A surreal painting featuring gears, balance scales, an open book, and architectural arches with a bright sun and clouds in the sky.

Timely and timeless systems thinking for your independent school.

(Re)designing the systems your school needs

  • The 10-day HR Revamp

    Refine and optimize employee lifecycle systems

    Learn More
    A colorful painting of a man walking his dog past a large, abstract stack of multicolored boxes with arches, set against a bright sky with clouds, trees, and a distant landscape.

  • The 10-day Creativity Accelerator

    Build capacity for innovation and flexible thinking

    Learn More
    A painting of a man walking his dog through a large, ancient looking structure with massive gears and colorful blocks, with tall arches and a cloudy sky in the background.

  • The 10-day Strategic Plan

    Articulate the vision and future plans your school.

    Learn More
    A man walking a dog in front of ancient European-style buildings with columns and a dome under a cloudy sky.

  • The 10-day Senior Team Review

    Performance evaluations to strengthen senior leaders

    Learn More
    A man with a dog standing in front of busts and sculptures of historical figures in a room with arched ceilings and sunlight.

  • The 10-day Ed Tech Audit

    Review of technology supporting teaching and learning

    Learn More
    A man stands in a room filled with vintage clocks, telephones, and a typewriter, with large gears on the wall and a currency exchange machine to the side.

  • The 10-day Head Evaluation

    Independent review in partnership with board

    Learn More
    A man and a dog looking through a telescope in an ornate room with large arches, starry sky, planets, and clock gears painted on the walls.
Painting depicting a large Earth floating in the sky with glowing rays, with various symbolic objects such as a balance scale, gears, a compass, an arch, a book, and classical architecture, with a person walking a dog in the foreground.

Approach

It is not easy for schools to get a big project done 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 create momentum, make significant progress, and o even complete that big project or initiative that your leaders have been wanting to get going. Working with us will provide your school with immediately actionable, resource-efficient, and measurably impactful solutions.

About the Company

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.

A painting depicting women with a globe and scientific tools, including a telescope, in a classical setting with buildings and clouds in the background.

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 and Teachers College, Columbia University, teaching courses on leadership, technology, organizational strategy, and design.

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 continues to co-author a monthly subscription newsletter called Making the Case.

Dr. Richards 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.

A mural painting depicting a man with dark hair and a big smile, wearing a blue robe and orange cloak, holding a tablet in his left hand and floating in the sky. Beside him, a smiling brown dog with a bandana is also floating. The background features clouds, golden gears, a clock, and a harp, with several other people below looking upward.

Contact

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