Educating Sage
We are Educating Sage
A collective of instructional designers and workforce development professionals dedicated to shaping the future of adult education. Together, we created the Needs Navigator—an adaptive, human-centered tool for building impactful adult learning programs.
Shelby Sharpe
As an Instructional Designer and Educational Researcher at CBI, Shelby designs and develops geospatial learning activities, course content, e-learning resources, on-the-job training programs, and instructor-led training programs for both academic and professional audiences. Collaborating with subject matter experts, Shelby applies instructional design theories and methods while managing CBI’s Learning Management System.
Shelby has also worked in STEM applied education within K-12 settings across Texas, New Mexico, and Washington. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction Learning Sciences with an emphasis on Instructional Design and Education Technology at TAMU-CC. She holds a Master’s degree in Education from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from New Mexico State University.
Maddie Isch
Maddie is the Associate Director of Corporate Training at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. She focuses on demand driven, competency based, workforce development training for businesses across Kalamazoo county and beyond. She likes to tell her customers “you name it, we build it.” Her approach is to be responsive to the needs of the community and it results in high quality training and high paying job opportunities for participants. She is experienced in customized training solutions, education and industry partnerships, needs assessment, and curriculum development. She is passionate about using workforce and economic development as a tool for poverty reduction.
Renée Johnson-Richter
Renée is the Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Third Coast Learning, specializing in workforce training, instructional strategy, and digital learning transformation. With 30+ years of experience, she has led Fortune 200 training overhauls and spearheaded the UpSkill Coastal Bend initiative.
A Ph.D. candidate specializing in learning sciences and educational technology at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, she focuses on learning engineering and emerging technologies. Renée contributes to IEEE ICICLE, serves as VP of ASCD TAMUCC, and speaks at conferences like SXSW EDU. She is available for consulting, speaking, and research collaborations.
Navigating Needs Framework © 2025 by Shelby Sharpe, Madeline Isch, and Renée Johnson-Richter is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0.
Certain images used in this work are © Copyright Shelby Sharpe, used with permission, and are not covered by the Creative Commons license. For permissions regarding these images, contact [email protected].
