by yvelasco | 7 December, 2023 | ISP Group Educational team
Group Senior Director of Learning
Nick was raised and educated in England, but now lives very happily in Valencia with his family.
Having spent a lot of time in Spain growing up, and speaking the language almost fluently, he was thrilled to start working with the International Schools Partnership (ISP) in 2015 within the Laude group of schools.
This role measuring and tracking student progress and learning has developed over the past five years into his current role of Senior Director of Learning.
Prior to joining ISP, Nick’s career in education started in the UK state sector as a teacher of Mathematics, where he quickly established himself as an excellent teacher and leader, helping students of all abilities learn and enjoy what he will tell you is: ‘The best subject’. During this time, he also led training and development programmes for student and graduate teachers in school and worked alongside the Roehampton University delivering training to PGCE students there on assessment and measuring learning.
Nick’s greatest pride in working in education is in having learnt so much since starting, and he hopes to keep on learning for a long time!
Nick’s main focus in life is getting better at stuff! He has a wide range of hobbies, including playing the piano, restoring furniture, DIY, and golf, which keep him busy learning and struggling (particularly the golf); but most of his time at home, by far, is dedicated to spending time with his family and his two small children.
by yvelasco | 7 December, 2023 | ISP Group Educational team
Regional Director of Learning – Vietnam & Thailand
Kaye is a highly experienced and committed educator with over 20 years of teaching experience in Australia, England, China, and Vietnam.
She holds a Master of Arts, a Graduate Diploma in Education from La Trobe University and a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.
Prior to joining ISP, Kaye was part of the senior leadership team at a bilingual international school in Hanoi for the patst 5 years, where she was responsible for the academic leadership of the high school. She has positively impacted student outcomes through leading the successful implementation of additional academic pathways across the school to ensure success for all. At heart, Kaye is a lifelong teacher of Humanities and believes that all students have the potential to be global citizens. She is committed to providing them with the opportunities and experiences they need to be future ready and to make a difference in the world.
Kaye is a passionate educator who is committed to providing students with the best possible education and is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion for all students in the schools. She is excited to join ISP in her new role, where she will work closely with all schools in the region to inspire and champion amazing learning opportunities for all students.
In her spare time, Kaye is a self-confessed bookworm who loves crime novels. She is also an amateur baker and loves travelling and learning about different cultures with her family.
by yvelasco | 7 December, 2023 | ISP Group Educational team
Regional Director of Learning – US & Canada
Jamie grew up in Southwest Louisiana, United States of America before moving to Texas.
Jamie holds a BS in Chemistry from Texas Southern University and a MS in Engineering Management from the University of Houston- Clearlake and a MEd in Educational Administration from Lamar University.
She has always had a passion for learning and learners and has held several positions within education over her 14 years of experience.
She started her career teaching chemistry and coaching girls’ varsity basketball, enjoying 7 years in the classroom, science lab and on the basketball court.
Jamie has worked as a Teacher Specialist and International Baccalaureate Coordinator. Later she was promoted to a Dean of Students where she served grade levels 9-11 and led several special programs for example the AP (College Board), National Science Math Initiative (NMSI) and Dual Credit program with the local Community College.
Jamie was then again promoted to Associate Principal and was directly responsible for the instructional leadership of the campus along with other operational and fiscal responsibilities. Prior to joining ISP, Jamie was presented with a way to marry her passions for STEM, business and teaching and worked as a Training and Development Director for an education technology franchise. She has been published several times for her work with applying engineering processes to onboarding, hiring, and training millennial teachers, virtual professional learning communities and with the implementation of learning management systems.
Jamie enjoys spending time with her husband and son taking walks, cooking, playing basketball and traveling.
by yvelasco | 7 December, 2023 | ISP Group Educational team
Regional Director of Learning – Mexico & Central America
Debbie is a highly experienced and committed educator, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and a Master of Arts in Education.
For the last 30 years her learning and teaching experiences have literally taken her around the Americas.
From the Chicago Public Schools to Venezuela, Guatemala and most recently to Mexico. Prior to joining ISP, Debbie was responsible for Curriculum Direction in the Instituto Thomas Jefferson, Valle Real and Palomar schools. Debbie also has experience as a NEASC visitor and IPGCE mentor.
As a veteran literature and history teacher, as well as student council advisor, Debbie misses being in a classroom, but loves the challenge, excitement, and rewarding experiences of her role now and wants to have a global impact on student learning.
In her free time, Debbie enjoys reading, visiting museums, travelling and spending time with her children. She also has an affinity for Reality TV.
Debbie is excited about the myriad opportunities ahead, as she continues to work closely with all schools in the region to inspire and champion learning opportunities for all students.
by yvelasco | 6 December, 2023 | Regional Managing Directors
Regional Managing Director – South America
Michael studied Modern Languages at Durham University.
Keen on experience living in different countries and cultures, Michael took EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching courses, and worked as a language teacher in state and international schools in the Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine, and management roles in Italy and the UAE.
Continuing in the education field, Michael had the opportunity to move to China in 2003, initially running Asia admissions and marketing for a global group of language schools, before leading the East Asia region for a UK examinations and awarding body.
A move into the fast-growing university pathway sector then followed, where Michael spent over ten years leading global student recruitment, marketing and admissions for two of the largest global providers, recruiting up to 3,000 new students each year for 15 universities across the world, including well-known institutions such as University of Maine and Lancaster University (UK).
Michael also took on roles running the Global Network for Cambridge Assessment English and later leading the largest international school group in Vietnam with around 10,000 students studying a bilingual curriculum.
After exactly 20 years in Asia, Michael and family embarked on a new adventure at the start of 2023, and are now based in Santiago, Chile. Aside from the opportunity to travel in this rapidly-changing region the family is delighted that their two young daughters will be able to benefit from Spanish immersion.
by yvelasco | 6 December, 2023 | Regional Managing Directors
Regional Managing Director – Middle East
Kam was born, bred and educated in the United Kingdom. At an early age he showed an interest in numbers which continued and developed into a career in Finance.
Post qualification he worked in many diverse industries such as Marsh & McLennan, Atos and British Telecom and covered geographical areas such as Canada, Europe, Africa and Middle East.
It was in 2005 Kam joined British Telecom Global Services based in London which lay the foundations and grew his interest in other continents. In 2010 an opportunity arose in United Arab Emirates which led to him moving out to Dubai and starting a new chapter in his career. After working in several multinationals in the region and with nearly twenty-five years’ experience in Finance behind him, Kam joined International Schools Partnership (ISP) Middle East in 2017.
Already a parent with two boys, education was always an important factor in his family’s life so the passion for this industry continued to grow. During the eight years Kam realised the depth of values and tradition that the Middle East harboured which in turn increased his appetite to experience other countries and cultures.
Kam enjoys cinema, walking, spending time with family and travelling to different parts of the world, especially if it means being by the sea!
by yvelasco | 6 December, 2023 | Regional Managing Directors
Regional Managing Director – USA & Canada
Sarah grew up in South Africa before moving to the UK in her early twenties.
After several years of teaching in London, Sarah decided to broaden her horizons and moved overseas to take the opportunity to lead and be part of the successful opening of two international schools in Egypt and then Qatar.
Through her experiences in these schools, she learned the value of cultural competence, the importance of building strong connections and trusting relationships, and the joy of working with talented colleagues and students from across the globe.
Sarah then moved to Shanghai, China, to collaborate with colleagues to lead the design and implementation of a bilingual curriculum program for a Chinese International School operated by an international schools group. After the school’s successful opening as an IB World School, Sarah was promoted to Principal and led the school for three years while completing her master’s degree in International Education from King’s College London. During her leadership, the school grew to over fifteen hundred students in its third year. Sarah also worked closely with the regional team to plan and design a capacity expansion project to grow the school to three thousand students in five years.
Sarah joined International Schools Partnership in January 2019, first as the US Regional Director of Learning, where she enabled the successful learning and education integration of the first five US schools. In October 2019, Sarah was promoted to lead the growth of the US & Canada region, responsible for opening a regional office in Dallas, Texas, and recruiting a full team to continue to develop and support the success of the current US schools. As Regional Managing Director, Sarah is growing the region to include new schools, both in the US and Canada.
Sarah enjoys spending time with her family, playing golf, reading, and traveling to new places worldwide.
by yvelasco | 5 December, 2023 | Colegio
Lady Elizabeth School is the first center of British education in the Marina Alta region and a solidly consolidated educational project with a history of 35 years. It is a school with a strong international character in which students of more than 50 nationalities...
by yvelasco | 4 December, 2023 | Non-Executive Directors
Chairman
Ryan has led, invested in and served on the boards of education groups for over two decades.
These have spanned nursery, primary and secondary provision, further and higher education, as well as special educational needs.
Prior to ISP, Ryan was CEO of World Class Learning (WCL) and the British Schools of America.
Before WCL, he was Founder and Managing Partner of Sovereign Capital – UK Educational Investor of the Year. Based on his experience as Chairman of Schools Standards and Performance for disadvantaged state schools, he has written three respected national policy papers on educational disadvantage and children in care. Ryan holds an MA in History from Cambridge University.
He is a long-suffering fan of Newcastle United Football Club and in his spare time is a keen scuba diver and skier.
by yvelasco | 4 December, 2023 | Non-Executive Directors
Non-Executive
Zoe brings experience of building global brands and ESG to the ISP board. Zoe spent most of her career at the Coca-Cola Company, culminating in her role as Marketing Director responsible for a portfolio of 15 brands where she led brand communication through to the retail customer experience, global sponsorships such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup and managed brand reputation.
Today, Zoe sits on 4 boards including 2 FTSE 250 companies; AG Barr PLC & Paragon Banking group PLC, she also sits on the board of Water Babies, an international baby swimming business.
A daughter of expat teachers and a mum of 2 boys, Zoe has a deep appreciation for the value of education.
by yvelasco | 4 December, 2023 | Executive Committee
Group Chief Executive Officer
Steve has over 20 years of experience operating in senior commercial roles internationally. A dedicated advocate for the transformative power of education to society, Steve has been an integral part of the sector since 2008.
Under his leadership, ISP has grown from a small start-up to one of the largest international education groups.
“We founded ISP because we believe that education is the key to creating a better world. We want to help students become collaborators in the learning process and develop the confidence, knowledge, and life skills that will help them thrive now and throughout their lifetime.”
Steve joined the International Schools Partnership (ISP) in 2015 when it was a small start-up and assumed the leadership of ISP in 2016. He has steered its trajectory from a small start-up to a global community of over 80 schools, establishing ISP as a leading international schools’ group worldwide.
Prior to ISP, Steve served as Chief Financial Officer for international education group World Class Learning (WCL) for over five years before its sale to Nord Anglia Education.
Steve’s vision for ISP has been to provide a high-quality transformative education for students and families that is focused on learning and continuous improvement. He thinks that education should support students to thrive throughout their lifetime, not only during their time at school.
Firmly rooted in the belief that successful organisations are built upon strong values and an environment conducive to effective team building, Steve has woven these principles into ISP’s organisational fabric.
Steve commenced his career in applied physics. After qualifying as an accountant, he served in several senior finance roles specialising in change management and team development. Steve holds an MA in Physics from Oxford University. With three young boys, Steve divides his spare time between his family and his other two passions, long-distance walking, and classical music.
On the radar
