Making Sense of Microcredentials with the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Lucia Weathers

Operations & Communications, Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Lucia Weathers leads operations, including communications, for the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library. She is also the founder and CEO of Weathers Strategy Group (WSG), a strategic communications and consulting agency that works with clients who are passionate about solving societal issues. She has over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, crisis communications, public relations, and photography across various industries and sectors.

Before founding WSG, Lucia held senior positions at national organizations focused on philanthropy, education, and federal policy, including Lumina Foundation, Strada Education Foundation, and Stand Together. She also has experience in state government from her work at the Hoosier Lottery, an Indiana State Agency. She began her career at the American Legion Auxiliary National Headquarters, a membership-based organization for female veterans. She gained valuable skills and insights from internships at The American Legion, Riley Children’s Foundation, and WTHR-Channel 13 – the NBC television affiliate in Indianapolis.

Holly Zanville

Founder & Lead, Learn & Work 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.