Anne Reed

Director of Micro-Credentials
University at Buffalo, SUNY

Anne Reed is the founding Director of Micro-Credentials at the University at Buffalo (UB). She developed a process to propose, review, implement, and scale new micro-credentials at the university. She has served on multiple national committees and advisory boards, including co-chairing the leadership team for UPCEA, Council for Credential Innovation (2023-2024).

Anne has authored, co-authored, and contributed to numerous articles, book chapters, and reports, including a recently released whitepaper titled Creating Assessments for Micro-Credentials in Higher Education Organizations (2024). She has also served as principal or co-investigator on state and federal grants, including as Co-PI on the National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator project: A Universal Framework of Micro-Credentials for Nation-Wide Employment.  

Pablo Avila

Associate Director of The Center for Teaching and Learning
LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

Pablo Avila is the Associate Director of The Center for Teaching and Learning in the Division of Academic Affairs at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York. He oversees areas that provide instructional support to faculty, staff, and students with the use of various tools. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in the Education & Language Acquisition Department at LaGuardia. Pablo also co-designs and co-leads professional development for faculty across different disciplines and programs.

Pablo is also a doctoral student in the Higher and Postsecondary Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research seeks to understand the values, commitments, drives, and other background features of part-time developmental math instructors known to work continually at improving their teaching of these courses at community colleges.  

Jessica Perez

Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development
LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

Dr. Jessica Perez is the Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York. She is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator practitioner with 20+ years of experience in career and professional development and employer partnership building. She oversees the SOAR Experiential Learning Program, Elmezzi Foundation Career Fellows Program, CUNY Career Launch, Spring Forward, and several other internship programs at the college. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Lehman College and a Career Consultant for Virginia Peninsula Community College.

She previously served as the Co-President of the Career Services Association of CUNY for four years, co-chair of the NACE Career Readiness Task Force from 2022-2023, and Co-Leader for the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Two Year and Community College Affinity Group from 2019-2021. Dr. Perez’s diverse expertise is instrumental in helping her guide and empower students to flourish in their chosen careers.

She earned a Doctorate in Education (EdD) from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Higher Education Administration program, and her research is focused on first-generation students and how career services impact retention and graduation rates; she earned her master’s in public administration from Metropolitan College of New York and her bachelor’s degree in English and Sociology from Binghamton University. In June 2013, she completed the New York City Management Academy, a selective leadership training program for City of New York managers and executives.

Éric Rousselle

Founding Director & CEO
Open Badge Factory

Éric Rousselle is the founder and director of Open Badge Factory (Finland). A pioneer in the digital badge industry, he is at the origin of the Open Badge Passport platform (an alternative to Mozilla’s backpack) and the Open Badge Factory services.

Eric is an active member of the Open Badges community, involved for several years in developing and implementing the Open Badges standard.

Brian Cañares

Director of GEAR UP
Rutgers University

Brian Cañares is the Director of GEAR UP at Rutgers, a discretionary grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Education that seeks to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

Brian holds a B.A. in History and M.Ed. in Social Studies Education from Rutgers University – New Brunswick. Before assuming his current role, he served for two years as the administrative coordinator under the Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. In this capacity, he has been – and remains – an integral element of the micro-credentialing initiative, serving as the chair of the campus-wide Digital Badging Committee. To advance the initiative, he focuses on integrating digital badges into existing programmatic elements by helping individual units reassess their goals and assessments.

Before coming back to Rutgers, Brian taught 5th – 7th grade Social Studies for a decade at Forest Street Community School in Orange, NJ. This experience has shaped his approach to micro-credentials, where he relies on adaptability and intuition to navigate an evolving landscape that, like adolescence, calls for thoughtful guidance and growth.

Joshua Meredith

Client Relationship Executive
Deloitte

Joshua Meredith, J.D. is a Client Relationship Executive focusing on Higher Education in New York State with Deloitte Consulting. For more than twelve years, Joshua has worked at and with institutions of Higher Education to help them overcome technology and strategy-based challenges.

Before coming to Deloitte in early 2023, Joshua worked as the Senior Director of Career Advising at Yeshiva University and previously as the Assistant Dean for Analytics, Technology and Security programs at Georgetown University. In addition to his role as an administrator, Joshua has been a faculty member since 2015, and currently teaches courses in workplace, technology and leadership ethics at Georgetown University and Muhlenberg College.

He previously taught at Yeshiva University and Montclair State University. Joshua has a passion for empowering administrators, faculty and students through technology. For the majority of his career he has worked to find solutions and implement them at his business units and with clients. In addition to his duties in New York, Joshua works to support Deloitte’s efforts at The George Washington University and Syracuse University, as he is an alumnus of both institutions.

Benito Mendoza

Director, TC2 HUB Microcredentials
Associate Professor, Computer Engineering Technology
City Tech, CUNY

Dr. Benito Mendoza is an Associate Professor of Computer Engineering Technology at City Tech and Director of the TC2 Hub, an institutional initiative focused on advancing student success through professional certifications and microcredentials. His work at the TC2 Hub centers on creating scalable, competency-based learning experiences that empower students to gain career-ready skills, validate learning, and access meaningful employment opportunities.

In addition to his technical expertise in Artificial Intelligence—including machine learning, multi-agent systems, swarm intelligence, and knowledge graphs—Dr. Mendoza is deeply committed to computer science and engineering education research. His current projects explore how AI can be used to support the teaching and learning of programming and problem-solving, particularly through adaptive learning technologies and interactive learning environments.

Through his leadership in the TC2 Hub and his research, Dr. Mendoza advocates for the integration of technology in teaching, the promotion of equitable access to skill-building opportunities, and the use of microcredentials to support lifelong learning and student engagement.

Shelley Smith

Co-Director of the Faculty Commons
Project Director for the STEM Success Collaborative
City Tech, CUNY

Dr. Shelley E Smith is a professor and former chair in the Department of Architecture at City Tech. Her current roles at the college include service as Co-Director of the Faculty Commons and as Project Director for the STEM Success Collaborative, a student support and institutional development project funded by the Hispanic Serving Institutions program at the US Department of Education. She has served as project director or co-director on a series of education-focused projects at the college funded by the NSF, the NEH, and the Department of Education. Prior to joining City Tech in 2007, Professor Smith trained and worked as an architect, architectural historian, and preservation architect. Her research has included building technology, preservation law, cultural landscapes, vernacular buildings of the colonial Americas, housing, and the role of architectural history in design education. She has published and presented for the journals and conferences of the Society of Architectural Historians, the South Carolina Historical Magazine, the Vernacular Architecture Forum, and the Association for Preservation Technology International.