Recognized for Compassionate Leadership
This award recognizes Amanda Coolidge for a long commitment to education as a force for positive change but also for her profound presence of care and paying attention to relationships of those she works with. Anyone who has been in her presence knows her passionate focus on the potential of open education as well as authentic innovation.
Her efforts more than 20 years ago working on the ground in Kenya with the Open University and the BBC built a foundation for her interest and career-long dedication to the power of open education for the world and that making change happen was not about technology and resources but people.
Amanda was on the ground floor of open education in British Columbia contributing to the initial open textbook projects at BCcampus that the world benefits from via the B.C. Open Collection. She was part of the first zero-cost textbook programs. As Director of Open Education for BCcampus, Amanda led the organizations commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and instigated a strong focus on accessibility in open resources.
As Executive Director of BCcampus, Amanda’s leadership led the organization to a stronger position with the BC provincial government even through challenging times for the education sector. She successfully brought in grants to fund additional projects that expanded, and continue to expand, the growth and impact of open education in British Columbia.
Everyone who worked with Amanda was fortunate to know the attention she placed in relationships, her humor, and the extraordinary efforts she made to empower the people who worked for her to both succeed in the work they did but also grow as professionals in education.
Her work continues on the same arc in her consulting as Coolidge Collaborative, Inc and her journey of cultivating positive cultural change through open education continues.
I have been fortunate enough to work alongside Amanda as a colleague at both Royal Roads University and BCcampus for 15 years. She continues to be an incredible advocate for open education and student-centered learning with a commitment to open education that stretches back to her time with the Open University over 20 years ago. In my time getting to know her over the years, I have discovered that she has this infinite capacity for growth and is always striving for whatever the next level is, both as a person and as a leader. But her real superpower is her warmth and ability to cultivate rich and deep relationships with people regardless of whether she has known them for 15 minutes or 15 years, and it makes me very happy to see her work being recognized by OEGlobal.
Clint Lalonde, BCcampus
