2026 Badge Summit

2026 Badge Summit

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

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

10:45am 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

11:30am 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

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

3:15pm MDT

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

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

10:15am 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

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