ABOUT US
Sage Consultancy was founded in 2020 to offer finance and operational consultancy services to schools and educational establishments.
Our belief is that schools and school business leadership require targeted support to leverage their potential to help them to achieve their goals.
Our consultants are qualified seasoned professionals with over 145 years combined of educational finance & operational experience.
Russell Cooke
Managing Consultant
Russell Cooke, BA Hons, ACA, BFP - Russell is a seasoned and senior finance & operations professional with over 30 years of experience in education and corporate sectors in Asia and Europe.
After an initial career with Price Waterhouse Coopers and finance roles in London, Russell moved to Austria where he led the commercial and marketing aspects of one of Westrock's European packaging divisions.
He has broad leadership experience in Finance, Operations and Human Resources. He was previously the Director of Finance and Operations at the American School in Guangzhou and the Business Manager of the American International School in Vienna as well the Executive Director of Human Resources at the Singapore American School.
Russell brings a wealth of experience in systems implementation and documentation, as well as leading the organisation of structures and reporting formats needed for successful finance and operations teams.
Russell is fluent in German and has knowledge of other languages.
Areas of expertise: Interim Leadership, Risk Management, Procurement, Planning & Analysis, Audit & Review, Policies & Procedures and Human Resources
Contact: rcooke@sage.com.sg
Ian Forster
Senior Consultant
Ian Forster, BA Hons, MBE - Ian is a seasoned educator and leader. Having initially held director positions in the building services industry, Ian has since spent nearly 30 years in school leadership. Returning to the UK after over 20 years overseas in 3 schools, Ian now serves as a governor in a UK state school as well as his involvement in international school consultancy.
Ian's last overseas position was an 11 year period at The Anglo American School of Moscow and St Petersburg, where he served as both Deputy Director and Director of the school. Prior to that he was the Director of The International School of The Hague, where he had moved to from The British School of Oman. Included in Ian's extensive experience of school leadership positions are those of Business Manager and Director of Finance and Operations. He has also served as a Human Resources Director.
As head of school Ian has supported School Boards, including such activities as Board retreats and Board development as well as mentoring school leadership members, experience he has carried into his new role as a school governor.
Ian was awarded the MBE for services to international education in 2019.
Areas of expertise: Interim Leadership, Audit & Review, Coaching & Mentoring and Human Resources
Contact: i.forster@sage.com.sg
Diane Stone
Senior Consultant
Diane Stone BBA, CPA, CA - Diane has served as a Director of Finance & Business Operations for almost twenty years at the American School of Dubai and Pacific Academy, a large K-12 International Baccalaureate School located in British Columbia, Canada. Prior to entering the world of education, she worked with KPMG in their audit and international tax practices.
Diane is passionate about assisting schools achieve their mission through excellence in long term financial planning through strategic and creative financial solutions. She has seen first hand how schools that follow best practices in financial operations and planning thrive and achieve long term sustainability and strength.
Diane strongly believes that today’s finance office should provide improved data analysis and reporting to assist in making sound resource allocation decisions, she champions tools such as interactive dashboards, stability markers and key performance indicators.
Diane looks forward to helping schools improve their financial operations through a comprehensive “health check” review and report card, developing robust policies and procedures, long term financial plans, innovative risk management and procurement practices and reporting tools.
Areas of expertise: Interim Leadership, Risk Management, Procurement, Planning & Analysis, Audit & Review, and Coaching & Mentoring, Policies & Procedures and Human Resources
Contact: dstone@sage.com.sg
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Len Archer
Senior Consultant
Len Archer, CPA CGA, P. Adm / ACIS, Len is an experienced Director Of Finance and Operations with over 35 years working at the senior administrative level in both the public and International education sector.
Len was Director of Finance and Administration at the United Nations International School in Hanoi (UNIS) from 2012-2017. He lead the Implementation of administrative regulations and was a senior member of the strategic planning, governance and technology initiatives teams.
Len was also Director of Business Administration at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS) from 2004-12. where he was responsible for all areas of Business and Operations administration. He led the implementation of a systems conversion and developed competitive compensation strategies, administrative policies, regulations and an internal control manual.
Prior to working in International Schools overseas, Len served as Secretary-Treasurer in four School Districts in British Columbia, Canada. The ST role includes acting as the Corporate Secretary and the Chief Financial Officer responsible for all School District Business Administration.
Areas of expertise: Interim Leadership, Risk Management, Procurement, Planning & Analysis, Audit & Review, Policies & Procedures and Coaching & Mentoring
Contact: larcher@sage.com.sg
Charles Kite
Senior Consultant
Charles Kite, Ph.D. - Charles has deep experience in education with more than 40 years in an international setting.
Beginning at Hiroshima International School as a teacher then head of school, his career included eight years in Africa as Head of School in Somalia and in Kenya as Executive Secretary of the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA), leading this curriculum, professional development and conference planning organization.
After earning a Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Charles returned to Japan, joining the Canadian Academy in Kobe. Prior to becoming the Assistant Headmaster & Business Manager he had a variety of responsibilities at the school including IB Coordination, Alumni Relations, Director of Admissions, WASC/CIS self-study coordination, WASC team participation and Staff Development coordination.
Charles was a lead member of a development team that planned and opened the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (now UWC ISAK Japan), gaining dual certification from the Japanese Ministry of Education and the International Baccalaureate Organization. Recently he has consulted with schools in Japan on a variety of organizational issues.
Areas of expertise: Risk Management, Human Resources Facilities & Construction and Coaching & Mentoring
Contact: c.kite@sage.com.sg
William Scarborough
Senior Consultant
William Scarborough CPA - William is a Certified Public Accountant with over forty years of educational finance experience. He began his career with the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and Duke University in the United States before leaving to work abroad.
He has held CFO and Director of Finance and Operations roles at the Singapore American School, Singapore, the Anglo-American School in Moscow, Russia, the American School of Bucharest, Romania. and Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan.
William established the CEESA business managers annual meeting in 2002 and the CEESA facilities managers meeting in 2004 which continue as collegial and professional learning opportunities. He also organized a similar collaborative and networking organization for large, non-profit schools in Asia.
Following his recent retirement from Canadian Academy, William looks forward to supporting new business managers in understanding and developing their roles. He is one of the most experienced financial leaders in the international school community and a contributor to school publications including the US National Business Officers Association Net Assets magazine.
Areas of expertise: Interim Leadership, Risk Management, Procurement, Planning & Analysis, Audit & Review, and Coaching & Mentoring
Contact: wscarborough@sage.com.sg