Georgia Bennett

FIGT PROFESSIONAL PROFILE: RECOGNIZING THOSE WHO SERVE
JULY 2006 GEORGIA C.BENNETT
President,
Bennett Educational Resources, Inc.
West Chester, PA
Contact Information
Georgia Bennett, President
Bennett Educational Resources, Inc.
310 North High St.
West Chester, PA
gbennet@schoolplacement.com

Like many others profiled here, Georgia Bennett's career - serving internationally mobile families - began by simply being in the right place at exactly the right time. A former admission director for a New Hampshire prep school, Georgia moved to Philadelphia and accepted, and joined, a private educational institute there. Now 15 years later, the company that bears her name has assisted hundreds of American families bound for foreign shores and an equal or greater number of international expatriates new to the American educational system.

Bennett Educational Resources' (BER) consultants advise families on school and college placement worldwide and support many corporate-sponsored expatriates in making informed school-choice decisions. BER also advises corporations on educational-funding policy and have even helped develop new corporate-backed schools in remote locations.

Clearly, Georgia Bennett does not do all this work by herself. BER's cadre of outstanding consultants includes a US State Department veteran counselors and a senior executive from the Princeton, New Jersey-based International Schools Service. There are not many school-related challenges BER has not faced before, but it is an organization which is still learning.

All BER affiliated consultants are professional educators; all attend company-hosted workshops, are required to visit a school a month, and also contribute to a training manual that is constantly being updated and refined. Their meticulous preparation and constant quality control have won BER globally recognized clients such as ExxonMobil, AstraZeneca, and Goldman Sachs & Company

Despite its impressive client list, BER is a business that has thrived because they deliver personalized service one family at a time. Georgia Bennett cites one example: "Education issues can sometimes be a major stumbling block for a relocating family. Recently, we assisted a family, coming from Switzerland to the UK, whose child was autistic. As we are well-versed in special needs and have a psychologist on our staff, we were able to create the appropriate testing for the child, and then secure a space for the child in an appropriate school. Few can match this level of service to internationally-mobile families with school-age children."

When asked about her personal philosophy for assisting families, Georgia Bennett's response is one that stands the test of time: "I believe that a professional, caring, and effective school placement cannot be made unless - and until - each student's uniqueness is identified."

Bennett concludes that coupling this intimate knowledge of each child with an equally thorough understanding of schools around the world has contributed significantly to BER's long-lasting success. The formula seems simple: know your students and know the schools to recommend.

With so many client families to serve, and so many schools to recommend, it is a task that is much easier said than done. And it all starts with listening. Georgia Bennett describes BER's approach this way; "Take the time to listen to even the smallest thing about a transferee�s family. It is amazing to me how much information spills out when one isn't looking. Our transferees thank us for listening. Frankly, that is what we do best. Anyone can come up with a list of schools."

Serving savvy consumers of educational services can be challenging. As Georgia Bennett explains, the expectations families have for their children can be daunting. "The biggest challenge we face is to channel families into looking at options that are clearly appropriate for their children," she adds.

Providing a professional service can be rewarding in its own right. Georgia Bennett and her BER consultants are, above all, people-focused facilitators for families facing the challenges and stresses of crossing international boarders. These individual families notice. As Georgia says, "We love the e-mails and phone calls from families who let us know that our advice saved 'the day'. The children with special needs are the most compelling and, when a family lets us know that their special needs child is happy and thriving in their new school, it's as if we're handed a gift."