Credential Engine Bringing Regional Credential Clarity to Los Angeles
October 30, 2018
Today, Credential Engine announced a new initiative, funded by ECMC Foundation, to pursue a regional credential transparency initiative in Los Angeles. Credential Engine estimates there are more than 500,000 unique credentials in the United States alone, including diplomas, certificates, badges, certifications, licenses, and degrees of all levels.
In conjunction with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and workforce data experts at BrightHive, Credential Engine will use this grant to:
- support a discovery and planning process that to brings together a network of partners;
- identify and inventory available credentials in the Los Angeles region;
- describe use cases for how the data can advance existing local initiatives and support new ones;
- create a strategic plan to assist credential providers with publishing;
- develop a sustainability plan that improves outcomes across the County.
"Credential Engine is excited to embark on this work in Los Angeles,” said the organization’s Executive Director, Scott Cheney. “With more than 10 million residents and almost a quarter million businesses, ensuring that this region has access to transparent credential data embedded in its education and workforce resources is critical to the region’s educational and economic success.”
“Students are making important decisions when it comes to investing their time and money in pursuing a credential - be it a certificate or a degree - and the more information they have, the better decisions they can make. We know this not only benefits students, but also the employers who will eventually hire these students,” said David Rattray, Executive Vice President Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber has long been a proponent of transparency at L.A.’s education institutions, and this is another opportunity to do that in order to build a stronger workforce and economy.”
“With enthusiasm, ECMC Foundation is proud to support Credential Engine’s work in creating a transparent line of communication and understanding of how credentials translate to the labor market in LA,” said ECMC Foundation President Peter Taylor. “All individuals and their families deserve to know if they are able to access career pathways with their credentials; and whether or not those jobs would pay family-sustaining wages.”
Until the creation of Credential Engine’s open-source Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL), it was not possible for students, workers, employers or the general public to search, discover, compare and analyze all types and levels of these credentials. Credential Engine is a non-profit whose mission is to create credential transparency, reveal the credential marketplace, increase credential literacy, and allow everyone to make more informed decisions about credentials and their value.
Credential Engine and the Los Angeles Area Chamber will kick off the project with stakeholder planning sessions to begin identifying key credentialing bodies, community service partners, employers and labor unions, and use cases. This initial planning body is expected to complete this work, report its findings, and present a full-scale implementation plan by Summer of 2019.