2026 Badge Summit

2026 Badge Summit

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

10:00am MDT

"Why should I care?": Recognizing durable skills in a way that industry can trust UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Erin Maruzzella • Kelli Rapplean 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 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)Sasha Flores • Brooke Lipsitz Making Experience Count in K–12: A Common Language for Internships, Capstones, and Career Stories UMC 384+386Meghan Raftery • Mason Pashia

10:45am MDT

Banking on Skills: A Cross-Sector Model for Workforce-Aligned Microcredential Pathway UMC 247Sasha Flores • Lisa Young From Syllabus to Skillset: Launching Holistic Credentialing Programs CASE CTL (E390)Katie Coats • Kristie Lindell 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 384+386Javier Motta-Mena

11:30am MDT

Credentialing the Credential Builders: Lessons from managing a national credential portfolio UMC 384+386Patrick Flanigan • Melissa Peraino Designing for Scale: How Public Higher Education Systems Are Embedding Google Microcredentials for Career Mobility UMC 235Kelvin Bentley Good Badge, Bad Badge: A Hands-On Badge-Making Lab CASE CTL (E390)Wendy Palmer Lessons from a Digital Badge Pilot Implementation CASE E422Tomas Mindlin • Jim Vernon Leveraging Essential Skills for the Future of Work UMC 247Kelly Strong

2:30pm MDT

Building the Framework- Why building a styleguide is key UMC 384+386Derrick Ramsey, Ph.D. Don’t Be a Free-Badger – Align Criteria and Evidence to Ensure Workforce Value UMC 247Robert Bajor • Sandra Bullock • Randy Bowman 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 E351Cate Tolnai, MAT • Sanjana Seth

3:15pm MDT

Teaching, Research, Service: Building an Academic Ecosystem for Career Readiness Through Digital Credentials at HBCUs UMC 235Elizabeth Robertson Hornsby • Nicole Westrick • Kristy Williams

9:40am MDT

Critical Partnerships for STEM Career Pathways via Skills-Based Microcredentials UMC 285+287 (Aspen)Jennifer Fong • Laura Marmolejo • Alyssa Reinhart 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 384+386Dr. 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

10:25am MDT

Achieving Interoperability Through Translation: Advancing State Digital Credentialing Ecosystems UMC 235Kyle Albert • Mike Sanders • Tom Weko Making the STEM Microcredential Landscape Less Bumpy UMC 247Sophia Lee • Rob Moore Operationalizing the LER: What We’re Learning About Employer Needs and Credential Transport CASE CTL (E390)Rob Coyle Our Million Badge Story: A Game-Based Badging Adventure UMC 415+417Cate Tolnai, MAT When Badges Fail and When They Work: Governance, Faculty, and the Power Behind Credentials UMC 384+386Keith Look • Nicole Westrick Where Skills Really Get Assessed: Mapping the Signals That Shape Opportunity CASE E422Nishita Chheda • Meghan Raftery

11:25am MDT

Ensuring Trusted and Transparent Credentials in Higher Education CASE CTL (E390)Penny Ramirez • Preston Trebas Student Skill Sprints: Accelerating Career-Ready Learning on Campus UMC 235Jenny Lane • Mikayla Rochelle The Learning Outcomes to Skills to Competencies Process—How can we make it work better? And how can we make it part of our college culture? UMC 384+386Christine Hubbard Understanding Federal and State Requirements for Skill and Credential Portability UMC 247Rob Coyle Using the CREDO Framework to Implement STEM Microcredentials UMC 415+417Rob Moore