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Efficient. Practical. Generative.

Dr. Richards & Associates focuses on the intersection of leadership, learning, and innovation. Led by Dr. Reshan Richards — an entrepreneur, educator, and organizational behavior scientist — we specialize in evaluating people and processes at senior and executive levels. Our work with clients generates actionable, measurable solutions through practical, efficient engagements.

Areas of Expertise

Human Capital Management—Creativity & Innovation—Organizational Strategy & Learning
Education Technology—Leadership Development

We believe that 20 days is the ideal amount of time to make significant progress on and even finish a big project or initiative. One week can often feel rushed but may be enough to get something started until other priorities and situations creep in and dilute attention. A month or more of focused attention  often creates intellectual and institutional fatigue. The 20-day timing includes a project kickoff, some days of deep in-person work with key stakeholders, some days of reflection & synthesis, and a presentation of deliverables for feedback. Working with us, over just a couple of a weeks, will help you break inertia and build momentum that can sustain and thrive. By the end, your school will have desired results and a repeatable approach for continuing the work beyond the engagement. Learn more about our core offerings.

A 20-Day Approach

About Dr. Reshan Richards

Dr. Reshan Richards is an educator, author, entrepreneur, and speaker whose work bridges schools, universities, and the education technology sector. Over a 25-year career in independent schools, he has served as a math teacher, technology integrator, and senior administrator in PK–9 and PK–12 settings.

He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Lecturer at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. Reshan earned his Ed.D. from Teachers College, his Ed.M. from Harvard University, and his B.A. from Columbia University.

As founder and CEO of Explain Everything—acquired by Promethean, Inc.—he helped shape how educators and learners connect through technology. The app was named one of Apple’s Best of 2020 for its positive impact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An active author and speaker, Reshan has written Blending Leadership (2016) and Make Yourself Clear (2019), published peer-reviewed research, and presented internationally across a dozen countries and nearly every U.S. state. Making the Case, his co-authored newsletter for independent school heads, board chairs, and the teams they lead reaches thousands of subscribers each month.

Offerings

  • The 20-day HR Revamp

    Refine hiring, evaluation, and other people systems

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  • The 20-day Creativity Accelerator

    Build capacity for innovation and flexible thinking

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  • The 20-day Strategic Plan

    Articulate the vision and future plans your school.

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  • The 20-day Senior Team Review

    Performance evaluations to strengthen senior leaders

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  • The 20-day Ed Tech Audit

    Review of technology that supports teaching and learning

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  • The 20-day Head Evaluation

    Independent review in partnership with your board

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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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A Record of Impact

  • Adam Grant

    Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take
    book endorsement for Leading Online

    Leading Online is an innovative, interactive exploration of leadership in the digital age.  Stephen Valentine and Reshan Richards, experts in academic leadership and educational technology, have produced something truly original and delightful.  It’s more than a book: it’s a demonstration of how the internet and social media can change the way we lead and learn. 

  • Apple Best of 2020 Award

    Apple celebrates 15 of the amazing apps and games that inspired the world in 2020

    From algebra lessons to parent-teacher conferences, even P.E., school largely happened on screens this year. And while video-chat and classroom-management apps provided the foundation for this extraordinary shift, the interactive digital whiteboard Explain Everything Whiteboard restored something essential: a sense of togetherness.

  • Daniel H. Pink

    author of DRIVE
    book endorsement for Blending Leadership

    If you're a school leader, BLENDING LEADERSHIP is the book you need to guide your thinking in today's increasingly networked educational environment. Your students and staff may have varying degrees of comfort with technology, but this book will give you solid guidance on how to lead them both online and offline and chart a path to the future.

  • EdSurge’s 2020 Year in Review

    Timely article recognized as one of Top 10 K-12 Stories

    A Letter to Educators Teaching Online for the First Time. For new online teachers—and there were many this year—the experience can prove exciting, daunting, frustrating and scary—often all at once. Educators Reshan Richards and Stephen Valentine recall their first time in this letter to teachers, and the sights, sounds and nerves. Their advice: Be present. “Your presence is all that many of them have ever needed, and this does not change if you are teaching from your living room or local library.”

  • Seth Godin

    author, Your Turn
    book endorsement for Blending Leadership

    Leadership, especially in a school setting, is too important to be merely intuitive. In this generous book, Steve and Reshan outline a new way of thinking for a new kind of leader. Recommended.

  • TEDxNYED

    Invited to TEDxNYED to give a talk titled “About Assessment.”

    Reshan Richards challenges traditional assessment methods at TEDxNYED, arguing against a linear view of learning. The talk explores alternative approaches using technology and real-world examples, demonstrating the limitations of solely relying on grades. Instead, Richards advocates for fostering relationships and supporting learners' unique journeys.

  • US Patent Office

    Assigned: System and method for recording online collaboration

    An online collaboration recording system for recording an online collaboration session, includes a computing arrangement in communication with a plurality of devices, wherein each device is accessible by a user during the online collaborating session, wherein in operation the computing arrangement executes instructions to synchronize a digital project in the online collaborating session amongst the plurality of devices,

  • Mensa International

    Mensa International

    The world’s most famous, oldest, and largest High IQ society

    Accepted invitation to join American Mensa Society in service of Mensa’s purposes: To identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity; To encourage research in the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence; To provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for members.

Contact

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