STEPHEN HOLMESPrincipal and Founder

Email: s.holmes@5rspartnership.com

Dr Stephen Holmes (B Ed, MBA, M Ed, PhD) is the Founder and Principal of The 5Rs Partnership established in 2004 based in Singapore, with offices in Malaysia, Australia, and Vietnam. 

Dr Holmes is widely regarded to be the world’s most experienced, credentialed consultant/facilitator in reputation management, marketing, and strategic planning for schools and universities.

Stephen has built his name over 3 decades as a world authority in applying these concepts specifically to the education sector. He is the only full-time consultant in the world with a PhD in the specific field of education marketing and reputation. In the late 1990s, Stephen developed the 5Rs framework (recruitment, retention, referral, relationships, reputation) in his seminal PhD study to establish a working framework for schools and universities to become responsive and market oriented.

Stephen consults globally with schools and universities at the highest levels with an unmatched international client base in breadth and depth. Research has always informed his consulting, something that helps to forge trust with his education sector clients globally.

In 2021/22 alone, Dr Holmes was commissioned for major school and university projects in each of: Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, South America, the US, UK, and New Zealand. Stephen was the first member of the Council of International Schools (CIS) Consultant Network (preferred consultant status).

With a professional education background spanning school teaching, senior management, and Board membership, a university academic in both education and business faculties, and a university executive director of marketing, Stephen brings a unique background and perspective for schools and universities.

Stephen’s education sector contributions have extended to course development and delivery of masters of education courses at leading universities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. He is the author of a specialist book on education marketing.

Click here for recent and upcoming conference speaking engagements and click here for recent articles from Stephen.

DR RODERICK CROUCHSenior Associate

Dr Roderick Crouch is a highly experienced international school leader, and is known for his leadership and innovation, particularly in school improvement. His leadership career has included being Principal or CEO of top independent schools in Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Mexico and Central America, including 17 years leading IB world schools. Roderick has started and lead schools throughout the world in both the ‘not for profit’ and ‘for profit’ sector. Most recently he was a global head for an international schools group – a role which required him to support and stabilize schools in different countries that had found themselves in difficulty or between leaders.

Roderick was educated in Australia and has presented at education conferences on change management, improving pedagogical practice, school leadership, and middle schools. He has trained and mentored principals and leadership teams both formally and informally, and has been a regular contributor to a variety of professional publications. Dr Crouch has been a director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in two different countries. He has considerable experience with different school accreditations and authorization including Council of International Schools (CIS), Cognia, and International Baccalaureate (IB), and is renowned as a strategic thinker, mentor and problem solver.

ERIC MAYERSenior Consultant

Email: e.mayer@5rspartnership.com

Based in Philadelphia in the US, and originally trained as an architect, Eric has been an educator for three decades, primarily in day/boarding schools. He has taught at the middle and high school levels, and served as an Upper School division director.

Eric is now in his third post as a Head of School, including international (Europe) and domestic headships.

With previous roles as a varsity coach, dormitory head, department chair, and dean of faculty, Eric brings extensive experience in student life and school administration to build progressive, global minded practices and thinking in schools.

In recent times, Eric has been involved specifically in learning and training for racial equity in schools.

KEN SELLSenior Associate Consultant

Dr Ken Sell PhD (International School Leadership) is a senior associate consultant for The 5Rs Partnership. He possesses vast research-based knowledge and practical expertise in leading the organizational and business development of international schools.

Ken has been a head of 3 schools internationally. From 2014 to 2023, Ken held the position of Group Head of School, playing an instrumental role in establishing and growing Aoba International School Systems (AIES) in Tokyo, Japan. AIES is now at the forefront of educational reforms in Japan and stands as the largest international school system in the country. Under Ken’s leadership, AIES expanded from 230 students to over 1540, encompassing numerous campuses.

His extensive experience across all school sectors, ranging from Early Years to University, provides him with a diverse perspective. This allows him to offer holistic and contextually relevant advice to our international clients – both stats ups and school requiring turnaround.

In addition to his role as an associate consultant, Ken serves as an advisor to the AIES Board and a start-up company founded by an Aoba alumnus. His active interest in schools and their impact on communities globally remains steadfast.

FRAN REDDANSenior Associate

As a consultant for The 5Rs Partnership, Fran (BA (Hons), Dip Ed., B Ed St., M Ed.St, FACE, FACEL, AFILM, GAICD) advises schools in strategy, leadership, innovation and school reputation.

Fran is a distinguished educator with experience spanning more than 30 years, including teaching at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

She was previously Principal of Mentone Girls’ Grammar School (Melbourne, Australia), where she successfully served the pursuit of excellence and innovation in education for over 14 years.

Fran is well known for her innovative and high-impact improvement projects and for her astute skills and understanding of the relational quality of a school with its complexity in stakeholder management.

She is recognised as an outstanding educator and is noted on the ‘Educator Hotlist’ (2018) and recorded in Who’s Who for her contribution to education.

She is an accredited school reviewer and is conversant with Australian and international quality (CIS) benchmarks. Fran is also bilingual (English/French), an asset for many of our international school clients.

Fran is a graduate of the Institute of Company Directors, and her extensive work with Boards has focussed on governance, strategic planning, and leading strategic planning processes. She has served as President of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia, the peak advocacy group for girls’ education.

Fran enjoys investing in the next generation and her contribution as a director includes service on the Boards of a university residential college, a charitable trust, an educational board serving the teaching profession, and as an advisor for a not-for-profit supporting student wellbeing.

JOYCE WONGMarket Researcher

Joyce Wong (BSc (Hons) MMathSc) joined the The 5Rs Partnership in 2013. Graduating at the top of her class, Joyce brings extensive quantitative and analytical skills.

Joyce completed her Masters’ thesis in the field of market research, namely designing a 3N conjoint choice experiment using partially confounded factorial design.

She has been involved in both primary research (e.g. data collection, survey design, focus groups) and secondary research (e.g. desktop reviews, competitor analysis, collateral review) on a wide range of projects for schools and universities across the world.

Joyce coordinates and leads our internal team in the development of our annual higher education fees monitors.

MAI NGUYENSenior Researcher

Mai Nguyen has extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative research projects in Vietnam and the United States. Her previous roles include being a senior analyst at Oregon State University (OSU) Student Affairs Research, Evaluation & Planning office, where she worked on first-year student retention issues, a consulting assistant at OSU Department of Statistics, and a policy intern at the Oregon Department of Energy.

At the 5Rs Partnership, Mai has been involved in various projects, including business development, qualitative research such as desk-based research, documents review, focus group moderation, stakeholder interviews, and quantitative research such as online surveys creation and monitoring, data analytics, and visualizations. She is also responsible for building databases in support of market monitoring and competitor analysis.

Mai holds an M.S. in Statistics, an MPP, and a B.A. in Economics from OSU. She is fluent in English and Vietnamese.

AN NGUYENSenior Research Assistant

An Nguyen is based in Hanoi, Vietnam. She has extensive experience across multiple quantitative and qualitative research projects globally.

An previously worked as a research assistant at Leeds University Business School in the UK. An’s other previous roles include working in the international aviation industry as a digital marketing executive for a major airline in Asia as well as a manager for a major airline alliance.

An holds a MSc. in Consumer Analytics and Marketing Strategy from the University of Leeds.

KATEY-LEIGH HOLMESMarket Development Officer

Katey-Leigh is based in the Middle East, and a graduate of Monash University Business School in Malaysia.

After commencing her career with US boutique consulting company Solidance, Katey-Leigh has been working with 5Rs Partnership since 2017 and supports Dr Holmes in expansion of our strategy and services for schools and universities across the world.

Katey-Leigh is particularly focused in her role on our business development and expansion in both the United States and UK independent school markets. Katey-Leigh is also an experienced qualitative researcher and supports our research team.

SHARON TANGSenior Market Researcher

Sharon Tang joined The 5Rs Partnership in 2004, and has since worked on more than 100 education sector market research projects.

She has 25 years of senior level experience in the field of market research, including extensive consulting and experience in Asia.

Formerly Head of Market Research for Shell Southeast Asia, Sharon has also lived and worked as a market researcher in the UK, Malaysia and Singapore. Among her roles in Asia were a research director/partner in a major market research consultancy in Malaysia.

Sharon’s analysis experience specific to the education sector leads to practical deployments, so important to our clients.

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