DAN ADAMS leads Advance CTE’s Data & Research team where he’s responsible for Advance CTE’s data quality and initiatives to promote data-driven decision-making among state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders and within Advance CTE.

KYLE ALBERT is Assistant Research Professor at The George Washington University in the GW Institute of Public Policy and co-director of its Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy. He studies emerging alternatives to college degrees, such as professional certifications and certificates, and how those credentials contribute to inequality in organizations and labor markets. His research draws on sociological theory in the sociology of work and professions to explore the credentialing marketplace and the causes of the rapid expansion of non-degree credentialing in the US in recent years, giving special attention to the effects of credentials for disadvantaged and older workers. He is PI of the Non-degree Credentials Research Network (NCRN).

JULIAN ALSSID is president of J. Alssid Associates. Previously he served as Vice President of Workforce Partnerships at the Community College of Rhode Island, where he led the college’s workforce development efforts. He has also worked as Chief Workforce Strategist for College of America at Southern New Hampshire University; Executive Director of the National Nonprofit Workforce Strategy Center; and Director of Economic Development at LaGuardia Community College in New York City.

ROBERT ANDERSON is President of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). He previously served as a vice chancellor at the University System of Georgia, executive vice chancellor for administration at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, and director of research and planning at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

STUART ANDREASON is Managing Director Workforce Innovation, at The Burning Glass Institute. Previously he worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, where he founded and directed the Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity. He led major initiatives at the Federal Reserve including “Investing in America’s Workforce” and contributions to the Rework America Alliance and the Talent Finance Innovation Network. He has published widely on workforce development practice and policy and labor market trends. Stuart has held previous positions at the Penn Institute for Urban Research, where he is now a Fellow, and the Pew Partnership for Civic Change as well as in local economic development.

SARA APPEL is Associate Director of Policy Initiatives at the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC). She maintains the Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit initiative which focuses on translating competencies acquired through military training and experience toward completing a college degree, earning a certificate/credential or professional. Previously she was academic programs manager at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

ERICA BARREIRO is the Chief Learning and Diversity Officer, Nusenda Credit Union. Previously she served as Future of Work Strategist at Central New Mexico Community College where her work included building the skills-based learning and work ecosystem. She has been a leader in related state and national collaborative efforts including the Learning Credential Network (LCN), a blockchain network for storing and exchanging credentials; and Unmudl, a skills-based marketplace connecting working learners, employers, and community colleges. Barreiro previously served as the Dean for the School of Communication, Humanities, and Social Sciences at CNM.

CHRISTINE BARROW is a Director at Education Strategy Group where she advances collaborative, evidence-based postsecondary initiatives toward improving student outcomes and eliminating equity gaps. Previously she served as Dean of the Division of Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at Prince George’s Community College. She also served as a professor and department chair of biological sciences. Earlier, she served as a molecular genetics research scientist for the National Institutes of Health

MEG BENKE is a professor of Adult Learning at Empire State University, and former Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Empire State College. Benke also served as a commissioner for the Middle States Association for Higher Education, and participated as a commissioner for the National Commission on Interstate Regulation of Distance Education which served as a foundation for the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).

KELVIN BENTLEY is the founding program manager of the Texas Credentials for the Future, an initiative within the University of Texas System designed to provide learners across the system’s eight universities with access to employer-initiated and validated micro-credential programs to help undergraduates be successful in the world of work. He has more than 22 years’ experience leading online learning initiatives as an administrator and consultant for two- and four-year colleges and universities, and K-12 and for-profit organizations. Kelvin has received various honors including Blackboard’s 2017 Catalyst Award for Inclusive Education, and his selection as a Fulbright Specialist in 2010.

KATHY BOOTH is Project Director, Educational Data & Policy, at WestEd, where she leads projects that help translate data into action. For example, she designed dashboards linking adult education, community college, workforce training, and employment data; led the design process for the California Cradle to Career Data System; and documents efforts to expand public access to longitudinal data sets. She has conducted research on the returns to short-term community college course taking, which has been integrated into state accountability frameworks and guided pathways implementation. In her previous role as Executive Director of the RP Group, she led research and technical assistance projects in the areas of multiple measures, skills-builder pathways, and student support.

TERRY BOWER is Associate Vice President of Innovative and Lifelong Learning at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Bower has over 20 years of experience in higher education specializing in new educational product and program development. In her current position, Bower designs and incubates new revenue-generating programs that also build pipelines to degrees. Prior, Bower was an Assistant Dean at the University of Denver and served as Director of Mayor Hancock’s Denver Education Compact. Originally from Washington, D.C., Bower was Communications Director for the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and Vice President for Business Development at APCO Worldwide.

NAOMI BOYER is Executive Director, Digital Transformation, at the Education Design Lab where she focuses on product solutions that support the successful deployment/scaling of the Lab’s 21st Century Skills Badges and related assets by facilitating the dialogue between the Lab, educational institutions, industry, and product vendors. She is also President and Founder of NOME, LLC.; and former VP/CIO for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Polk State College. She has also served as Assistant VP at the University of South Florida.

DEBRA BRAGG is President of Bragg & Associates, Inc. and has led program evaluations, strategic planning, and technical assistance projects for over 25 years through her work founding and leading community college research centers at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and University of Washington. Her research approaches use logic models; conducts qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods evaluation; designs/conducts remote training; and leads evidence-focused strategic planning and data driven, continuous improvement projects.

EARL BUFORD is President of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). Most recently he served as CEO of Partner4Work, the leader of the public workforce system for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Previously he served as CEO of Employ Milwaukee; led Milwaukee-based WRTP/Big-Step (recruiting and building a diverse workforce in construction, manufacturing, and emerging sectors); and was appointed in 2014 to serve on Vice President Joe Biden’s Advisory Taskforce on Workforce Development

GARDNER CARRICK is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for The Manufacturing Institute at the National Association of Manufacturers. Previously he served as Communications Director, Chief Speechwriter, and Special Projects Director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

SCOTT CHENEY is CEO of Credential Engine, leading efforts to bring transparency to credentials and reveal the marketplace of credentials and competencies. Previously he served as the Policy Director for Workforce, Postsecondary Education and Economic Development for Senator Patty Murray and the Senate HELP Committee; with the National Alliance of Business, the Association for Talent Development, and the US Chamber of Commerce.

CINDY CISNEROS is Vice President, Education Programs, at the Committee for Economic Development (CED) of The Conference Board. Previously she served in senior research positions at the American Institutes for Research addressing high school/postsecondary transition topics and at Education Development Center, and in government positions as Special Assistant at USDOE’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education managing school improvement programs and providing technical assistance to states, and Senior Legislative Aide to Rep. Leon Panetta managing education issues.

WENDI COPELAND is Chief Strategy Officer at Goodwill Industries International where she leads professionals who leverage relationships and resources to advance Goodwill’s mission and social enterprises while fueling systems change. She previously served as Goodwill’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Advancement, Chief Mission and Partnership Officer, and Vice President of Career Services.

RYAN CRAIG is the author of College Disrupted, A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College, and the bi-weekly Gap Letter. He is Managing Director at Achieve Partners, which is engineering the future of learning and earning.

LINDSEY REICHLIN CRUSE is a Senior Fellow at National Skills Coalition where she leads the organization’s work on postsecondary education policy, particularly for adults with low incomes, and access to public benefits, childcare, and holistic supports for postsecondary students. Prior to joining National Skills Coalition in January 2022, Lindsey spent over eight years at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). Most recently, she served as Managing Director, Student Parent Success Initiative, for which she led IWPR’s research on strategies to increase postsecondary attainment and economic security for families with low incomes, with a focus on families headed by single mothers and mothers of color.

HOLLY CUSTARD is Senior Director of Partnerships at Strada Education Foundation. She has worked in K-20 education for more than 20 years, across non-profit, public, and corporate sectors. She specializes in learner-centered design, qualitative research, cross-sector stakeholder engagement, and strategic program development. Before joining Strada, Custard was Head of Academics at Pearson, leading innovations in online learning and designing new models to serve working learners. She also previously served as Associate Director of Digital Content at the University of Texas at Austin, Product and Solutions Specialist at Pearson, and Education Program Director for PBS.

JIM DANIELS is the Director of Professional Services for Credly’s Customer Success organization with an extensive background in technology and education services strategy and execution. Previously, he held several positions at IBM including serving as a global  delivery leader for IBM education and accreditation growth initiatives focused on designing, transforming, and expanding IBM’s training and credential programs across both internal business units and external markets. This work resulted in expanding IBM education services coverage from 70 to 200 countries, development of innovative talent development and skills growth initiatives, transforming skills recognition strategy through digital credentials (Open Badges) and professional certification programs, and maximizing return on customers IT investments by improving access to training and certification tailored to their unique requirements.

LEANNE DAVIS is Senior Learning Specialist at The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. She previously served as Associate Director of Research and Policy at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). Previously she served in various roles in research at IHEP, and COO/Director of Counseling at Sparks Consulting LLC. Early in her career she was a Navy CH-46 pilot. As training officer for her squadron, she worked to ensure that workplace training and certifications received would meet the requirements for ACE military credit.

SUSAN DEER is retired. Previously, she was Provost and Executive Vice President at Rockland Community College. She was the Certifying Officer for a Title V grant received by RCC designed to help students become more “real-world ready” thus providing credentialing options that are reflective of the needs of business and industry.

Sarah DeMark serves as the interim Provost and the Vice Provost of Workforce Intelligence & Credential Integrity at Western Governors University, where she has worked since 2014. She is a strong advocate for creating skills-based credentials that benefit and align both individuals and employers to improve equitable opportunity for all. While at WGU, Sarah has also served as the vice president of program development and the vice president of General Education innovation. Sarah also currently serves as the Executive Director of the Open Skills Network, a 2000-member coalition dedicated to advancing an open skills-based education and hiring ecosystem. She also serves on 1EdTech’s Board of Directors.

BRENT DRAKE is the Senior Vice President Operations and Research at the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education.

AMY ELLEN DUKE-BENFIELD is Managing Director, Policy and Research at Higher Learning Advocates. Previously, she was a Senior Fellow at National Skills Coalition, where she serves as the organization’s expert on state and federal higher education policy development and implementation. Previously she served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

AMBER GARRISON DUNCAN is Executive Vice President at Competency-Based Education Network (CBEN). Previously, she led a portfolio to scale student learning and success policies and practices that serve adult minoritized communities, particularly in community colleges at Lumina Foundation. She’s led work in competency-based education, learning frameworks, assessment, credential recognition, digital learner records and open data standards, as well as quality assurance. Prior to Lumina, she spent 15 years as a campus-based professional, designing co-curricular learning experiences and leading assessment.

LISA EADS is Associate Vice President of Programs for the North Carolina Community College System Office. Her career in higher education and early childhood education has focused on improving college transfer opportunities, expansion of stackable credentials within career and technical education programs, and the NCCCS Credit for Prior Learning policy development and implementation plan.

DHANFU ELSTON is Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President for Strategy at Complete College America. He previously led completion and retention efforts at minority-serving institutions that garnered national attention, including Georgia State University, Purdue University Northwest, and Clark Atlanta University.

KAREN ELZEY is the associate executive director of Workcred where she advances projects that focus on the quality, effectiveness, and market value of workforce credentials. Her work includes developing pathways that integrate multiple types of credentials and managing a network of certification bodies to share their administrative data as a way to understand the return on investment for certifications. Previously, she was vice president of the Business-Higher Education Forum and vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce.

MINDY FELDBAUM is the Vice President of Workforce Programs at the AARP Foundation. Previously, she served as the Principal of The Collaboratory, a strategic consulting firm working to transform the effectiveness and impact of community college programs and systems to improve student success. She has also served as the Vice President for Strategy and Programs for the ACT Foundation, helping to launch the Foundation and oversee its inaugural investments. She also directed four major grant programs at US Department of Labor and served as the Director of the Employment and Training Council at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

ERIC FOTHERINGHAM is Assistant Vice President for Transfer Student Success at the University of North Carolina System Office. He has held many roles at the system including working on adult learner initiatives, non-cognitive skill assessment, policy reviews, and data analysis. Prior to working in higher education work, he supported workforce development programs and international and domestic capacity-building projects.

SAMEER GADKAREE is President and CEO of The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS). He previously served as Senior Program Officer on the Education & Economic Mobility team at the Joyce Foundation. He has also served as a freelance consultant in workforce development, education issues, and philanthropic strategy; and Associate Vice Chancellor for Adult Education with the City Colleges of Chicago. He also served as Business Analyst for Discovery Communications and McKinsey & Co.

SEAN GALLAGHER is Executive Director of Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy, and Executive Professor of Educational Policy. He previously served as Chief Strategy Officer for Northeastern and as a business leader at research and consulting firm Eduventures.

PAUL GASTON is a higher education consultant with accrediting organizations, higher education institutions, and Lumina Foundation. He is also an author of “Credentials” with coauthor Michelle Van Noy. Since 2019 he has served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He is Trustees Professor Emeritus at Kent State University, where he served for several years as Provost. Earlier he served as Provost and Executive Vice President at Northern Kentucky University; and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

JULIE GEDRO is Dean of the School of Business at SUNY Empire State College where she has also served as Associate Dean and Professor of Business, Management and Economics. She serves as Series Editor for Palgrave Macmillan’s Human Resource Development book series, Explorations in Workplace Stigma; and served as President of the Academy of Human Resource Development.

HALEY GLOVER is Director of UpSkill America at the Aspen Institute, scaling employer-driven solutions for talent development and career advancement for frontline workers.  Previously,  Haley served as a Senior Program Manager for Amazon Career Choice, supporting the program’s college and coaching efforts. She also served for more than a decade as Strategy Director at Lumina Foundation, leading the Foundation’s community and employer mobilization portfolios, and most recently, the Racial Justice and Equity Fund. Prior to Lumina, Haley served in state policy roles in Massachusetts and Indiana.

SANDY GOODMAN has been a leading member of the National College Transition Network (NTCN) team since 2006. She provides technical assistance, professional development, and project leadership and coaching on designing and scaling effective training and learning pathways to careers for adult learners and workers. Sandy has trained hundreds of frontline staff and agency leaders around the country to design and deliver effective career navigation and coaching programs. She works strategically within and across the adult education, workforce development, and community college systems to leverage to foster innovative and equitable education and employment opportunities.

MELANIE GOTTLIEB is the Executive Director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), where she held several earlier leadership positions. She also served as Vice President for International Education on the AACRAO Board of Directors.   Previously, she served as Vice President of Enrollment Management at Cottey College; and Director of Admission Operations at Webster University where she admission policy and process for international university network on 8 continents and in 60 cities across the globe. Her functional areas included technology training and development, reporting, events, international education policy, transfer and articulation process and policy, front desk and call centers, management of recruitment communication plan.

TOM GREEN is Director of Strategic Enrollment Management at Salesforce. Previously he served as Associate Executive Director for Consulting and Strategic Enrollment Management for AACRAO, where he led efforts to develop new forms of digital student records based on what is learned in higher education; and coordinates work on digital records across organizations that seek to create digital records and evolving mechanisms to transmit them. He has also served in executive enrollment roles at several colleges and universities.

TINA GRIDIRON is Vice President at ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning. Previously she served as Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships for the Center. She also founded and is lead consultant of TLG Solutions, a consulting firm that increases the impact and influence of organizations promoting the public good. Previously she served as an officer and director for Lumina Foundation where she worked extensively with community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and regional comprehensive institutions. She has served as Acting Director of the Black Community Services Center at Stanford University

SARAH HEATH is State Director of Career and Technical Education in Colorado. Previously she worked in CTE as a high school business teacher, state program director, and local administrator. She serves as President of Advance CTE and National Past-President of the Association for Career and Technical Education.

DEB HODGE is Managing Consultant for ED2WORK®. She brings nearly 20 years of higher education and program development experience to the role. She was most recently the Managing Director of the Capital CoLAB, the skills and talent division of the Greater Washington Partnership, where she led and supported implementation of the Digital Tech Credential at 20 regional universities. In previous roles with Excelsior College and SUNY Empire State College, she helped to implement programs centered around non-traditional learners. As CIO at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, Deb led the Transformation Initiative aimed at creating accessible and scalable online learning resources for boards of directors.

ROBERTA HYLAND is Chief Data Officer at the National Student Clearinghouse where she is responsible for enterprise data strategy and charting the path forward for data management and data infrastructure and technology, and evangelizing for data literacy and data governance. She has held several positions at the Clearinghouse including Chief of Staff; Assistant Vice President, Research Operations and International Development; Assistant Vice President, Financial Aid Services; and Assistant Vice President, Government Relations.

NATASHA JANKOWSKI is an assessment expert and higher education consultant as well as lecturer with New England College. She is former Executive Director of NILOA (National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment) where she led research focused on increasing the use of evidence of student learning, more equitable recognition and validation of learning, increased involvement of students in assessment, organizational transformation through a learning systems paradigm, and transparency of learning. She has served as Research Associate Professor at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.

PARMINDER K JASSAL is the CEO of Unmudl Skills-to-Jobs Marketplace, a public benefit corp., founded by U.S. community colleges to connect community college students to employers. Earlier she founded the “Work + Learn Futures Lab” at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. Jassal also served as Founding Executive Director of ACT Foundation, and before that, as a program officer supporting postsecondary success for low-income young adults at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, she held a number of workforce-oriented positions including serving as Director of Workforce Solutions for Greater Louisville Inc.

LECESTER JOHNSON is Chief Executive Officer of Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School, in Washington, DC., an adult education provider offering two pathways to a high school credential (GED or National External Diploma Program), workforce training and college preparation. She brings 25+ years of experience supporting individuals historically underserved in education and workforce development and has developed award-winning workforce training and education programs. She is a trained special educator and certified vocational evaluator with deep knowledge of education and workforce policy and expertise in career assessment and instructional systems design.

CATHRAEL KAZIN (“KATE”) is Managing Partner of Volta Learning Group. She previously served as founding Chief Academic Officer of Southern New Hampshire University’s College for America and designed its project-based CBE model. She has served as Executive Director of the Higher Education Division at ETS; civil rights attorney at the US Department of Labor and Special Assistant to Secretary Robert Reich; and former faculty member of the University of Iowa English Department.

ANGELA KERSENBROCK is President of the Community College Baccalaureate Association. She previously served as a tenured faculty member, Department Chair, Dean and the Associate Vice President of the School of Business, Health and Public Safety at Seminole State College in Florida.

BECKY KLEIN-COLLINS is Vice President for Impact at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) where she develops strategic partnerships, advocates for the adult learner, manages research initiatives, and oversees development of public-facing resources. Her prior roles focused on prior learning assessment, competency-based education, public policy change, and system-transforming practices in workforce development. In 2018, she published Never Too Late: The Adult Student’s Guide to College.

MICHELLE LAIR is a North Carolina native who has spent over 25 years working in the field of education. She has worked in secondary education and in an education serving nonprofit prior to transitioning to higher education. Michelle has served on campus as Director of Admissions, at the NC Community College System office as the CCP Coordinator and currently serves as the Director of Academic Programs for the NC Community College System. Expanding access and increasing success for students in the state of NC is what Michelle seeks to do in her role as she works to contribute to the overall economic development of the state.

MARY BETH LAKIN is Director for the Credit for Prior Learning Assessment Network (C-PLAN) at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, which supports 37 campuses in CPL implementation. Previously she worked at the American Council on Education developing pathways and partnerships through the application of ACE credit recommendations at higher education institutions. She has also been faculty, academic advisor and program director at colleges and universities in California, Japan, and Virginia.

PATRICK LANE is Vice President of WICHE’s Policy Analysis and Research unit, overseeing research products and postsecondary policy initiatives focused on improving access to and success in postsecondary education throughout the West with a focus on those groups that have been poorly served by existing systems. Previously he worked in education policy in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

JESSICA LANGLEY-LOEP is Executive Director of Education and Advocacy for the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), a leading allied health learning resource and certification exam provider. She is a clinician by trade with tenure as a health science education leader.

JEANNINE LAPRAD is the Managing Director of Policy and Research at National Skills Coalition, where she leads policy research, development, and implementation activities. Previously, she worked with the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce where she held several positions including serving as a Senior Fellow, and later as President and CEO. Throughout her career, she has worked with leaders in the non-profit, government, education, and business sectors to reshape employment and education policy and practice in ways to create more equitable outcomes for workers and communities, at the federal, state and local levels.

DAVID LEASER is Co-Founder of Digital Badge Academy. Prior to his current position, Leaser was Senior Executive of Strategic Growth Initiatives for IBM’s Training & Skills program. He developed IBM’s first cloud-based embedded learning solution and is the founder of the IBM Digital Badge program. He is a Fellow at Northeastern University and a member of the IMS Global Consortium Board advisory group for digital credentials. He has provided guidance to the US Department of Labor and US Department of Education as an employer subject matter expert.

CAROLYNN LEE is Deputy Director of Education Grantmaking for the Ascendium Education Group, where she partners with institutions and organizations to elevate opportunity and streamline key transitions for learners from low-income backgrounds, especially from historically underserved groups. Previously, she led the grantmaking programs at Kohler Foundation, Inc., and the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

MARY LEFEBVRE is Director of Workforce Policy with ACT State Government Relations, providing education and workforce development expertise and government relations support at the federal, state, and local level. Her applied research includes empirical measures of career success, ROI of skills-based employer hiring systems, 21st C. workforce trends, and issues facing an aging and transitioning workforce. Previously she served as Workforce Research Manager at the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, MO Department of Economic Development, providing statewide and local leadership for research and statewide workforce initiatives.

MARK LEUBA is Vice President of 1EdTech. 1EdTech’s 750+ member organizations collaborate under transparent governance to power learner potential and advance learner-worker mobility. Since 2015 with 1EdTech, Leuba has worked with leading education, workforce, and technology innovators to adopt open standards such as Open Badges, the Comprehensive Learner Record Standard and CASE, the Competency and Academic Standards Exchange. Prior to joining 1EdTech, he served as CIO for American Public University System (APUS), CTO for MoodleRooms, and managing partner for Pathway Technology Partners, an education technology consultancy.

DANE LINN is Senior Vice President of Corporate Initiatives at the Business Roundtable. Previously he oversaw the Education & Workforce Committee and advancing positions on education reform, U.S. innovation capacity, and workforce preparedness. He also was lead staff for the Immigration Committee. He previously served as Executive Director of State Policy at College Board; Director of Educational Policy Division of National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices; Coordinator of the Office of Special Education Programs for the West Virginia Department of Education; and school principal and teacher.

CHARLA LONG is Executive Director for the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), an international consortium of higher education institutions and statewide systems seeking to design, develop, and scale new models of student learning. She also She also leads C-BEN’s Consulting Services, helping institutions with competency-based learning.

LISA LUTZ is President and CEO of SOLID, LLC., focusing on policy research and analysis and program evaluation related to education, training, workforce development, and employment of military service members and veterans. She has held appointments to advisory committees by four secretaries of Veterans Affairs. She has served as both committee member and vice chair of the American National Standard’s Institute’s (ANSI) National Accreditation Board (ANAB) Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee (PCAC), and serves as a long-term member of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) Government Affairs Committee.

LISA SAX MAHONEY is Director of National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS), University of the State of New York, Board of Regents. Previously she served as Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships at SUNY Empire State College, Executive Director of the Adirondack Business & School Partnership, and Director of the Newspapers-in-Education program, Lee Enterprises.

KATHRYN JO MANNES is Vice President, Impact Partnerships, at Jobs for the Future (JFF). Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of Labor where she launched the Center for Workforce and Industry Partnerships. She also previously served as senior vice president for workforce and economic development at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC); managing director of workforce development at the National Retail Federation Foundation; at Dusco Community Services; the Council for Adult Education and Learning; and American University.

DANIEL MARSCHALL is a Research Professor at George Washington Institute of Public Policy. Previously he served as Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, which received a U.S. Department of Labor grant to expand registered apprenticeships in manufacturing and service industries. For many years, he was a practitioner in the analysis of workforce and training programs to inform policy frameworks for local, state, and federal government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

KEVIN MARTIN is General Manager of Higher Education and member of the Executive Team at Parchment, where he has held prior positions as Senior Director, Account Development; Senior Director, Member Development; and Manager, Member Development. Previously he worked at Stryker as a Commodity Manager and Aftermarket Materials; and at Calvin College as a Transfer Coordinator following roles as an Admissions Counselor/Transfer.

ROBERT MATTHEWS is Associate Vice President, Workforce & Economic Development at Mott Community College. In this position he identifies and leverages city, federal, state, philanthropic, and corporate resources to promote and advance community, economic and workforce development, and other strategic initiatives at the college. He has held previous positions at Mott, as Executive Dean, Workforce, Community & Grant Development; and Executive Dean, Workforce & Career Development.

ALEXEI MATVEEV is Director of Training and Research at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He led recent research to explore whether and how SACSCOC member institutions recognize and validate college-level learning acquired outside the traditional higher education environment and, consequently, convert external, noncredit learning experiences and competencies into college credit. Previously he worked at Norfolk State University (VA) and Udmurt State University (Russia).

MARY ALICE MCCARTHY is Director of the Center on Education & Labor at New America. She has previously led technical assistance initiatives in career pathways, credentialing, and competency-based education for the USDOE; and career pathways programs with states and tribal entities at the USDOL. She co-founded an interagency working group from USDOE, Health & Human Services, and USDOL on investments related to career pathways; and wrote policy guidance on credentialing and career pathways, and supported the TAACCT Workforce Innovation Fund grant programs.

KATE DREZEK MCCONNELL is Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Executive Director of VALUE. Previously she served as Assistant Vice President for Research and Assessment and Director of the VALUE Institute, that enables any higher education provider to collect and upload samples of student work to a digital repository and have that work scored by certified Institute scorers for external validation of institutional learning assessment. Earlier she spent 10 years at Virginia Tech in assessment /evaluation and affiliate faculty in Virginia Tech’s graduate program in educational psychology, teaching courses on cognitive processes and effective college teaching.

LISA MCINTYRE-HITE is the Founder and Principle of Learning Ecosystem Design, LLC. Previously, she was Vice President of Learning Innovation at Guild Education. She leads strategic efforts to create stackable credentials and is responsible for Guild’s Credit for X strategy focused on credit for prior learning and work-based training. She has worked directly with 40+ institutions and organizations to help them better serve adult learners at scale. Her research in competency-based education and learning innovation has been published by the Clayton Christensen Institute and is featured in several peer-reviewed journals.

HEATHER MCKAY is the Executive Director of the Virginia Office of Education and Economics, effective September 2021. She has served as Director of the Education and Employment Research Center at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations where she conducted research and evaluations on credentials, community college education and teaching, educational and career pathways, and state and federal education and workforce policies.

MICHAEL MEOTTI is Executive Director of the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC). Previously he served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Higher Education and Executive Vice President of the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education; consulted on national higher education initiatives and regional and state strategies to increase student access/success supported by foundations; and taught higher education policy at George Washington University.

SARAH MILLER is a Senior Adviser with the Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Previously she served as Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at CAEL where she focused on supports for working learners, regional strategies to increase workforce, education, and economic development alignment, developed approaches to advance learn-and-work systems, identify skills transferability and highlight the value of industry certifications and nondegree credentials.

WANDA MONTHEY leads Monthey Associates where she works with industry and educators to develop high quality programs for youth and adults. In collaboration with Bray Strategies, developed three Department of Labor approved registered apprenticeship programs and implementation plans for five programs. Previously she wworked in leadership roles at the Oregon and Maine Departments of Education supervising and implementing multiple program areas and projects including in career and technical education, adult education, ESEA, higher education, standards, and assessment. Earlier, she worked with The College Board to develop a strategic plan for CTE by designing pathways from middle school through postsecondary education. Together with AdvanceCTE, she also mapped relevant Advanced Placement (AP) courses to the career clusters.

NICK MOORE serves as the director of the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation (GOEWT) under the leadership of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. Moore focuses on aligning Alabama’s education and workforce programs, implementing Alabama’s state longitudinal database system, establishing Alabama’s non-degree credential quality and transparency system, and curating a competency-based education and skills-based hiring system in Alabama. Under Nick’s leadership, the GOEWT is working to establish a learning and employment record, a skills-based job description generator, and a human-centered public workforce system designed to assist Alabamians with overcoming benefits cliffs and other barriers to entering the workforce.

JANE OATES is a former U.S. Department of Labor official who has played a key role in WorkingNation’s mission to raise awareness about the challenges facing the American workforce. Jane served as Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration under Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis after being nominated for the position by President Barack Obama in 2009. Prior to her appointment, Jane was Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and a senior advisor to Governor Jon S. Corzine. She also served for nearly a decade as senior policy advisor for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Jane began her career as a teacher in the Boston and Philadelphia public schools and later as a field researcher at Temple University’s Center for Research in Human Development and Education.

SUZANNE ORTEGA is President of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). She previously served as the University of North Carolina Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of New Mexico; and Vice Provost and Graduate Dean at the University of Washington, and the University of Missouri. She has served on review panels for NSF and NIH, and as principal or co-investigator on state, federal, and private foundation grants.

AMELIA PARNELL is Vice President for Research and Policy at NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Previously she served as Director of Research Initiatives at the Association of Institutional Research (AIR) where she also served as Director of National Survey Research. She has worked as a Legislative Policy Analyst for the Florida Legislature, Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability; and Adjunct Professor at Florida State University.

DAVID G. PAYNE is the Vice President of Learner Insights at National Student Clearinghouse. Previously, he was a Strategic Consultant who worked across the learn and earn ecosystems. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Global Higher Education Division, Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Chairman of ETS Global B.V. & ETS International Holdings. At ETS he was responsible for GRE, TOEFL and a portfolio of Student Learning Outcomes assessments. He served as Senior Strategic Consultant on the Solutions Team at JFF Labs, Jobs for the Future. David started his career at Binghamton University – SUNY, where he held various positions, including Professor, Psychology Department Chair, Vice Provost, and Graduate Dean.

JULIE PELLER is Founder and Executive Director of Higher Learning Advocates. Previously she was Lumina Foundation’s first Director of Federal Policy where she led the development and advancement of the foundation’s federal policy agenda. Earlier she served as Senior Advisor and the Deputy Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and Labor.

JACKIE PICHETTE is the Director of Research, Policy and Partnerships at the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), an agency that evaluates the postsecondary sector and provides policy recommendations to the government in Ontario, Canada. She guides HEQCO research and evaluation projects, often working with external partners to explore innovations and improvements in higher education. Previously she worked as a consultant, community organizer, and government policy analyst.

KIM POAST is Chief Student Success & Academic Affairs Officer for the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Previously she served as Director, Office of College and Career Readiness for Denver Public Schools; Director, Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness for Aurora Public Schools; and Deputy Director/Associate Deputy Director, Access & Student Services for the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Earlier she held positions as Executive Director for Institutional Advancement and Dean of Students at the Community College of Denver. She is also an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Denver teaching higher education policy and governance.

STELLA PORTO is a Learning and Knowledge Management Sr. specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, DC. She is the head of CredencialesBID, IDB’s Open Badge credentialing platform. She leads a team responsible for design, development and delivery of online courses covering various themes in social and economic development. Prior to IDB, Stella was the Program Director of the Master of Distance Education & E-Learning (MDE) at University of Maryland Global Campus, where she had other leadership roles since she joined UMGC in 2001. Earlier, Stella was a Professor in Computer Science at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil.

DON PRESANT is a leading expert on Open Badges in Canada and consults on international projects for badges, micro-credentials and opening up the recognition of people and their skills. He is President of CanCred by Learning Agents, a leading Canadian service for Open Badges and micro-credentials.  Don is a founding member of the international Open Recognition Alliance (ORA), co-author of the 2016 Bologna Open Recognition Declaration and serves as an Open Recognition Ambassador, with a badge to demonstrate. Current files include the Open Recognition Workgroup in Open Skills Network, the Inter-American Development Bank and Canada’s Institute for Performance and Learning.

CYNTHIA PROCTOR is Director of Communications and Academic Policy Development in the Provost’s Office, the State University of New York (SUNY) System. Previously she served as Director of Communications & Chief of Staff In the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, SUNY System; and Director of Public Affairs with the SUNY Charter Schools Institute. In earlier positions, she worked in communications including devising strategic communications plans, marketing strategy, and redesigning website and promotional materials. She drafted and leads implementation of SUNY’s multi-faceted microcredential policy, and is updating SUNY’s policy on the award of academic credit by evaluation.

CHRIS RASMUSSEN is Senior Director for Academic Pathways and Innovation with the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Previously held vice presidencies with the Association of Governing Boards and the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, where he led a multi-state effort on “tuning” the disciplines (aligning coursework to degree-level knowledge and competencies) and helped expand student access to online programs through launching the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement.

ANNE REED is founding Director of Micro-credentials at the University at Buffalo. She developed a process to propose, review, develop, and implement new micro-credentials at the university. She currently serves on multiple advisory boards, including the leadership team for UPCEA, Council for Credential Innovation. Previously she served as Lead Learning Designer for the Graduate School of Education at UB, and as Program Manager for Open SUNY. She has served as principal or co-investigator on state and federal grants, including as Co-PI on the NSF Convergence Accelerator project: A Universal Framework of Micro-Credentials for Nation-Wide Employment.

KATHRYN REGJO is Vice President of Academic Affairs, Colorado Mountain College System, and previously Vice President and Campus Dean. She has served as President of Lincoln College of New England; and in several positions at The Princeton Review ─ Regional Vice President, Executive Director, Director of Marketing, and Assistant Director of High School Programs.

RHIANNA C. ROGERS is inaugural director of the Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy (CAREP) and a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Previously, she held administrative appointments and taught in higher education, most recently as associate professor of interdisciplinary studies and coordinator of the Global Indigenous Knowledge program at State University of New York (SUNY), Empire State College. She was also a Stevens Initiative Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the American University of Technology in Kaslik, Lebanon, and earlier served as the SUNY Empire State College Coordinator of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies.

DENISE ROOSENDAAL is Executive Director for the Institute for Credentialing Excellence and Senior Director for SmithBucklin, serving trade associations, professional societies, technology communities, charitable organizations, and corporations. Previously she served as the Executive Director of a regional REALTORS® Association, and the American Evaluation Association. She co-authored the chapter on credentialing in the ASAE Handbook of Professional Practices in Association Management(3rd edition), and serves on the Advisory Group for the ASAE ForesightWorks Project.

SHANNON ROWAN is a Senior Manager, Opportunity, at the Walmart Foundation supporting Innovative Learning strategy on the Economic Opportunity in Retail team. Her work includes learning systems, short-term credential quality, and talent financing. Previously she was a part of Walmart’s Global People team supporting the company’s Live Better U education benefit. She has over a decade of field operations leadership experience and a passion for lifelong learning.

LAUREN RUNCO is Director of Strategy for Solutions for Information Design (SOLID), LLC. Previously, she served as Strategy Officer for military-based learning at Lumina Foundation; Director of Education and Employment for the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University; and founding Director of the Office of Military and Veteran Services at Marywood University.

CASEY SACKS is President of BridgeValley Community and Technical College in Charleston, WV. She is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the US Department of Education. She has also served in WV as the Vice Chancellor for the State higher education system, and in Colorado in several roles with the Colorado Community College System. She holds a senior scholar appointment with Rutgers University in the center for work and a faculty appointment with NC State in the BELK Center for Community College Leadership and Research.

KEN SAUER is Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Academic Officer of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and Executive Director of the Indiana Board for Proprietary Education. He serves on the Governor’s Health Workforce Council, leads Indiana’s interagency effort to scale up Credential Engine, and is a recent past Chair of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Previously he worked at the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

RACHEL SCHERER is Senior Program Officer, Data Innovation at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously she led the data and analytics portfolio, platform, and practice at Blackboard, co-chaired the IMS Global’s Caliper Analytics® specification steering committee. Prior to these roles, she spent the majority of her career in both higher education and K-12, supporting and leading research efforts, served in a technical assistance capacity, developed analyses impacting institutional optimization efforts, leading large-scale data governance projects, and heading online higher education innovation initiatives.  She brings a broad perspective on practices, needs, and market trends in the application of higher education data to p[projects ranging across technology, policy, and standards development and adoption.

GREG SCHMIDT is Director of Workforce Initiatives at CVS Pharmacy. Previously he held several positions at CVS ─ Manager in Training at a CVS/pharmacy in Albany, New York; Store Manager; Training Store Manager; and Workforce Initiatives Manager in New York and New England. He currently oversees a team of 10 Workforce Managers who partner with state and federal workforce agencies to provide employment services and training to underserved communities.

WENDY SEDLAK is Strategy Director for Research & Evaluation at Lumina Foundation, where she establishes and synthesizes evidence and data to advise Lumina’s strategic direction and documents effective practices and policies to inform the foundation and the field. Her work builds the evidence-base for what works for adult students of color on their pathway to earning a quality credential that leads to employability. Previously she served as Senior Director at Equal Measure, managing and directing large-scale national systems-change evaluations; and Research Assistant and Data Specialist at Temple University.

MIKE SIMMONS is Strategic Projects Director for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).  He is also CEO of the Mike Simmons Group and formerly an assistant vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of North Texas. His work spans 20 year of direct support for faculty, course development, instructional design, and research. Implementing innovation at scale, measuring impact on learning outcomes, and advancing the relationship between high-impact practices (HIPs) and job skill attainment have been areas of focus, including implementation of a marketable skills comprehensive learner record based on HIPs at UNT. He was previously Assistant Vice President for Lifelong Learning at Texas Woman’s University.

PETER SMITH holds a five-year term as the Orkand Endowed Chair and Senior Advisor to the President at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). He has served as founding president of California State University Monterey Bay and the Community College of Vermont. He has also served as Assistant Director General for Education for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris, France. Smith has been a lifelong champion for the assessment of prior learning and credential flexibility for adult learners.

LOUIS SOARES is Chief Learning & Innovation Officer at American Council on Education, where he incubates and scales executive leadership networks and catalyzes compelling research and innovation initiatives across the Council. Previously he served as Director and Fellow with the Center for American progress; Director of Business and Workforce Services for Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation; Manager of Education/Training Programs at Rhode Island Technology Council; and Manager of Education Grants Program at the Northern Rhode Island School to Career Partnership.

KAREN SOLOMON is Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). She leads initiatives on innovation, student success, and quality awareness including transparency for learners and the expansion of recognized credentials. She also serves as Director of the Standard Pathway and staff liaison to a portfolio of member institutions. Previously she was engaged with outcomes assessment at ACT, Inc., founding Executive Director at Illinois Campus Compact and served in administrative roles at several postsecondary institutions in the Midwest.

MITCHELL STEVENS is a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, where he also holds a courtesy professor appointment in Sociology and serves as faculty affiliate at the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. He also co-directs the Stanford Pathways Lab (pathwayslab.stanford.edu). Previously he served as associate professor, New York University; and assistant to associate professor at Hamilton College. As an organizational sociologist, his work focuses on educational sequences, lifelong learning, alternative educational forms, and the formal organization of knowledge.

JEFF STROHL is Director of Research at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) where he designs and implements research projects focused on the nexus between labor markets and education. Previously he worked at Westat where he conducted studies including evaluation of the Teacher Incentive Fund grants which provided significant insight on K-12 education.

KEVIN STUMP is Vice President of Economic Mobility and Workforce Innovation at SUNY Rockland. Previously he was Vice President of Economic Mobility and Workforce Innovation at Rockland Community College. Prior to that, he served as Director of Impact, Evaluation, and Thought Leadership at the Education Design Lab. He has also served as Senior Vice President for JobsFirstNYC, an intermediary positioned between private philanthropy, public policy and practice to expand economic mobility to opportunity youth where he co-founded Invest In Skills NY; as founding Northeast Director for Young Invincibles where he co-launched DegreesNYC; and served in roles in policy, research, and advocacy at the Roosevelt Institute and New York Public Interest Research Group.

ROY SWIFT is Executive Director of Workcred, an affiliate of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Previously he served as Chief Workforce Development Officer at ANSI, and Senior Director of Personnel Credentialing Accreditation Programs. He formerly served as Executive Director of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), following a long career in the U.S. Army Medical Department where he was Chief of the Army Medical Specialist Corps in the Army Surgeon General’s Office with policy responsibility for Army occupational therapists, physical therapists, dietitians, and physician assistants throughout the world.

WAYNE TALIAFERRO is a strategy director at Lumina Foundation where he works to support the creation of a system in which student success and equitable outcomes are scaled up significantly, particularly at community colleges as the start of a success trajectory. He previously served as a senior policy analyst in the Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success at the Center for Law and Social Policy; and earlier as a research analyst at the University of Maryland College Park’s Office of Institutional Research, where his work informed enrollment, budget, and planning decisions, as well as reporting and special projects for institutional and systemwide audiences.

VAN TON-QUINLIVAN is CEO of Futuro Health, with a mission to improve the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. Her distinguished career spans the private, public, and now non-profit sectors. Previously she served as Executive Vice Chancellor for the California Community Colleges and named a White House Champion of Change under the Obama Administration. She is a mediaX distinguished visiting scholar at Stanford University.

MONICA PARRISH TRENT is Vice President of Network Engagement at Achieving the Dream. Previously she served as Provost and Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Delaware County Community College; Instructional Dean and Montgomery College; and Assistant Professor of English at Brookdale Community College. She has also served as a commissioner on ACC’s Commission on Research, Data and Accountability; and peer reviewer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

JASON TYSZKO is Vice President at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation where he advances policies and programs that enhance workforce readiness. This includes the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) initiative, the Jobs and Employment Data Exchange (JEDx), T3 Innovation Network, and Talent Finance initiative. Previously he served as Policy Adviser to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s administration; and as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Adviser to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

JULIE URANIS is Vice President for Online and Strategic Initiatives at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) where she serves as Managing Director of the National Council for Online Education and shepherds various efforts for the association, including the Council of Chief Online Learning as well as the Council for Credential Innovation Officers. Previously she led the distance learning and continuing and professional education teams at Western Kentucky University and oversaw the creation of a competency-based undergrad program. She has held teaching and administrative positions at Eastern Michigan University.

Natalie Van Kleef Conley is the Chief Learning Officer for Qwiklabs at Google. She founded the Google IT Career Certificates that are designed to bring nontraditional talent into technology, and drove the company’s workforce development strategy. Previously, she ran the IT Residency Program that staffs Google’s global support function, and launched a hiring pipeline and community college scholarship program with the nonprofit, Year Up. She previously served as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a fellow at JFF and Northeastern University, and has appeared on CNN, in HBS’s Managing the Future of Work podcast, and in Fortune, Forbes, Wired, Axios, and other publications.

MICHELLE VAN NOY is Director at Education and Employment Research Center, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University. Previously she served as Research Affiliate and Research Associate at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University; and Research Analyst at Mathematica Policy Research. Her research focuses on technician education, community college noncredit education, student decision-making about majors and careers, quality in nondegree credentials, higher education labor market alignment, and effective practices in workforce education.

ALYSSA VINE is University Director of Credit for Prior Learning at The City University of New York (CUNY).

BRETT VISGER is Senior Director, Postsecondary Attainment, at Education Strategy Group. Previously he served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Collaboration and Completion for the Ohio Department of Higher Education; Vice President for College & Career Access at KnowledgeWorks Foundation; Director of Student Advocacy Program at Wesleyan University; and Advisor for UConn Upward Bound.

THOMAS A. WALKER, JR. began his role as Senior Advisor for Economic Development and Military Affairs with the University of North Carolina System on August 1, 2021. Prior to this role Walker served as President of Wayne Community College, as Campus President of the Grand Island campus of Central Community College, as well as Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services for all locations of Central Community College. He has served in many roles in education throughout his career including Vice President for Student Affairs at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, founding Executive Director of K.I.P.P. (Knowledge is Power Program) St. Louis, Dean of Administrative Services at Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City MO., Dean of Student Services and Enrollment Management at Davidson County Community College (NC) and Southwest Tennessee Community College (Memphis), as well as, having served as a full – time faculty member and an academic dean. Walker’s military service experience was as an officer in The Unites States Marines Corps, where he served as a tank officer.

THOMAS WEKO is a Senior Scholar in the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy.  Prior to joining GW, he led the higher education policy program in the OECD Education and Skills Directorate. In that capacity he advised governments in Europe, East Asia, and Latin America about the design and implementation of higher education policy, and he initiated and led the OECD’s work on alternative (nondegree) credentials.  He has served as Research Manager for Higher Education at the American Institutes for Research; Director of the Policy Planning and Studies Service in the US Department of Education; and Associate Commissioner for Postsecondary, Adult, and Career Education at the (US) National Center for Education Statistics. His work in higher education has also included serving as a senior policy analyst for the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, and as an Atlantic Fellow with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.  His recent work has focused on funding higher education institutions and learners, on assuring the quality of their provision, on the design of academic contracts and careers, the role of higher education systems in providing opportunities for non-degree learning, and the design of data systems for monitoring performance.

MELISSA WELLS is Interim Director of Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development at SUNY Empire State University. She is also a faculty member in the Educational Studies Department at the university, where she specializes in special education and holds Board Certifications in Inclusion in Special Education, and Advocacy in Special Education. She previously served as a New York City Department of Education educator for students with disabilities for grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.

BILL WEST is Chief Credentialing Solutions Officer at Cornerstone Strategies, LLC. He is also a senior market leader and 25+ year veteran of the assessment industry. He has served in a variety of operational and sales capacities for test administration and credential management organizations as well as an NCCA-accredited non-profit credentialing association. Roles have included customer service, program management, business development. operations, and strategy. In these roles, Bill launched and managed numerous national and global assessment programs across higher education, US federal, local government, corporate hiring & advancement, and professional credentialing. In these roles Bill has assisted clients with expanding their programs, implementing strategic partnerships, and developing new markets. Bill currently serves on the board of directors for the Institute for Credentialing Excellence.

TIFFANI WILLIAMS is a Senior Advisor in the Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Most recently she served as Associate Director at the Education Strategy Group where she led efforts to improve the transition between postsecondary education and the workforce. Prior to ESG, Williams held roles as senior researcher and policy analyst at several impact-driven organizations including the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University, Education Trust – New York, and Public Agenda. Her areas of expertise include building evidence for and implementing strategies to advance economic mobility, especially through research, education policy, and workforce development.

AMANDA WINTERS is a Program Director at the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. She oversees a team that supports governors offices and state policymakers on issues that connect postsecondary pathways to economic mobility and workforce outcomes. She focuses on economic recovery for families and communities, serving adult students, work-based learning, postsecondary financing, and quality postsecondary credentials. Previously she served as Senior Policy Analyst at NGA; Assistant Director of Academic Affairs at the Illinois Board of Higher Education; and Academic Program Coordinator at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

EBONI M. ZAMANI-GALLAHER is the interim dean of the University of Pittsburgh, School of Education. Previously she was professor of Higher Education and Community College Leadership and Director of the Office for Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL). She previously served as Associate Head of the Department of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership and Associate Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She serves as the Executive Director of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC).

JENNIFER ZEISLER is a Senior Program Director at ECMC Foundation, where she oversees the Career Readiness portfolio, which invests approximately $15 million annually to support innovative approaches and promising practices to improve the success of students from underserved backgrounds seeking academic credentials in postsecondary CTE programs. Previously, she worked at the Clinton Global Initiative where she helped stakeholders implement new, specific, and measurable projects aimed at addressing pressing challenges.