ICF Member Digital Badging - International Coaching Federation
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ICF Credential Digital Badging

Digital badging gives ICF Credential-holders a way to share their knowledge, skills and abilities online in a way that is simple and trusted and can be easily verified in real time.

Now Available: Digital Badging

ICF now recognizes your achievement as an ICF Credential-holder through a digital badge. We are pleased to provide this new service through our official digital credential provider, Credly’s Acclaim platform.

You worked hard to earn your ICF Credential, and the digital badge allows you to share and verify your achievements easily with the rest of the world, including clients and employers! Badges provide concrete evidence of what an ICF Credential-holder had to do to earn the credential, the date the credential was awarded and the date of its expiration. You can easily share your badge on social and professional media, including LinkedIn. You can also send a link to it by email and add it to your email signature, blog or website.

There is no fee for this service, and your participation is optional.

Accessing Your Digital Badge

Your digital badge is designed for easy access!

Here’s how you can accept and share your digital badge:

  1. You will receive an email from admin@credly.com notifying you of your new badge. Be sure to check your spam box, as well!
  2. Click the “Accept Your Badge” Button
  3. If this is your first badge through the Credly platform, you will be guided through steps to create an account. If not, sign into your Acclaim account to claim your badge.
  4. You will be linked to a page where you can accept your badge. Please click on the “Accept Badge” button.
  5. Immediately, your “Badge Settings” should pop up on your screen. Allow your page to be displayed publicly so others can see your achievement.
  6. Now, you can explore the options to share your badge with others. On the “Share Your Badge” page, you will see a bar of social media websites, asking you to connect. Please connect to the social media channels you would like to use to share your digital badge.
  7. Once connected, you and your peers will be able to view your digital badge!

Video Tutorial: Accepting Your New Badge

Badge Security

Unfortunately, it’s easy for simple ICF Credential logo files to be misused long after an ICF Credential has expired. In some cases, ICF Credential logo files are used fraudulently when an ICF Credential was never earned in the first place. But the metadata stored in an ICF Credential digital badge makes it secure and nearly impossible to misrepresent by others.

In other words, your ICF digital badge makes your ICF Credential more secure than ever before.

Current and prospective clients and employers can easily verify what it took for you to earn the credential, the date of award, and your expiration date. An expired ICF Credential digital badge is clearly marked “Expired” when verified.

Digital Badging Resources

  • Can I export badges issued through Credly Platform to other badge-storing platforms?

    Yes, you can download your badge from the Share Badge page. Your downloaded badge contains Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) compliant metadata embedded into the image. This allows you to store your badge on other OBI-compliant badge sites, such as the Mozilla backpack.

  • How does my certification get displayed as a badge?

    We have partnered with Credly to translate the learning outcomes you’ve demonstrated into a badge, issued and managed through the company’s Acclaim Platform. The technology Credly uses on its Acclaim Platform is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by IMS Global. This enables you to manage, share and verify your competencies digitally.

  • How will I know if I’ve earned a badge?

    You will receive an email notification from the Credly Platform (admin@credly.com) with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account.

  • I have a question about the Credly Platform. Where can I find support?

    You can find answers to frequently asked questions in the Credly Support pages.

  • Is there a fee to use Credly?

    No. This is a service we provide to ICF Credential-holders at no additional cost.

  • What are the benefits of a badge?

    Representing your skills as a badge gives you a way to share your abilities online in a way that is simple, trusted and can be easily verified in real time. Badges provide clients, employers and peers concrete evidence of what you had to do to earn your credential and what you’re now capable of.

  • What if I don’t want my badge to be public?

    You can easily configure your privacy settings in the Credly Platform. You’re in complete control of the information about yourself that is made public.

  • What is an open badge?

    Open badges are web-enabled versions of a credential, certification or learning outcome which can be verified in real-time, online.

  • What is digital badging?

    As an ICF coach, you should take pride in what you do and your effort to help others! Digital badging helps ensure that all credentialing and your hard work as a coach is validated. ICF digital badges validate your Associate Certified Coach, Professional Certified Coach and Master Certified Coach levels.

  • What’s to keep someone else from copying my badge and using it?

    While badges are simply digital image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on Credly’s Acclaim Platform. This link to verified data makes them more reliable and secure than a paper-based certificate. It also eliminates the possibility of anyone claiming your credential and your associated identity.

  • Where and how can I share my badge through the Credly Platform?

    You can share your badge directly from the Credly Platform to LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook; over email; embedded in a website or in your email signature.

  • Who is Credly?

    Credly is the end-to-end solution for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly works with credible organizations to provide digital credentials to individuals, worldwide.

  • Why does Credly need access to my LinkedIn account?

    To share or add a badge to your LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn requires an authorization process, that is required and standard for all third-party programs creating a connection between the two accounts.

    When you connect your Credly and LinkedIn accounts, you will receive a message outlining the permissions you are granting in the process. LinkedIn predetermines this message based on the authorization scope required to share your badge. Credly will not post to LinkedIn without your initiation or permission. Credly will only add badges to your profile or post them to your newsfeed upon request.

    You can disconnect Credly’s access to your social media account after you have successfully shared your badge to your profile or newsfeed. You can also manage Credly’s connection through your privacy settings within your social media account.

  • Why is digital badging important?

    According to the 2020 ICF Global Coaching Study, coaches say the No. 1 obstacle for the coaching profession is untrained individuals who call themselves coaches. Digital badging gives ICF Credential-holders a way to share their knowledge, skills and abilities online in a way that is simple and trusted and can be easily verified in real time.

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