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Timely and timeless systems thinking for your independent school.

Dr. Richards & Associates focuses on the intersection of leadership, learning, and innovation. We specialize in evaluating people and processes at senior and executive levels, providing actionable, measurable solutions through practical and efficient engagements.

(Re)designing the systems your school needs

  • The 10-day HR Revamp

    Refine hiring, evaluation, and other people systems

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  • The 10-day Creativity Accelerator

    Build capacity for innovation and flexible thinking

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  • The 10-day Strategic Plan

    Articulate the vision and future plans your school.

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  • The 10-day Senior Team Review

    Performance evaluations to strengthen senior leaders

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  • The 10-day Ed Tech Audit

    Review of technology that supports teaching and learning

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  • The 10-day Head Evaluation

    Independent review in partnership with board

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Approach

It is not easy for schools to complete a big project in just one or two days. At the same time, such projects do not benefit from dragging on for weeks, especially when the intended outcomes can be immediately purposeful.

At Richards & Associates, we believe that 10 days is enough time to make significant progress and even finish that big project or initiative for which your leaders have been wanting to break inertia and build momentum. Working with us will provide your school with immediately actionable, resource-efficient, and measurably impactful solutions.

Meet the Founder

Dr. Reshan B. Richards, founder and managing director, is a career educator, researcher, and occasional entrepreneur. He has over 25 years of teaching and senior administrative experience in independent schools along with decades of parallel experience in higher education and the tech startup world. He has been part of the graduate school faculties at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies (Human Capital Management) and Teachers College, Columbia University (Math Science, & Technology + Klingenstein Center) teaching courses on leadership, technology, organizational strategy, and design. He has served on the boards of multiple independent schools, non-profit organizations, and startup companies.

Dr. Richards was the CEO of Explain Everything, an award-winning whiteboard software company which he founded in 2011 and helped lead through multiple venture capital funding rounds. He received a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office as co-inventor of the unique technology. Explain Everything was acquired in 2022 following tremendous demand and growth during the COVID pandemic.

Dr. Richards has co-authored several non-fiction books for organizational leaders including Blending Leadership published by Wiley-Jossey-Bass in 2016 and Make Yourself Clear published by Wiley in 2019. He has an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, an Ed.M in Learning and Teaching from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Music from Columbia University.

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About the Company

Dr. Richards and Associates is the current iteration of a consulting, writing, and speaking practice that has been operating since 2011. With engagements in over a dozen countries and almost every state in the U.S., the impact of their work has been global. Past engagements include work with large organizations such as Apple, Google, AT&T, Walmart, United States Marine Corps as well as many PK-12 independent schools across the US and higher educational institutions such as MIT and Ohio State University. Invited speaking engagements include work with organizations such as NAIS, CAIS, NJAIS, NYSAIS, ISTE, SXSW, and TEDx.

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Contact

Please reach out to find out more about availability, fee structure, methodology, or anything else!