My Story
A cairn is a symbolic pile of stones. Often they represent important events or markers in a journey. Bouwer Consulting is that- a cairn, a marker in my journey.
Throughout my career in international education and NGO work, I’ve noticed a common challenge: a disconnect between what’s taught in the classroom and what happens in the real world. This disconnect at times drives misunderstandings and a false belief that skills, talents, and ideas are not transferable between industries.
Working on both sides of the table as both an educator and in consulting roles, I began to see that I was able to help begin to build bridges. I thrive on helping individuals and organizations connect ideas and apply lessons learned in meaningful ways.
I believe that effective consulting is rooted in collaboration. By viewing our relationship as a partnership, I can align my expertise with your unique needs, creating a shared commitment to success. My focus is on areas that drive impact—whether it’s strategic planning to clarify your vision, refining organizational structures to optimize efficiency, or developing programs that enhance your offerings.
Through this partnership approach, I am able to leverage my expertise to strengthen your organization in a sustainable way.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
Our Vision
To collaboratively build capacity with individuals and organizations, while strengthening their talents.
Our Mission
At Bouwer Consulting, we're passionate about helping individuals, organizations, and leaders. We offer a personalized, boutique approach to consulting, working collaboratively to build strengths, support growth, and achieve the goals you set.
Our Values
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Relationships
Relationships are at the center of who we are. We believe that relationships are building community connections through open communication, seeking to understand one another, and providing individual support.
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Passion
Passion is what drives us to facilitate ideas, conversations, and projects with individuals and teams who want to be makers of change.
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Joy
Joy comes out of being in community. Joy is people feeling valued, celebrating growth, and approaching different situations with a sprinkle of humor.
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Professionalism
We take our work seriously. Professionalism is being present, responsive, flexible, and adaptive to the needs of others.
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Commitment
We are committed to helping everyone be successful. Commitment is assuming positive intent, meeting needs by building strengths, fostering growth through collaboration, and being solution focused.
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Giving Back
We believe that we all have the ability to make a difference in our communities. Giving back is intentionally supporting communities and their needs using sustainable means.
Meet Us
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Listening is one of Sarah’s biggest strengths. Invested in people, companies, or organizations she is working with, she seeks to understand the people, culture, and the challenges they may be facing. With a career in international education and development for 20+ years, Sarah uses her strengths to help develop strategic planning and program development for various clients from various sectors. Her breadth of experience puts her in a unique position to support institutions and organizations to dig deep into their values, mission, and vision to project manage, create a strategic plan, or consult on issues they may be facing. As a systems thinker, she is able to help with the long term goals and vision, then work backward and articulate the detailed view.
Sarah’s broad skill set and experience helps her assess any situation and figure out how she can assist. Using her background in project planning and program/ curriculum development she is able to see all aspects of strategy, whether it’s community outreach, developing learning experiences and training, or identifying partnerships with various stakeholders. She brings over 20 years of experience in strategy, management, curriculum design, and program development to every project.
Sarah has been the recipient of several awards such as the Miami-Dade County Social Studies Teacher of the Year, Florida Council for Social Studies Teacher of the Year, Florida Excellence in Teaching, and SAMR Technology Education Award. Sarah has a BS in Elementary Education, an MA in dual concentrations: Conflict & International Development and Culture & Society and her IB Certificate in Teaching and Learning. She is also featured as a guest author (chapter 5) in the book Portraits of Collaboration: Educators Working Together to Support Multilingual Learners published by Seidlitze.
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A former newspaper journalist turned strategic marketing communications leader, Marco brings his strengths of strategic communication, brand storytelling, and stakeholder engagement skills honed over 20+ years across South Africa, the US, Vietnam, and China. He's passionate about supporting mission-driven organizations to build authentic brand narratives that speak to organizational strengths and brand positioning - whether that's by aligning messaging across divisions, developing impactful community engagement, or increased brand awareness.
Previously, he served in leadership roles at prestigious global marketing & advertising agencies such as GTB (WPP Group) and Golin PR (IPG Group), serving clients in the automotive, FMCG, service industries, and working with Fortune 500 clients across multiple markets in Asia. This big-agency experience allows him to bring strategic thinking to nonprofits, SMEs and international schools.
He holds a China MBA from the highly ranked Shanghai Jiaotong University, which focuses on Doing Business in China, as well as a US MBA in Business & Entrepreneurship, and a South African BA in Mass Communication & Public Relations. He has traveled extensively through Asia, giving him a deep appreciation for how different cultures shape successful business relationships. This combination of cross-cultural expertise, strategic thinking, and the ability to develop messaging that resonates across diverse communities, makes Marco a valuable partner to clients.
Work With Us
With over 20 years of industry experience, Bouwer Consulting has worked across a variety of sectors including non-profit, education, small business development, and marketing. Recognizing that collaboration is the best way to move forward, Bouwer Consulting seeks to partner with their clients in helping create viable solutions that meet individual needs.