Notes on Transition

It’s been one week since my transition from Executive Director of BCcampus to being my own boss as Principal and Founder of Coolidge Collaborative, Inc. As with any transition, it takes time. Throughout my life I’ve moved a lot—across countries, friends, schools, universities, jobs. This transition is different because I’m not moving geographically. We’re staying in Victoria, B.C. It’s where we feel at home—by the ocean, surrounded by nature, and well integrated into our community of friends. This shift to Principal and Founder is as much personal as it is professional.

As I reflect on this first week, I wanted to share what I’m working on, how I hope to stay aligned with my values, and a few details about setting up my digital workspace.

I’m incredibly happy with the variety of projects on my plate.

Starting next week, I’ll be working with Campus Manitoba to develop their Open Education Community of Practice across the province. I’m really looking forward to this, especially after witnessing the excitement and energy that librarians, faculty, staff, and students showed at the Open Horizons conference in early June. Manitoba is ready to embark on a robust Open Education Community of Practice, and I’m honoured to help shape that work.

This week I worked on an open data project with another external consultant. It’s been fascinating—searching for open data related to K–12 and early childhood metrics in the U.S., specifically for Nebraska, Maryland, and Florida by county, city, and/or congressional district. It’s interesting to see how districts track K–12 metrics, and so far the most challenging piece has been finding data by congressional district.

I’m also partnering with Ambroso Research and Evaluation. Over the past few months, Eric and I have explored how to combine my subject-matter expertise with his data-driven work, and I’m happy to share that we’re working with NCOER to identify a national research agenda for open education in the U.S. I hope to share more specifics in the coming weeks.

Lastly, I’ll be working with BCcampus and the Hewlett Foundation to facilitate a two-day meeting/retreat in Victoria at the end of September. We’ll bring together open education experts from across North America, and I’m looking forward to leading activities that help frame current work in open education while giving the group time for reflection—and, fingers crossed, a fun art project.

Yesterday afternoon I tried to map out how I want to plan my day-to-day work. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but a few things I know about myself:

• I prefer mornings to late afternoons.
  

• I need to schedule time for exercise.
  

• I don’t want my inbox to dictate my daily tasks.
  

• I want to end my day by 4:00 p.m. to allow time with family and friends.
  

That last piece is quite possibly my biggest reason for starting Coolidge Collaborative, Inc.—and will be the hardest to stay committed to. Toward the end of my tenure as Executive Director, I noticed that most weeknights I was going to bed with headaches and earlier than my son. I was checking email throughout the evening; even when I didn’t respond to respect other people’s time, I wasn’t respecting my own. Hence, the need for a transition.

My digital workspace is evolving. I’ve spoken with trusted consultants and friends—specifically Maren Deepwell and Eric Ambroso—who shared their digital setups and “must-haves” for consulting. It’s been helpful, so here’s what I’ve set up:

Website: Squarespace. I chose it for the templates. I could have built something on WordPress or hired it out, but I wanted something simple and wasn’t willing to spend a lot of time or resources. So far it’s been good—it includes hosting and domain purchase.

Email: Basic Gmail. I considered a Coolidge Collaborative, Inc. address, but it felt cumbersome to write out and my name is already in the business title, so I’m sticking with my standard address: amanda (dot) coolidge (at) gmail (dot) com. This could change, but for now it works.

Google Calendar: A pleasant surprise. I like that I can view multiple time zones, so I can see the calendar in both PST and ADT (where I am for the summer). I set up a booking system that lets clients book time with me and block off appointments or prior commitments. Because I like colour, I’ve colour-coded entries by project. It looks nice and makes the work easy to track.

Google Meet: New to me, since I’m more familiar with Zoom and Teams. So far, so good—chat, screen sharing for presentations, and simple links for attendees.

Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets: The bread and butter of my digital space. It’s where I keep track of everything—project folders, budgets, expenses, invoices, business details, etc.

As I head into week two, I’m feeling grateful—for the place we call home, the people who keep cheering me on, and the chance to build work that aligns with my values and my life. I’m excited about the projects underway, committed to protecting my time and energy, and open to new collaborations that advance accessible, sustainable, people-centred education. If our paths overlap—open education, research and evaluation, facilitation, or strategic planning—I’d love to connect. Here’s to building something thoughtful, useful, and human.