Why Brighter Futures Forum was created
International education is no longer a simple export model. It is a complex, interconnected system involving schools, agents, consultants, tutors and families across different countries.
Yet too often, strategy is discussed in isolation from practice.
Brighter Futures Forum exists to close that gap.
By bringing together those who are actively operating within this system every day, we create space for conversations that are realistic, evidence-informed and directly relevant to the decisions leaders are making now.
Connecting the people shaping international education in real time.
Meet the Founders
Brighter Futures Forum is co-founded by Susan Fang, Sarah Kershaw and Sarah Capewell.
Between us, we work every day with schools, agents and families across international markets.
We bring different expertise, but we share the same vantage point: we are in the work, not observing it from a distance.
3 expert founders
Working across schools, agents and families in international education.
50 Years of experience
Senior insight shaped by real operational and strategic work.
Biannual forums
Building a focused conversation across key sector themes.
One connected ecosystem
Bringing schools, agents, tutors and advisors into the same room.
Meet the Founders
Brighter Futures Forum is co-founded by Susan Fang, Sarah Kershaw and Sarah Capewell.
Between us, we work every day with schools, agents and families across international markets.
We bring different expertise, but we share the same vantage point: we are in the work, not observing it from a distance.
3 expert founders
Working across schools, agents and families in international education.
50 Years of experience
Senior insight shaped by real operational and strategic work.
Biannual forums
Building a focused conversation across key sector themes.
One connected ecosystem
Bringing schools, agents, tutors and advisors into the same room.
Susan Fang
Ecosystem Strategy and Professional Standards
Susan Fang is Founder of OxBridge Consulting and UKGuardianship and she works at the intersection of UK school advisory and international student mobility, with more than two decades of experience strengthening trust between families, schools and practitioners.
Her work focuses on the structures that sit behind successful cross-border education: professional standards, adviser training and practical systems that make pathways clearer and more accountable. She established an independent benchmark for ethical practice in advising on British primary and secondary education and has developed structured training programmes to support capable, responsible consultants.
Susan has also led the creation of a school-matching and decision-support platform used to improve rigour in school shortlisting and fit. Through her UK-based teams, she works closely with accredited partners and schools to ensure placements translate into well-supported student journeys.
As a co-founder of Brighter Futures Forum, Susan brings a clear systems perspective, grounded in daily work across the sector and built on integrity.
Sarah Kershaw
International Recruitment and Admissions Strategy
Sarah Kershaw is Founder and Lead Consultant at The September Consultancy, specialising in international marketing and student recruitment for schools.
With over 28 years of experience, she has held senior roles including Director of Admissions & Marketing and Director of External Relations before establishing her own consultancy. That background means she understands the pressures schools face from the inside, not just as an adviser, but as someone who has been responsible for enrolment, reputation and performance herself.
Sarah works closely with schools on global recruitment planning, admissions processes, market analysis and conversion strategy. She is known for combining clear commercial thinking with a strong understanding of the human side of admissions - how families decide, how trust is built and how teams operate under pressure.
Her clients range from school foundations and tuition groups to international agents and her work has supported sustainable growth across multiple markets.
As a co-founder of Brighter Futures Forum, Sarah brings operational clarity and practical insight to conversations about growth, ensuring strategy remains realistic and rooted in experience.
Sarah Capewell
Admissions Insight and Cross-Border Partnerships
Sarah Capewell is Founder of Aster Academy, an international education consultant and former Head of English who has built a premium advisory and mentoring business working with schools, agents and families across the UK and overseas.
Her work centres on admissions preparation, positioning and long-term partnership building. She works closely with international agents and high-achieving families, particularly in China and Europe, supporting school placements and helping institutions and advisers understand what families are truly looking for.
Through her daily work, Sarah sees first-hand how enrolment decisions are shaped - not just by academic outcomes, but by clarity of value, communication and trust. She has developed long-standing relationships with agents and school leaders, giving her practical insight into what strengthens credibility across borders and what quietly weakens it.
As a co-founder of Brighter Futures Forum, Sarah brings frontline experience to the conversation, helping ensure discussions reflect the realities families and partners are navigating every day.
Where BFF began
When the three of us first connected on LinkedIn, there was no grand plan, just genuine conversations about the brilliant, complicated and sometimes baffling world of international education.
What started as back-and-forth messages quickly became something more: the kind of conversations where you realise you're speaking the same language, with no need to explain the shorthand of shared experience.
From there, friendship grew naturally. Built on laughter, honesty and more than a few "me too" moments. And from friendship came real respect: for each other's knowledge, for the way we each work and for the heart we all bring to this field.
Between us, we had decades of experience, different perspectives that complement one another and a shared belief in what becomes possible when you bring the right people into the same room.
That's where the spark of collaboration began. Not because we set out to create something big, but because it felt obvious: together, we could do something none of us would have done alone.
In June 2025, we ran our first in-person day. It was a step into the unknown, an idea we believed in with no guarantees. What we saw confirmed what we already suspected: there's real power in bringing tutors, agents and schools together in an open, human way.
ATTEND OUR NEXT EVENT | MONDAY 8 JUNE 2026
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