OUR TEAM
Global
DR STEPHEN HOLMESPrincipal and Founder
Email: s.holmes@5rspartnership.com
Dr Stephen Holmes (B Ed, MBA, M Ed, PhD Education Marketing Reputation) is the Founder and Principal of 5Rs Partnership established in 2004 in Singapore, with offices also in London (UK) and Philadelphia (USA).
He leads an expert 5Rs Partnership research and consulting team specializing in identity, governance, strategy planning, culture change, market research, and positioning to build reputation in the education sector, operating in every continent with an unmatched client list.
Over the 3 decades, Dr. Holmes has come to be regarded as the most experienced, credentialed consultant with a truly global perspective in evidence-led strategy for the education sector that leads to both education and market success and performance. Dr. Holmes is also the only full-time consultant in the world with a PhD in the specific field of education marketing and reputation, pioneering in the late 1990s the global shift to a market culture in education. Stephen developed the now widely applied 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.
Dr Holmes consults globally with schools and universities at the highest levels. Research has always informed his consulting, something that helps to forge trust with his education sector clients globally. In 2023/24 alone for example, Dr. Holmes has already been commissioned for major education projects and keynote conference speaking in every continent. He leads the companies more recent drive and success in the US and UK independent school markets.
Dr Holmes’ education sector contributions have extended to course development and delivery of masters and professional development courses at leading universities internationally. He is the author over 20 years ago of a seminal book on education marketing and reputation.
Click here for recent and upcoming conference speaking engagements and click here for recent articles from Stephen.
US-UK
DR ANDREW TAYLORSenior Consultant
Email: a.taylor@5rspartnership.com
Dr. Andrew Taylor, senior consultant, joined the 5Rs Partnership as a globally recognized educational leader and consultant with over three decades of experience spanning the USA, UK, and Australia. His career encompasses diverse roles including admission director, division head, and head of independent schools (including 2 in the US), providing him with a comprehensive understanding of educational institution operations. His unique international perspective, combined with extensive hands-on experience in US independent schools, has positioned him as a trusted advisor for school leaders and trustees. This expertise has been further honed over the past 7 years through his work as a consultant with ISM in the USA.
Dually based in the UK and US, Dr Taylor’s consulting expertise encompasses:
– Trustee development
– Forward-thinking governance development and generative ideation
– Complex change management
– Faculty evaluation systems
– Durable learning
– Teacher retention and engagement
– Global education and international mindedness
– The role of AI in education.
His academic credentials include a Doctorate in Education from UCLA, a Master’s in
Educational Administration from California State University, Northridge, and dual Bachelor’s
degrees in Human Biology and Science Education from Australia.
Dr Taylor has led workshops, facilitated retreats, and presented at major educational conferences.
His approach combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience, making him an
invaluable resource for schools navigating the complex landscape of 21st-century education.
Whether you are seeking to enhance your school’s governance, drive organizational change, or
foster a more engaging environment for teachers and students, Dr Andrew Taylor global
perspective and targeted expertise supports schools to thrive in an ever-changing educational
world.
KATHRYN GORMANSenior Associate
Email: k.gorman@5rspartnership.com
Based in London, UK, Kathryn’s teaching career began in a remote corner of Japan, followed by formative early-career opportunities serving areas of deprivation in Yorkshire and the East End of London. For the past 25 years she has been based in the UK working in diverse school leadership roles across the maintained and independent sectors up to and including most recently a successful Headship of a prestigious girls only independent school near London in Hertfordshire. Her experience and knowledge have positioned her as a trusted and proven advisor to schools, workshop facilitator, Governance-trainer and lecturer on teacher training and educational leadership development programmes.
Kathryn’s consulting expertise spans:
Strategic planning
– Audit and review: organisational development planning
– Governance development
– Policy alignment and compliance
Culture and change
– Staff retention
– Inclusion and welfare
– Staff mentoring, support and appraisal
– Staffing structures and optimisation
Enhancing Value
– Stakeholder engagement
– Market positioning
– Curriculum audit, development and innovation (including digital strategy)
– Resource optimisation including efficiency through AI
Kathryn’s academic credentials include a Master’s in Education Leadership and School Improvement from Cambridge University, and a 1st Class BA (Hons) in English Literature from University of Birmingham. Her current professional portfolio also includes member of the ISC (Independent Schools’ Council of England) SEND Committee, and writer and contributor to the debate around the future of assessment and education in the UK.
DAVID WHEELERSenior Associate
David Wheeler, an independent writer and editorial advisor, has specialized in higher education for his 40-year career, principally in the US as Chief Editor with the renowned Chronicle of Higher Education. He has organized events, spoken at conferences, taught journalism workshops, and reported articles from more than 40 countries across Africa, Asia, the South Pacific and the Middle East.
Early in his career, he earned a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University and later won a Vannevar Bush Fellowship at MIT for journalists interested in writing about science. He went on to The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he served as a senior writer, international editor, managing editor, and managing editor for global. In his capacity as managing editor for global, he did international editorial outreach for the Chronicle. During that time, he visited five of the public universities in Hong Kong.
In 2012, he founded Al-Fanar Media in London, a bilingual publication that covered education, research, and culture in the Arab world. He led that publication for nine years. As a result of his unique background, David has insights into the education sector in both the developed and the developing world.
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.
Asia-Pacific
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.
DR KEN SELLSenior Associate
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.
Market Analyst Team
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 NGUYENMarket Research Manager
Mai Nguyen brings a multifaceted research background to The 5Rs Partnership, informed by experiences in both the United States and Vietnam. Prior to joining the team, she served as a senior analyst at Oregon State University’s Student Affairs Research, Evaluation, and Planning office, where she focused on first-year student retention. Her research experience extends to consulting and internship roles at Oregon State University’s Department of Statistics and the Oregon Department of Energy.
At 5Rs Partnership, Mai contributes across a broad spectrum of research projects, including business development, qualitative research, and quantitative analysis. Her responsibilities encompass desk research, moderating focus groups and stakeholder interviews, crafting online surveys, data analysis and visualization, and building databases for market monitoring and competitor analysis. She champions data integrity standards, streamlines research operations for efficiency, and mentors junior researchers, contributing to a culture of research excellence within the team.
Mai Nguyen holds degrees in Statistics (M.S.), Public Policy (MPP), and Economics (B.A.), all from Oregon State University.
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.
