Unlocking Workforce Potential: Second Round of Gates Funding Invests in Expanding Opportunities for Success, Career Pathways, and Job Skills Data

The education and workforce landscape is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by the growing need to align learning with real-world job opportunities and to ensure that individuals can access clear, consistent, and actionable information. As part of this evolution, Credential Engine, with support from a two-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is working with the second round of subgrantees from across the country to expand the availability of education and employment data in a linked open format.

These state agencies, institutions, and regional organizations are leading efforts to make critical information about credentials, skills, pathways, and opportunities for success publicly accessible through the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry. By doing so, they are not only improving data transparency but also fueling a more equitable, efficient, and responsive education-to-workforce ecosystem.

Each of these subgrantees is addressing unique needs in workforce development, opportunities for success, and pathways:

Accelerate Montana

Partners: Blackfeet Cultural Principles Working Group, Blackfeet Tribal Nation

This project will integrate Indigenous knowledge by publishing 6-8 foundational Blackfeet cultural competencies to the Credential Registry. These competencies will be connected to work roles across 3-4 workplace settings, defined by the knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks necessary to thrive. This initiative will illuminate pathways rooted in cultural alignment with the modern workforce landscape.

Partners: Montana University System 2-year Colleges

In this multi-institutional effort, participating colleges will publish detailed credential data to improve transparency around dual enrollment, credit and non-credit linkages, and stackable programs. Highlights include publishing programs, including Certificate of Applied Sciences (CAS), Associate of Applied Sciences (AAS), and Associate of Science (AS), including programs of study and occupations. The project also aims to broadly integrate registry data into a website or tool and share learnings.

Advance Vermont

Partners: 10 Vermont CTE Centers

Advance Vermont will identify opportunities for success at regional career technical education (CTE) centers and help close this opportunity gap by focusing on publishing information about credentials of value offered by both high school and adult programs at CTE centers in the Vermont counties with the lowest levels of credential attainment. The project will collect and publish Tier 1 and Tier 2 data from Credential Engine’s Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations for credentials available through both high school and adult programs at 10 centers across eight counties, helping close opportunity gaps and promote upward mobility.

Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)

Partners: Old Dominion University, Hampton Roads Workforce Council, and others

This project will support the Regional Maritime Training System (RMTS), created by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council (HRWC) in Hampton Roads (Virginia), the fastest-growing port on the East Coast,  where employers need to fill over 11,000 jobs in critical trade skills areas. Over the next 15 months, AMPP will publish comprehensive data on its technical standards, competency frameworks, credentials, and related assessments, which are recognized and specified by industry. They will also map pathways within their credentialing ecosystem and partner providers, while collecting outcome and occupational data across 8-10 workforce regions. 

Bristol Community College (Massachusetts)

Partners: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Higher Education Institutions, Massachusetts State Registrars, AMCOA

Continuing work from the 2024 subgrant round, Bristol Community College will continue its efforts to publish detailed skills maps for non-union professional positions and career-based academic programs. These maps will serve as tools for performance evaluation and career growth, emphasizing skill-based advancement. The project also includes national dissemination through conferences such as 1EdTech and SHRM Talent 2026, showcasing how transparent skills data can shape future-ready institutions.

Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC)

Partners: Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) and 21 public Community Colleges (CCs)

With a commitment to improving data quality and equity, this grant enables each of Ohio’s community colleges to enhance their credential data in critical areas, including stackability, transfer value, competencies, cost, outcomes, and available student support. This work is coupled with a student-facing campaign and marketing efforts in order to provide transparent credential information as the schools prepare for semester planning and enrollment. 

Our Future in UNiSON (Wingate University)

Partners: Wingate University (lead), South Piedmont Community College, Union County Public Schools, Anson County Schools, Union County Chamber of Commerce, Local Employers

Our Future in UNiSON (UNiSON), a well-established collaborative focused on educational attainment in Union and Anson counties (North Carolina), proposes a project to integrate data on opportunities, job skills, and career pathways into the Credential Registry. UNiSON will publish stackable, local credentials and career pathways focused on job skills and regional workforce needs. Initial work includes mapping three healthcare pathways—from CNA to LPN to RN—with integrated labor market data. This effort will help students and career coaches navigate clear and attainable paths to high-value credentials and employment opportunities.

As these initiatives evolve, they will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between education and employment, ensuring that learners, workers, and employers can thrive together in a rapidly changing world.

Check out the work of our first round of subgrantees here. 

If you are interested in partnering with Credential Engine, contact us at info@credentialengine.org.