say What You Mean and Show You Mean ItDon Presant Beyond the Badge: Rebuilding Employer Trust in Digital CredentialsSonia Malik From Buy-In to Co-Creation: Engaging Faculty in The Microcredential EcosystemCollin Sullivan From Lived Experience to Industry Standard: Creating a Universal Direct Care Worker CredentialMelissa Goldberg • Clare C. Luz, PhD Integrating peer review into ESP classrooms to enhance critical thinking skills among economics students at tamanrasset universitySaid bouarroudj

12:00pm MDT

Behavioral Health Pathways: Stackable Credentials Empower Learners and Meet Employer NeedsSusan Paulsen

12:45pm MDT

From Industry-Based Skilling, to New Career Pathways, to Advancing Democracy: Bridging Divides with Digital CredentialsMelanie Booth