Consulting & Research Team

Dr Stephen Holmes (B Ed, MBA, M Ed Admin, PhD) was one of three founding partners of The Knowledge Partnership in 2003. He is the Managing Partner of The Knowledge Partnership Asia.

Stephen has published, researched, consulted, and spoken around the world on education marketing and reputation management at the highest levels since the early 1990’s.

Long regarded as a global pioneer in education marketing, Stephen’s client list includes schools, colleges and universities across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Canada. Stephen is the only full time practicing consultant in the world with a PhD in marketing and reputation management and culture in education institutions.

Stephen’s academic partnerships have included visiting specialists in education marketing at The University of Queensland in Australia, and development and delivery of higher degree courses in education marketing for students worldwide. He also has written widely for CREM, The Centre for Research in Education Marketing, based at The University of Southampton in the UK.

He has delivered over 100 workshops / keynotes / professional development programs globally and authored over 50 pieces of original market research on marketing for the education sector.

Stephen is also a Director of the MaXimizE (Market Excellence in Education) benchmarking and evaluation system adopted by almost 100 universities, colleges and schools globally.

Author of The School Marketing Manual (1999), the set text for marketing education courses, Stephen is currently writing a new book on education marketing due for release in 2012.

In April 2012, Stephen was appointed as a member of the Department of Marketing Advisory Board at Griffith University

Sam Ang (B. Econ, M. Comm) joined The Knowledge Partnership Asia as a founding Director with a rare blend of Asian, US, and Australian based sector experience. Sam heads our Asian office in Singapore.

Sam’s consultancy strengths include in-depth knowledge of key education markets in South-East Asia and in the Middle East. He combines excellent field research skills and contextual in-country understanding of international student markets (fluent speaker in 4 Asian languages including Chinese).

Sam also has in-depth knowledge and understanding of United States, United Kingdom, Canadian, New Zealand, Singapore, and Australian education sectors and systems.

He has particular expertise in use of the Internet for education marketing purposes – e-marketing, branding and profiling of educational institutions.

Sam has previously held senior international marketing and recruitment roles at each of the following:

• Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore
• The University of Melbourne, Australia
• La Trobe University, Australia
• IDP Education Pty Ltd, Singapore

In 2012, Lisa Thompson (BSc (Hons), MSc Marketing, QPMR) joins The Knowledge Partnership Asia from our UK offices, bringing with her substantial sector experience and expertise.

Lisa joined The Knowledge Partnership UK at its inception in 2003, graduating in Psychology from the University of York, UK.

Lisa has undertaken more than 35 major research projects for universities internationally including:

• Portfolio review and evaluation
• Marketing review
• Syndicated research projects
• Primary research into student markets
• Alumni research/engagement
• Analysis of league tables
• Website and prospectus reviews
• Course viability analysis
• Overseas market analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Reputation and awareness research
• Development of Subject View International (market trends and overview reports)
• Course positioning
• Research projects for the World 100 Reputation Network

Client work has included large scale projects for several Russell Group universities as well as colleges, modern universities and international clients.

Market Research Society qualified, Lisa has also completed a Masters Degree in Services Marketing.

Sharon Tang (B.A. (Hons), Dip Market Research, AFAMI, CPM, AMSRS, QPMR) joined The Knowledge Partnership at inception in 2003, and has worked on more than 70 education market research projects in NZ, UK, Asia, Middle East and Australia.

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

She was also formerly Head of Market Research for Shell S-E Asia and has lived and worked in the UK, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Sharon has been research director/partner in a major market research consultancy in Malaysia.

Sharon holds substantive Market Research Qualifications. She is a:

• Fellow, Australian Marketing Institute (AMI)
• Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM) accreditation from the AMI
• Full Member of the Australian Market & Social Research Society (AMSRS)
• Qualified Practicing Market Researcher (QPMR) accreditation AMSRS

Mitchell Ross (B. Ed, B Music (Hons), Grad Dip International Relations, MBA, PhD) is a specialist in international student recruitment strategy with a track record as a practitioner and researcher of published reports in international education marketing.

As well as working with The Knowledge Partnership on specialist projects since 2004, Mitchell is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Griffith University in Australia.

Mitchell holds a PhD in international student recruitment (’An Investigation of Marketing Strategies and Recruitment Variables Used by Educational Institutions in the Recruitment of International Students).

His past experiences include as a teacher- government and independent schools (8 years), Director of international Admissions and Marketing, Assistant Deputy Headmaster, The Southport School (TSS), Southport, Australia.

Mitchell is founder of the International Student Recruitment (ISR) diagnostic tool – five years in research and development and undertaken by more than 60 international focused education institutions.

Following his time as a consultant with The Knowledge Partnership as a specialist in website and social media analysis for schools, colleges and universities, Kyle is now based in Denver, Colorado in the USA where he continues to work as an associate for TKP.

Kyle previously was also a Senior Account Executive at Widmeyer Communications in the company’s New York Education, Arts and Philanthropy Practice. Through social media expertise and extensive experience in partnership building and national media & blog outreach, he supported a diverse client base including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and THIRTEEN & WLIW21′s Celebration of Teaching & Learning.

Kyle graduated from The University of Alabama in May 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a minor in political science.

Arthur Stephen (B.Arts (Honours)) has been renowned internationally for more than 25 years for his success in higher education, alumni relations, institutional image and public affairs, and creative fundraising. He has consulted world-wide at the most senior levels across the education sector in Australia, UK, Canada and Europe. Arthur has been an associate consultant for The Knowledge Partnership since 2007. He was the Vice-President: University Advancement at Wilfrid Laurier University, Toronto Canada for 14 years. Responsibilities included strategic and operational planning for the offices of Alumni Relations, Development, Public Affairs, Publications, and Student Recruitment. In a distinguished education career, Arthur has held numerous Leadership roles including:

• Member of the European Union Task Force on Philanthropy, Brussels, 2007.
• With Sir Keith Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London and Sir David Watson, Vice Chancellor of University of Brighton led a symposium on benchmarking for the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Participants came from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada, 2006.
• Member of the Commission on Philanthropy for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Washington, 2004.
• President of the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CASE) 1998-99.

Sample recent consultancies include:

• European Union, Brussels, Belgium
• Association of Commonwealth Universities, London, UK
• Upper Canada College, Toronto, Ontario
• University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• USA Group Noel-Levitz Inc.
• York University, Toronto, Ontario
• University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
• College of the Rockies, Cranbrook, British Columbia
• McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
• University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
• King’s College, University of London, England