Our people

Rob has over 15 years’ experience in Australian international education, having first started working in the sector in education agencies before he moved across to universities.

Specialising in international admissions and recruitment in high volume environments, Rob’s previous roles included Deputy Director International at CQUniversity Australia where he managed the international admissions and recruitment teams, sponsors, channel management and partnerships, managing overseas offices and staff across four Australian states, India, China, Vietnam, and Singapore. This role included overseeing major process re-engineering of admissions and recruitment, the streamlining of the agent network and packaging partners, with the achieved aim of reducing the university’s student visa risk rating while also meeting and exceeding university set targets of increasing the full-time international student enrolment load.

Rob’s most recent role was at Deakin University in the Faculty of Business and Law as International Manager, where he managed the inbound and outbound mobility and partnership team for the faculty.

Rob is also an award-winning author and has published two novels.

Experience: Deakin University, CQUniversity Australia, RMIT University; Lawand Education, AAET (Education agents).

Len advises in the areas of pricing and revenue management using the concepts and methods of micro-economics and micro-econometrics. He has advised a wide range of organisations, ranging across ASX-listed companies through to leading international professional service firms and education providers. Len has had a 20 year academic career. He holds an appointment at a leading Australian business school, and he currently serves as the Academic Director of the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research, Inc. (a non-profit consortium of Australian universities).

His primary academic contribution is the development of new mathematics and statistical theory for studying decision making and choice. This new econometrics has wide application to the study of economic choices in education, health, marketing, and transport. The econometrics is useful to policymakers because it retrieves the aggregate preferences of decision makers and the structure of individual differences.

Len has conducted academic research on student and parent decision making and choice of higher education provider, including research on how students and their parents make joint decisions about choices of universities. He has conducted applied research on pricing and revenue optimisation of courses and programs at the university level.

With a 15-year career in higher education, Carly is a seasoned specialist in Education Sales, Marketing, and People Management. Carly's professional career began at Hobsons, where she gained a profound understanding of the student journey, from initial enquiry to enrolment. This foundational experience has equipped Carly with unique insights into the educational landscape.

In her role as Corporate Relations Manager at AMBA in London, Carly made significant strides in enhancing graduate career prospects. She spearheaded the creation of the first employment portal for MBA-accredited graduates, forging global connections that opened doors to myriad job opportunities and enhancing alumni engagement.

Carly's career continued to evolve as she honed her skills in people management as Head of People and Operations at a leading HR consultancy, where she not only refined her expertise in people leadership but also demonstrated her unwavering passion for helping individuals achieve their full potential.

Known for her warmth and skill as a workshop facilitator, Carly is committed to empowering others and driving organisational success. Her blend of strategic insight and hands-on experience makes her a valuable asset in the fields of education and human resources.

Experience: Hobsons (now QS) (Melbourne), AMBA (UK), CQUniversity (Brisbane), Employer Branding Australia (Brisbane).

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Dr Rob Forage is a specialist advisor with Edified. He is the Chair and CEO of SBE Holdings, a private company developing new approaches to international education. Prior to this role, he was a Director and CEO of UNSW Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of New South Wales, a position he held for 10 years. During that time, Rob crafted a strong business platform focused on pre-university education and school assessments, leading it into a premier position in the industry. Together with an experienced executive team, Rob ingrained a collegiate corporate culture ethic and a personalised, high quality learning environment for students.

Rob started his career as a botanist and biochemist in Tasmania which took him to Oxford to complete a doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar, and from there to Harvard Medical School on a Postdoctoral Fellowship undertaking research. Returning to Australia, Rob commenced his career in the biotechnology industry, commercializing innovative research and introducing new products to market.

Rob has over 60 scientific and business publications, grants and patents. He was previously a Director of UNSW Press and received the prestigious 2015 Universitas 21 award for Sustained Excellence in International Education.

As an awarded strategic writer and brand adviser, Andrew has produced ground-breaking socially-driven campaigns which have helped elevate education brands to market leader status and achieved record levels of audience engagement.

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He’s been integral to significant projects for QUT, University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts, Victoria University Wellington, Australian Institute of Music, Bond University, University of Queensland, Griffith University, TAFE NSW, Swinburne and Monash University. He has also developed strategies and campaigns for Austrade (international education), Study Queensland, seven of Queensland's regional study clusters, and the Federal Department of Education, Skills & Employment - among others.

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As Creative Lead for QUT for than eight years, he created enormously successful brand campaigns and a multitude of social and digital campaigns. In the words of QUT's Director of Marketing, he "helped QUT find and maintain its true brand voice". He has also worked extensively as an independent creative consultant for QUT International and QUT Alumni & Development, creating carefully weighted communications which speak to diverse international student audiences and to philanthropic prospects. Also for QUT, he recently produced one of the education sector’s most successful advancement campaigns, resulting in donations of $1.7 million and winning gold at the CASE Circle of Excellence awards, beating 82 international entries.

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Andrew has handled above-the-line, digital and socially-based communications for many clients in the not-for profit sphere - including Surf Lifesaving Australia, Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Pennington Institute and Sunrise Children's Village Cambodia - as well as for major private sector brands in financial and professional services, tourism, telecommunications, retail and FMCG.

Ben has more than 20 years of experience working in international and domestic education with a strong focus on the VET/TAFE sector. Most recently, Ben has held regional and state-wide leadership roles with TAFE NSW working with complex and diverse teams across Marketing, Admissions and Student Services functions.

Ben is a strategic thinker with a keen focus on driving service enhancements and operational efficiencies through use of technology, streamlining processes and optimising organisational structures. Clients are often impressed by his impeccable attention to detail and nuance, and the clarity he provides on practical issues while simultaneously maintaining a solid view of the strategic imperatives.  

Ben’s areas of expertise include student acquisition, lead generation, enquiry management, admissions, change management and online learning.

Ben is passionate about driving customer experience across student recruitment and onboarding and has helped teams to successfully negotiate the complexities and challenges of large-scale organisational change.

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Kate is an international education expert with 20 years experience in the higher education sector. She specialises in marketing, communications, research, data analysis, student recruitment, strategic planning, stakeholder relations and systems enhancement.

Kate’s international education expertise is enriched by her wealth of experience in the not-for-profit sector where she manages strategic relationships within the mining, oil and gas, legal, governmental, commerce and finance sectors to create opportunities for higher education stakeholders.

Kate has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and the USA, and several cities within Australia. She has a deep understanding of cross-cultural issues and international relations, and thrives when tasked with solving unique challenges.

Experience: RMIT University Melbourne, RMIT Training, RMIT University Vietnam, Study Group. Consultant to: The University of Western Australia, The University of Sydney, Monash University, The University of Auckland, Charles Sturt University, Flinders University.

Edward is an experienced marketing and management insights specialist and market research professional with advanced quantitative analytics and choice modelling skills. He has over 25 years of experience in various consultancy and research roles in leading research firms and research centres at Australian universities.

Edward has made critical contributions to pricing and revenue maximisation decisions for many businesses and organisations across a range of sectors including automotive manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods, government services, entertainment and media, quick service restaurants, and telecommunications. He has worked on many largescale projects and his expertise extends to government policymaking in transport, education, and government infrastructure planning and investment.

Edward has conducted many studies in the tertiary education sector, for example, advising senior university leaders on fee deregulation and its implications for student demand for courses and its revenue impacts. He has conducted projects on pricing and revenue optimisation of courses and programs for universities and other educational providers, fee optimisation and infrastructure planning for elite private schools, and teacher incentive programs for government departments.

Nicola is a research professional with more than 30 years’ global experience. A research leader with strong skills across all qualitative and quantitative methodologies. She has a grounding in social and behavioural psychology and retains a hands-on approach to research, driven by curiosity and a desire to achieve success for clients and participants.

Nicola has worked for some of the world’s largest research agencies, including Millward Brown (Kantar) and ACNielsen (Nielsen Corporation) covering markets in the UK, Europe, Asia and Pacific.

Her passion is to bring the voice of the consumer into organisational decision-making, through facilitation skills to uncover truths and statistical analysis to find trends and meaning. Training under Wendy Gordon in the UK, Nicola is a Qualified Professional Researcher (QPR) and holds a Masters in Psychology.

Nicola has worked across the education sector for more than 20 years, from early childhood and high school settings to tertiary institutions. She has been instrumental in informing and evaluating QUT’s real-world campaign across domestic and international markets, at the brand, faculty and course level.

Experience: Research work for Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, Study Queensland, DEEWR, Australian Trade College and Allianz Worldwide (international student health and insurance products).