Innovating with Information: Microcredentials, Badges, and the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Sharon Manna

Dean, Marketable Skills & Digital Badging, Dallas College

Sharon Manna is the dean of marketable skills and digital badging at Dallas College. A long-time Government professor, she now leads the Marketable Skills Initiative at the college. Her focus is on breaking down silos in higher education and pursuing student success through professional development, collaboration, and the incorporation of marketable skills in general education. Before leading the Marketable Skills Initiative, Sharon served as a faculty fellow at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), where she hosted CETL’s “Teach/Learn” podcast and coordinated the Dallas College Faculty Mentor Program.

Kristen Vanselow

Assistant Vice President, Innovative Education & Partnerships, Florida Gulf Coast University

Before joining Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Kristen Vanselow’s experiences included enrollment management at Michigan State University, the University of Tampa, and St. Petersburg College. She also served as the dean of enrollment management and the dean of bachelor’s programs at (now) Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW). She has served in roles related to regional accreditation, program review, and institutional effectiveness. In 2018, she became the inaugural director of FGCU Complete. Through this program, she led efforts to broaden FGCU’s reach and increase adult student access to FGCU. In 2020, Kristen worked collaboratively with colleagues across the campus to help launch FGCU Accelerate (online, accelerated, graduate degree initiative) and in 2022, she assumed her current role as assistant vice president for innovation education and partnerships, where she provides leadership for Micro-credentialing and Digital Badge initiatives, FGCU Complete, Return to the Nest, prior learning assessment, and professional development programs for regional partners. In collaboration with university colleagues and regional partners, Kristen serves on teams that bring regional and national recognition to Southwest Florida. She also serves as the FGCU Credential As You Go lead in national conversations surrounding stackable credentials, micro-credentials, and digital badges.

Holly Zanville

Founder & Lead, Work & Learn Ecosystem Library

Holly Zanville is the founder and lead of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library. She joined the George Washington Institute of Public Policy in January 2021 as a research professor and co-director of the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy. She serves on the Leadership Advisory Board for the Credential Lab at the Higher Learning Commission and was previously co-lead of the national initiative, Credential As You Go.

Holly is a former strategy director at Lumina Foundation, where she focused on adult learners, the future of learning and work, networks/partnerships, and research to increase awareness of and solutions related to workforce-education alignment, credentialing, and quality assurance. She also led research on how industry certifications are embedded in college programs and was the architect of the Learn-and-Work Ecosystem Guide. Holly has a substantial history of speaking and writing about the meaning and value of credentials beyond high school. Her recent publications include a book chapter (Credentials for a New Era of Work and Learning, Wiley, 2020), as well as numerous blogs, interviews, white papers, reports, and research briefs.

Prior to joining Lumina in 2006, Holly served as senior administrator/chief academic officer for the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs in the Oregon University System, state coordinator for Oregon Joint Boards K-20 Redesign Initiative, and director of economic development and regional internship programs for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). She has held academic appointments in teaching, assessment of prior learning, grants management, and higher education policy and practice at colleges and universities in Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, and Oregon.

Van Davis

Executive Director, WCET & Vice President, Digital Learning, WICHE

vdavis@wiche.edu

LinkedIn Profile

Expertise Includes:

• Artificial Intelligence,
• Policy and Practice,
• Federal and State Distance Education Policy,
• Degree Completion Initiatives,
• Competency-based Education,
• the Cost and Price of Distance Education, and,
• the Future of Higher Education and Digital Learning.  

Bio

Van Davis joined WCET in 2021 as chief strategy officer, and in 2025, he became WCET’s executive director and WICHE’s vice president for digital learning. Davis oversees all strategic and operational responsibilities of WCET’s membership, the State Authorization Network (SAN) that assists institutions with interstate compliance, and Every Learner Everywhere, which advocates for successful academic outcomes for all postsecondary education students through advances in digital learning. 

Van has over 25 years of experience in higher education as a faculty member, academic administrator, state policy maker, and edtech leader. He holds a Master’s and PhD in 20th Century US history with an emphasis in civil rights from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor’s in history from Southwestern University. Prior to joining WCET and WICHE, Davis served as principal at Foghlam Consulting, associate vice president at Blackboard Inc., director of innovation at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and a faculty member and academic administrator at several public and private universities with historically underrepresented student populations.  

Van lives outside of Austin, Texas, and will relocate to WICHE headquarters in Boulder, CO, later this summer with his beloved wife, Lisa, and two cats. When not working, Van collects Lego models and dreams of the day he can complete his western US camping trip.