About Us

We provide the world with standards and public digital infrastructure to make human contribution visible.

The Council Advancing Work-Based Learning (CAWBL) serves as the global steward for learning rooted in lived experience and purposeful contribution. Operating from Canada without borders, we provide the digital and human infrastructure required to move from fragmented recognition practices to a unified, global system.

We believe that people already hold the proof of their capacity. Yet most of that learning remains invisible due to a structural gap in our public infrastructure that leaves contributions unacknowledged.

Our Commitment to the Individual

A fundamental code we live by at CAWBL is that every contribution matters and should be counted. This is why we are building the global infrastructure to make human capacity visible, trusted, and portable.

Validates contributions from every sector

We start with the belief that all purposeful contribution has value. By naming and indexing these lived experiences, we ensure that no act of growth remains invisible and that every individual’s effort is seen by the world.

Builds trust through transparent recognition

Trust is a uniquely human act that cannot be automated. Our global network of certified professionals provides a human-protected layer, ensuring that every record in our system is a verified warrant of integrity and truth.

Creates portability through legibility

Your capacity is your own. We provide the digital public infrastructure—WBLNS™ and PathLedger™—to give you full agency over your professional narrative, allowing your evidence to speak for itself across borders and sectors.

THIRD SPACE STORY

We name and protect the gap between knowing and being calling it - The Third Space.

We are taught that learning happens in a classroom (Preparation) and that work happens in a role (Alignment). But there is a “Third Space.” It is the vast territory of human growth that exists in the quiet, unrecorded moments of contribution. It is found in the way a caregiver anticipates a need, a volunteer leads a team, or a tradesperson masters a craft through effort and responsibility.

This is Work-Based Learning. It is not a secondary path; it is the fundamental system of human development. CAWBL was founded to ensure this space is no longer a footnote in a resume, but a validated record of a person’s full capacity.

School System

A linear, one-direction pathway designed to give you foundations and starting points — but not the whole story.

YOU PREPARE

Employment System

A system shaped by roles and priorities, where people align with expectations — and learn the role through doing, not through design.

YOU ALIGN

Work-Based Learning System

A user-driven system where learning grows through contribution — shaped by the people, places, and moments you move through.

YOU CONTRIBUTE

INFRASTRUCTURE OF RECOGNITION

To make the invisible legible, we have built a three-part ecosystem that functions as a global commons for human skill.

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The Identity Layer (WBLNS™)

A persistent, global numbering system that creates a shared language for what people actually do.
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The Visibility Layer (PathLedger™)

A secure, individual-led digital repository where validated contributions are anchored for life.
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The Trust Layer (Hubs & Studios)

A worldwide federation of National Councils and practitioners who safeguard the standards of the system while ensuring local context and participation.

Jeremy McQuigge

Secretary-General

I founded CAWBL to ensure that Work-Based Learning is recognized as the global system it has always been. Every day, I am reminded that recognition is not just about standards or platforms—it is about the dignity of the person. Our commitment is to build a future where a person's worth is defined by their contribution, not just their credentials.