Amanda Coolidge, 2026-2027

Principal/Founder, Coolidge Collaborative, Inc. (BC, Canada)

Amanda brings over a decade of leadership in open education, including as former Executive Director of BCcampus and now as Founder of Coolidge Collaborative. Her work spans strategy, research, and facilitation for equity-centered, sustainable open education systems. Having led provincial and international initiatives, Amanda offers a systems perspective, collaborative approach, and deep commitment to equity, accessibility, and community building in open education.

Amanda Larson, 2025-2026

AERI Program Coordinator, The Ohio State University (Ohio, USA)

Amanda has worked in Open Education since 2016, supporting everything from grass roots initiatives to well-funded OER programs at three very different R1 institutions. Currently, she works as the Affordable Learning Instructional Consultant at The Ohio State University. Her role involves organizing professional development programs for staff, librarians, and instructors on open pedagogy and open educational practices.In practice, this work ranges from accessibility training, community building, curriculum development, instructor support (pedagogical and technical), grant and program management, OER publishing, donor relations, and her favorite, mentoring early career folks. She brings a neurodiverse perspective to the table and is passionate about accessibility, equity in higher education, open pedagogy, and social justice. 

April Crenshaw, 2026-2027

Interim Department Head & Associate Professor, Chattanooga State Community College (Tennessee, USA)

April Crenshaw is an Interim Department Head and Associate Professor of Mathematics with more than two decades of combined teaching experience in higher education and K-12. She is an award-winning educator, having received national recognition for her innovative and inclusive teaching methods. She is passionate about making education accessible to all by incorporating principles of equity into her courses and advocating for policies that remove barriers for historically marginalized groups.

Brandon Carson, 2026

Sessional Instructor/Doctoral Student, Ontario Tech University (Ontario, Canada)

Brandon Carson has worked in higher education for 14 years, in roles to expand the use of innovative technologies. Brandon is an OER advocate and recently held the position of Program Manager, Open at Scale – Business OER at eCampusOntario, allowing him to collaborate with institutions throughout Ontario and beyond. He holds a Master of Arts in Learning and Technology from Royal Roads University, where his research focused on the barriers faculty face when using Open Educational Resources (OER) in their teaching practices and solutions to overcome those barriers. Brandon was recently accepted into the Doctor of Education program at Ontario Tech University, where he will continue his research in the area of open education.

Kim Grewe, 2025-2026

Instructional Designer, Northern Virginia Community College (Virginia, USA)

With a career in open education, instructional design, and community college leadership, Kim brings extensive experience in OER, inclusive pedagogy, and professional development. She designs and facilitates online courses that empower educators to create equitable learning spaces. Kim’s 8 years of remote work deepen her commitment to accessibility, aligning with the Open Education Conference’s mission to serve diverse, underserved communities.

Lily Todorinova, 2025-2026

Undergraduate Experience/Open Educational Research, Rutgers University- New Brunswick (New Jersey, USA)

Lily is a librarian at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, where she leads the Undergraduate Instruction and Digital Services Unit. Her work emphasizes equitable access and student success, with a focus on library instruction and digital projects. She plays a key role in coordinating the Open and Affordable Textbook Program and has served as an instructor for the Open Education Network’s Certificate for Open Education Librarianship. Lily is also pursuing a PhD in Education with a concentration in Theory, Organization, and Policy.

Michelle Pilati, 2026-2027

Project Director, Academic Senate for California Community Colleges OER Initiative (OERI) (CA, USA)

Michelle leads a statewide faculty-led initiative to increase OER adoption by any means necessary. The ASCCC OER Initiative (OERI) has secured funding to continue its OER work and support the zero textbook cost work of California's 116 community colleges. As a faculty leading faculty, the OERI works with peers in a collaborative way to address every challenge faced by OER efforts. 

Nicholas Swails, 2025-2026

Dean of Academic Affairs and Online Learning, Colorado Northwestern Community College (Colorado, USA)

Drawing on over a decade of experience as a community college educator and leader in rural higher education, Nicholas champions open educational resources (OER) and equity-driven teaching practices. His academic foundation includes master's degrees in History and International Relations and Conflict Resolution, specializing in U.S. diplomatic relations in the Middle East. As a faculty member and academic administrator, he has led initiatives that expand educational access through OER adoption, mainly serving rural and non-traditional students. Currently pursuing an EdD in Educational Leadership, his research examines how systematic OER initiatives impact faculty development and success. His commitment to innovative pedagogy and advocacy for open education directly advances social justice in higher education, bringing vital rural college perspectives to the Open Education Conference Board of Directors.

Pranjal Saloni, 2025-2026

Open Instructional Designer, Ontario Tech University (Ontario, Canada)

As the manager of the Open Education Lab at Ontario Tech University, Pranjal has led numerous projects in open educational resources (OER), from project management to the development and adaptation of resources. Her work has involved close collaboration within her institution and across various organizations, reflecting her commitment to creating accessible, high-quality learning materials. Pranjal's current focus is creating 3D printable OERs and implementing the use of AR/VR in the OE Lab space to enhance teaching and learning methods. Equity and diversity are central to her work, and she aims to make education more accessible & inclusive.

rehshetta, 2026-2027

Graduate Research Assistant and Educator, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (NC, USA)

rehshetta is a community-engaged scholar and educator disrupting exclusion in higher education and carceral spaces through open pedagogy. Her dissertation centers the radical care and resistance of Black and Latine femme faculty and will culminate in an open educational toolkit for justice-driven pedagogy. rehshetta brings a liberatory lens shaped by lived experience, community accountability, and a belief that open education must be a site of collective freedom.

Yang Wu, 2026-2027

Open Resources Librarian, Clemson University (SC, USA)

Yang is a specialized OER librarian with experience in many types of Open Education activities. At his institution, he built up an OER stipend and an open pedagogy program and fundraised $100,000 to support them. Yang actively supports OER publishing and received an US Department of Education Open Education Pilot grant in 2021. Yang is also a part of an initiative to start a statewide OER program and graduated from the CC License course and multiple SPARC and Open Education Network training programs.