2026 Badge Summit

Dr. Tara Laughlin is a leader in competency-based education, skills validation, and digital credentialing. As Senior Director of Skills Visibility for Education Design Lab, she leads the Center for Skills Validation and drives strategy for scalable, human-centered approaches to make skills visible and valued. Tara brings over 15 years of cross-sector experience spanning K-12, higher education, workforce development, and edtech. Her strengths lie in taking a human-centered approach to micro-credentialing, learning experience design, and the use of authentic assessment and performance data to promote learner agency and economic mobility. She holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Innovation and regularly contributes to national conversations through publications, conference presentations, and cross-sector partnerships advancing the future of learning, work, and equitable opportunity.