Advancing Workforce Mobility: RFP for Credential Transparency and Skills Validation

Advancing Workforce Mobility: RFP for Credential Transparency and Skills Validation

Funder: Education Design Lab (with funding from Walmart and technical assistance from Credential Engine)

Program Status: Application window has closed as of April 3, 2026. Grantees announced in early April 2026.

Vision & Purpose

This 18-month initiative funds a portfolio of projects that make workers' skills and credentials more visible, trusted, and transferable, with specific focus on STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) — working adults without bachelor's degrees who have developed skills through work experience, military service, community roles, bootcamps, or other non-traditional pathways.

Problem Addressed: The learn-to-work ecosystem is fragmented and hard to navigate. Skills and credential data are scattered, incomplete, or locked in incompatible systems. Many workers struggle to demonstrate skills in ways employers trust and understand.

Grant Structure

Total Funding: $3.5 million USD

Number of Awards: 7-12 awards across multiple tiers

Grant Period: Approximately 18 months

Anticipated Start Date: March 30, 2026

Anticipated End Date: October 18, 2027

(Dates may be adjusted for due diligence, contracting, and cohort coordination)

Funding Tiers

1. Explore (up to $250,000) — Early-stage discovery, research, and prototyping to build and test new ideas and solutions 2. Demonstrate (up to $400,000) — Pilots or limited implementations that test and refine approaches and generate evidence of what works 3. Scale (up to $600,000) — Projects with strong foundation ready for broader implementation and adoption across sites, systems, or regions

Focus Tracks

Projects must align with one or both of:

1. Track 1: Credential Quality & Transparency — Strengthening credential quality and transparency so skills and credential data are clear, connected, and easier for workers and employers to use
2. Track 2: Skills Validation in Non-Traditional Pathways — Building trusted ways to validate skills workers gain through work, community roles, and other learning besides traditional degrees

Geographic Scope

U.S.-based organizations only

Eligibility

• Organization Type: U.S.-based nonprofit or governmental organizations ready to advance credential transparency and skills validation
• Partnerships: Multi-organization partnerships and collaboratives are encouraged; one eligible organization must serve as lead applicant
• Project Stage: Projects at all tiers should articulate a plausible pathway to broader adoption/replication and systems-level impact
• STAR Focus: Proposals must demonstrate how work benefits or engages STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes). Can involve direct alignment or partnership-based approach
• Scale Consideration: No minimum number of STARs required to serve, but scale should align with funding tier

What They Fund

• Staff time
• Technical development
• Stipends for STARs or stakeholders who participate in co-design or testing
• Projects that show credible pathway to broader adoption/replication and systems-level impact, even at small scale

Additional Support

Beyond funding, selected projects receive:
• Technical assistance
• Participation in a national Community of Practice
• Support evaluating learning and impact

Budget & Matching Funds

• Matching Funds: Not required
• Leveraged Resources: Encouraged but not mandatory
• Indirect Costs: Capped at 15% of total direct costs (or federally negotiated/board-approved rate up to 15%)

Contact Information

Email: connect@eddesignlab.org

Address: 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006