Governing Board Elections 2024

Biographical Data

Brian O’Dwyer founded CognaLearn to help professors replace lectures with team-based learning. CognaLearn supports team-based learning implementation at 1,000+ universities in over 70 countries using its www.InteDashboard.com technology platform, professional development workshops and Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique forms.

Brian taught eleven terms as an adjunct faculty member of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and appeared as an Aviation Analyst on Channel NewsAsia on over 20 occasions. He is a certified practitioner with the Team Based Learning Collaborative and has presented about technology enabled team-based learning on over 70 occasions as a speaker, workshop facilitator, conference chairperson and poster presenter. He was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School and co-invented a patented methodology to optimize learning using cognitive science. He has authored six publications on Team-Based Learning in higher education.

Before education, Brian was the Chief Financial Officer of Skywest which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Previously, he was a Credit Suisse investment banker and Kearney strategy consultant.

Brian has served on the Singapore American School, Nominations and Governance Committee. He is also the Board Chair of CognaLearn. He received a Forever Duke Award for his service as Duke Singapore Board President.

Brian has a BS, Industrial Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA, Finance from Duke University. He is an Aéroclub de Genève member and a licensed private, commercial, instrument, multi-engine and seaplane pilot. He has completed over 20 marathons or triathlons and is a golfer. He is married with four children.

What does Ecolint mean to you?

Ecolint is the school my wife and I sought out for our four children because of its diversity and inclusivity. My family is multi-racial and neurodiverse. For example, I am one color, and my wife is a different color. Our four children are a mix and have different academic, social, and emotional profiles. We believe that Ecolint can be a diverse and inclusive community where all children can learn, grow, and feel valued.

Furthermore, I believe that the world is changing quickly, and education must also change. Ecolint is a school that is evolving to be a school of the future that combines the joy of play, the collaboration of a team and the rigor of a PhD. I see our four children experience joy, collaboration, and rigor at Ecolint.

However, Ecolint means more to me than just a school for my children. As a leader in global education, Ecolint has an opportunity and obligation to be a trailblazer for other schools in creating a diverse, inclusive school for the future.
 

What skills/expertise can you bring to Ecolint?

What I can bring to the school starts with my experience as the parent of four students at Ecolint in years three, five, seven and nine. I can also offer my experiences with teaching, education technology, finance, strategy, and governance.

1. Teaching with Active Learning: In 2015, I started teaching university students with team-based learning where lectures were replaced with a mix of blended learning, formative assessment, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning. I experienced the benefits and challenges of such a transformation firsthand. I also participate in an educator community of practice where I deliver professional development for other professors and contribute to academic research with several papers and one patent related to improving education outcomes in higher education.
    
2. Education Technology and Entrepreneurship: I founded an education technology company to help with the adoption of team-based learning in higher education. The experience of identifying a classroom need, building technology to solve it, testing it with educators, and refining it to build a sustainable business that now serves over 1,000 universities could provide experience in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship useful to Ecolint.
    
3. Strategy: My six years in the strategy practice at consulting firm Kearney provides a firm foundation to contribute to Ecolint strategically.
    
4. Finance: During eight years as a banker and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and teaching seven terms of Airport Administration and Finance I gained a solid understanding of finance to support prudent financial stewardship at Ecolint.
    
5. Governance: I previously served on the nomination and governance committee at Singapore American School which like Ecolint has over 4,000 students across three divisions. I have also served as the CFO of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and as the Board Chair of CognaLearn. These experiences provided me with perspectives on governance at schools and corporates in roles as a member, chair, and management.
    

Understanding that the Governing Board focuses on long-range and strategic issues, and not specific management, personnel, or curricular issues, how would you support the Ecolint Mission if you were elected to the Governing Board?

There are several ways I can support the Governing Board:

• Routine board responsibilities
• Strategic implementation
• Navigating the unexpected
• Data, analysis, and technology

Routine board responsibilities
I can support the board in its fulfillment of its ongoing responsibilities such as budgeting, forecasting, and governance. Due to my prior experiences as a CFO, banker, and teaching finance I am well versed in financial matters and can also communicate complicated financial situations with a range of stakeholders.

Strategic implementation
With Ecolint preparing to implement a new strategy, transforming strategy into action and monitoring, and guiding its implementation could be an area I can support the board. I am familiar with implementing strategy and communicating objectives and key results with various stakeholders in a way that can be used to guide progress, identify issues and barriers to overcome.

Navigating the unexpected
It is a dynamic time in education and there are bound to be unexpected situations confronting the board that may require agility and decision making amidst imperfect information. As the leader of a startup education technology company, I have experienced many such circumstances. I can offer a perspective on how an agile startup company might approach and pivot in such situations if the board needs to make decisions quickly, with limited information and resources.

Data, analysis, and technology
In other boards I have served on I have been able to contribute perspectives that tend to be analytical, data-driven, and technologically enabled. Oftentimes this was highly complementary to other board members. My experience in data and technology could provide an additional lens to view matters facing the board.
 

The Ecolint Governing Board is the key governance body of the International School. What is your understanding of the tasks you are called upon to perform in this context? And, what particular skills and experience would you draw on to fulfil this role?

My understanding is the tasks board members are called to perform relate to decision making and governance much of which is conducted through board committees. Specific skills and experiences I could draw on to fulfil this role include:

1. Teaching with Active Learning: In 2015, I started teaching university students with team-based learning. I also participate in an educator community of practice where I deliver professional development for other professors and contribute to academic research with several papers and one patent related to improving education outcomes in higher education.

2. Education Technology and Entrepreneurship: I founded an education technology company. I have experience identifying a classroom need, building technology to solve it, testing it with educators, and refining it to build a sustainable business that now serves over 1,000 universities.

3. Strategy: My six years in the strategy practice at consulting firm Kearney provides a firm foundation to contribute to Ecolint strategically.

4. Finance: During eight years as a banker and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and teaching seven terms of Airport Administration and Finance I gained a solid understanding of finance to support prudent financial stewardship.

5. Governance: I served on the nomination and governance committee at Singapore American School which like Ecolint has over 4,000 students across three divisions. I have also served as the CFO of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and as the Board Chair of CognaLearn.
 

Fair and equitable access to an education of excellence such as that of the International School of Geneva is at the heart of the objectives on which the Governing Board must focus. What might your thoughts be on this matter at this time? Do you have any particular expertise that you could draw upon in such societal matters?

In higher education there is a notion of an “iron triangle” of wide access, low cost, and high quality where it is very difficult to achieve all three objectives simultaneously. The Governing Board may need to consider a similar set of potentially competing priorities.

As the founder of an education technology company that supports over 1,000 universities with the adoption of team-based learning in over 70 countries, this is a situation that I have wrestled with for nearly a decade. For example, if we were to make our product free or very low cost, we could achieve wider access, but quality could suffer as we may be unable to invest in maintaining or improving our product.

That said, we have found ways to expand our impact by using various forms of technology to improve access. One particularly successful area has been in professional development for professors. Five years ago, professional development for professors in team-based learning was limited to in person events or conferences. We worked with the Team-Based Learning Collaborative, an academic association, to offer lower cost live online professional development using active learning. This initiative has now reached over 3,000 professors in over 70 countries in a relatively cost-effective manner for all stakeholders.

This situation in higher education, while different from that of the International School of Geneva, could provide me with experience that would be helpful in similar matters.
 

Ecolint aims to ensure a framework that serves to provide a distinctive high quality international education through which all students are helped to develop their abilities to the highest level of the potential. In your opinion, what are the different elements that are critical to this framework (buildings, interior and exterior spaces; technical supports and equipment; management team, teachers, and administrative staff; or others...)?

From my perspective, the three most important elements to provide high quality international education are:
- Clearly defined mission, vision, values and strategy with specific objectives and key results.
- Assembling and motivating a team capable of accomplishing the objectives and key results. 
- Resources for the team to be able to achieve the objectives and key results.

Specific objectives and key results can help to align the various stakeholders on what key priorities may be at a point in time. Key results that can be clearly identified are particularly useful to communicate effectively to various stakeholders which typically come from many cultures, backgrounds, and geographies.

Different phases of evolution will require different skills and abilities of a team. For example, the skills and team required to launch a new institution in a particular location may be different than what is required to lead an institution with a 100-year history.

Finally, the team will need appropriate resources.

In terms of specific items such as buildings and spaces, with the right objectives, team and resources, the team will be able to address specific items.

Ecolint embraces diversity and honours the unique voice and personal experience of all members of the community. What do you think of this statement in terms of your experience as a member of the community? In your opinion what should be the role of the Governing Board in strengthening inclusion of diversity in the Foundation?

Ecolint is the school my wife and I sought out for our four children because of its diversity and inclusivity. My family is multi-racial and neurodiverse. For example, I am Irish American and my wife is Indian. Our four children are ethnically mixed and have different academic, social, and emotional profiles. We believe that Ecolint can be a diverse and inclusive community where all children can learn, grow, and feel valued.

The role of the governing board in strengthening inclusion of diversity in the Foundation should be to: 
- Set appropriate objectives and key results for diversity.
- Approve relevant policies and procedures. 
- Operate as a Governing Board in a manner that reflects the diversity that we aspire to achieve for the Foundation as a whole.
 

Are you aware of the financial information related to the Foundation? While efforts have been made, what else can be done in your opinion, to make the Foundation more sustainable in the long term continuing to ensure affordable fee structures while providing qualitative inclusive education in an effort to make global citizens and optimum capital development efforts?

I am aware of the publicly available financial information related to the foundation. I look at this issue through several perspectives that reflect some prior professional experiences.

First, as the former chief financial officer of an airline, I think about the load factor which is a measure of how many seats on an airplane are flying paying passengers and the average hours per day airplanes are flying. It may be useful to analyze Ecolint’s load factor and asset utilization considering nights, weekends and holidays.

Second, when I was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School I was part of a team tasked with identifying assets that could generate revenue. I wonder if there are any Ecolint assets that could generate additional revenue streams.

Third, as the founder of an education technology company, I worked with a UK university to replace paper assessments with digital assessments which reduced cost, improved sustainability and saved faculty marking time. There may be opportunities to reduce cost with technology.

Fourth, as a consultant working on a strategic sourcing project that reduced procurement spending by over 10%, I think about the opportunity to leverage Ecolint’s supplier spending volume across the three campuses to benefit from lower supply costs.

Finally, as a banker, CFO and entrepreneur I have been involved with over 50 financings worth billions of dollars. There may be many creative ways to finance progress towards Ecolint’s educational mission.
 

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