The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is delighted to announce that Ms Anne-Marie Scott has been appointed as COL’s new Vice President from June 2025.
Speaking from COL’s HQ in Vancouver, Canada, Professor Peter Scott, President and CEO, said that “Ms Scott’s passion for Open Education raised her above a very strong field of candidates for this role and spoke to new and innovative thinking to move learning from business-as-usual to the much needed deep impact, that it can now have.”
Ms Scott is an inspiring senior leader with over 20 years of international higher education experience and a rare blend of academic and professional expertise in digital, distance, and open education. Her leadership will help advance COL’s mission to promote the ‘Open’ in learning at all levels across the Commonwealth.
Sought after as a thought leader and speaker by a wide range of institutions and organisations internationally and as a partner for scholarly research and teaching, Ms Scott has consistently demonstrated a proven, long-standing commitment to quality assurance, good governance, open practices, equity, risk management and the potential for education to transform lives.
Ms Scott previously served as Deputy Provost at Athabasca University, where she led academic and digital strategies. Before that, she spent nearly two decades at the University of Edinburgh, spearheading digital learning initiatives, and has served as the Board Chair of the Apereo Software Foundation, is a Board member of the Open Source Initiative team, and is a member of the Government of British Columbia’s Digital Learning Advisory Committee.
The Vice President Designate commented, “Across my career, I have focussed on opening access to knowledge and educational opportunity for as many as possible, with particular care for those most marginalised in our societies. I have seen many times over how education transforms lives and know from experience that technology can be a powerful enabler of inclusion, opportunity, and positive social change when used creatively and thoughtfully. Our world faces enormous challenges, and I am excited to bring my leadership and my passion to COL to achieve even greater impact in its mission to promote learning for sustainable development in the Commonwealth.”
Professor Scott also acknowledged the significant contributions made to COL by the outgoing Vice President, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Venkataraman Balaji for his fantastic work as VP since 2019. Dr Balaji has driven excellence in Commonwealth open education to new and great heights. Dr Balaji is now stepping in to a new role in COL, with so much more yet to do in driving excellence in our member nations.”
Media inquiries, please contact:
Dave Jackson, Communications Manager, COL
Phone: +1 604 775 8263
