Team
Co-Leads
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
MELISSA GOLDBERG is Director of Competencies and Credentials at the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. She leads efforts to increase economic mobility for low-wage workers and address racial disparities by dramatically expanding the use of competencies and non-degree credentials. Throughout her career, she has counseled community college workforce leaders on improving student outcomes, facilitated state and regional strategic planning efforts, authored studies of effective workforce development practices, and provided technical assistance to foundations, federal agencies, businesses, and community colleges across the country
SUNY Empire State University
NAN TRAVERS is Director of the Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning at Empire State University. She has served as PI for two Lumina Foundation grants which explored the learn-work ecosystem and impact of evaluating work-based learning and incremental credentialing on the future of higher education. She led the development of the Global Learning Qualifications Framework to assess college-level learning, serves on the board for the Prior Learning International Research Consortium, is a lead contributor to the Learning Recognition Collaborative in conjunction with the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), and co-edits the journal: PLA Inside Out (www.plaio.org). She served as PI for Credential As You Go Round #1 (planning grant) funded by Lumina Foundation.
George Washington University
HOLLY ZANVILLE is a Research Professor and Co-Director of the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University. Previously she served as a strategy director at Lumina Foundation, overseeing portfolios on adult learners, student success, future of learning and workforce, and research. She has held leadership positions at state higher education systems/boards in Oregon and Washington, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education; held academic positions at community college and nontraditional university programs in multiple states; and served as a consultant on K-20 strategic planning, community college networks, and distance education. She serves on the Executive Committee of International Council on Badges and Credentials (ICoBC).
Project Leads
Ad Hoc Analytics
WILLIAM PATE co-founded Ad Hoc Analytics, a DC-based minority- and woman-owned statistical consulting firm specializing in quantitative program evaluation; and providing consulting services to nonprofit organizations, federal and state government clients, and other consulting firms on projects related to criminal justice, education, mentoring, and minority issues in higher education. Previously he served as the Assistant Director of the American Psychological Association Center for Workforce Studies.
University of North Carolina System Office
STEPHANIE BAILEY is the North Carolina and Colorado State Coordinator for the CAYG grant, working with both the University of North Carolina (UNC) System Office, the North Carolina Community College System, and Colorado State. She has held various academic and student affair positions in the UNC system office, university and community colleges in North Carolina. Previously, she was the Director of Community College Partnerships for the UNC System office.
Weathers Strategy Group
LUCIA WEATHERS is the communications lead for Credential As You Go. She participates on the Leadership Team for the initiative and develops and implements communications strategies for the work. She is also CEO of Weathers Strategy Group (WSG), a mission-driven, strategic communications and consulting agency. For the last 15 years, she’s held positions leading marketing and communications efforts at national organizations focused on philanthropy, education, state and federal policy.
Evaluand LLC
KIRK KNESTIS is founding Principal of the DC-area research firm Evaluand LLC. He is an education researcher with a practice specializing in the evaluation and R&D of innovations in STEM and workforce education, including studies funded by the NSF and U.S. Departments of Education and Labor. He has particular expertise in performance- and portfolio-based learning assessment, and use of mixed-method approaches to study complex programs.
Former
Empire State University
MOLLY KRATZENBERG was the Administrative Assistant for the Credential As You Go team as well as for SUNY Empire’s Office of Prior Learning. She supports the administrative and clerical duties in order to maintain a steady and organized workflow. Previously, Molly worked for the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities as a Medical Records Coordinator and has also held a position with the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision as an Office Assistant 1. She brings administrative experience from both positions.
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
JASON RENDER is a Policy Associate with CSW’s Competencies and Credentials Team. He supports efforts to expand the use of competencies and non-degree credentials within learning and talent management systems to increase economic mobility for low-wage workers and address racial disparities. Jason has worked within philanthropic community engagement and advocacy work at both the local and national levels bringing diverse experiences all tailored towards disenfranchised community members across the United States. At CSW, Jason was focused within the development, implementation, and project management of work associated with the Credential As You Go initiative and other CSW projects. He has worked to increase economic mobility and community sustainability through his experiences and brings a strong passion for identifying and formulating solutions for the systemic ills that are observed within American societies.
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
DIAMOND WILLIAMS is a Senior Policy Associate on the Competencies and Credentials Team at Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. She supports efforts to expand the use of competencies and credentials within learning and talent management systems to remove educational barriers and increase career opportunities for low-wage workers with a particular emphasis on people of color. Diamond has served as a program developer, direct service provider and adviser. Previously, as Employment and Education Specialist at Café Reconcile, Diamond supported the organization’s mission to address the system of generational poverty, violence and neglect leading an innovative employability training curriculum coupled with social service supports.
CHLOË EPSTEIN was Credential As You Go’s 2022 Artist-in-Residence. She helped to message the importance of incremental credentialing through cartoons and other illustrations. Chloe is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College where she studied fine arts, creative writing, and art history.
Empire State University
ASHLEY FRANK was the project coordinator for the Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning at Empire State University. Prior to that, she coordinated the Individualized Prior Learning Assessment portfolio process for the Institution's largest Center.
LARRY GOOD was President & CEO of the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, a national policy and systems change nonprofit organization he co-founded in 1991. He was also one of the original co-leads of "Credential As You Go." He has been a leader on key initiatives such as Connecting Credentials, Detroit workforce strategy, and No Worker Left Behind. He also served on the Better Employment and Training Strategies Task Force (BETS), a group of workforce experts developing recommendations to inform the administration and Congress on issues/policy options (unemployment insurance, workforce development, job quality, youth employment, and federal jobs initiatives).
