Thanks and Welcome to the Deep & Wide Academy!

A Curiously Different Education for a Boundless Life

The Deep and Wide Academy is a new endeavour that offers a curiously different kind of education.

It is an approach to education that focuses less on the transfer of theoretical information from “expert” to “student”, and more on the experiential practice of wisdom to help us live well - both individually and together.

We believe the deepest truths will be known in our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits. Acknowledging and honouring the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual connections that exist within us is central to our approach.

Asking questions is also central. Not all of the questions asked will have immediate answers. Some questions might just prompt further questions. We expect to learn even in the asking. In this we are following in the footsteps of Rabbi Jesus, who asked way more questions than he answered.

We will be releasing a new online course every month that you can interact with individually, at your own pace. Or, even better, you could join a group of friends to interact with the material together.

Our courses will go very deep. We will explore issues related to faith, human well-being, and our social and cultural landscapes with intellectual, psychological and spiritual intensity and rigour.

Our courses will also go very wide. We are interested in the full swathe of the human experience, and are eager to explore the vast breadth of topics that present themselves to us.

We will be creative; we will have fun; we will be interactive; we will be diverse; we will be grounded; we will be accessible; we will be hopeful; we will be communal.

The Deep and Wide Academy was established, chronologically, in 2024, but more accurately we are continually being rooted and established in love. It is the love that Creator has for creation, and the love that we are invited to have for our Creator and for one another, that we intend to be the cornerstone of the learning, growing and transforming that happens in and through the Deep and Wide Academy.

Danielle Strickland

Danielle lets Love lead her to inspire, challenge, provoke and disrupt the present, and to live in the future now. Having lived in different cultures and contexts around the world she celebrates diversity and deeply longs for wrong things to be made right. Danielle practises following Jesus daily. This pursuit has led to exciting entrepreneurial exploits (like co-founding multiple charities and non-profits) and a whole host of failures (that we don’t as often talk about). All of this has convinced her of the deep need we all have for hope, faith, and love. Her deepest longing is to demonstrate what living that boundless life looks like.

Danielle has written six books (the latest is The Other Side of Hope), has a podcast called The Right Side Up (which recently celebrated half-a-million downloads), and speaks to people at events all over the world. Danielle leads Boundless Communications Inc. which launches creative exploits like Women Speakers Collective (liberating voices of women around the globe), IMBY (a tiny home movement IN MY BACKYARD), Brave Global (preventing human trafficking), Infinitum (a way of living deeply), and Hagar’s Voice (support and advocacy for survivors of abuse). She lives in Vancouver, Canada with her three sons and husband Steve. Danielle loves getting outside, doing new things, physical adventures, and she can’t seem to turn down a free lunch.

Aaron White

Aaron White is serving as the inaugural principal of the Deep + Wide Academy.

He and his family have been seeking to love and be loved by their neighbours in Vancouver's DTES for the past 20 years.

Aaron has served with The Salvation Army; 24-7 Prayer; the International Association for Refugees, and Westminster Theological Centre. He has a Master's Degree from Tyndale University.

He is the author of a few books, including Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community.

Check Out Our Courses!