PATHWAYS 2025

Dr. Melanie Booth has more than 25 years of leadership in connecting education and work, primarily in postsecondary and nonprofit organizations. Over her career, she has worked directly and indirectly with hundreds of colleges, universities, and organizations to affect change in the learning and work ecosystem. Her expertise resides in the intersections of employability, work-based, and work-placed learning; experiential and community-engaged learning; credit for and recognition of prior and non-credit learning; competency-based education; micro-credentials and skills-based learning; heutagogy; distance education; quality assurance; and responsible educational innovation for a relevant and engaging 21st century learning ecosystem for ALL workers and learners.

Dr. Booth currently serves as the Executive Director of the Higher Learning Commission’s innovation division, the Credential Lab. Before joining HLC, she held the positions of Vice President of Educational Programs & Engagement at NC-SARA; Founding Executive Director of The Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education; Vice President of Educational Programs at WSCUC; and Principal and Founder of her own learning and change consulting organization, Nectary Solutions. Her college and university leadership roles include academic dean, director of academic and student services departments, and a faculty member at various postsecondary institutions, primarily in service to new majority learners.

Dr. Booth holds an Ed.D. in Higher Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University, a master’s degree in English, Rhetoric, and Writing from San Diego State University, and a bachelor’s degree in English, Teacher Preparation from Humboldt State University.