Beyond the Brochure
What universities must understand about the students they are losing.
Davis•Taylor
Advisory
Counsel. Precision. Legacy.
Bespoke strategic counsel for organizations and institutions navigating complex decisions.
i.Who We Are
Counsel.
Counsel.
Precision.
Legacy.
Davis • Taylor Advisory delivers bespoke strategic counsel to organizations and institutions navigating complex decisions.
ii.Mission
To provide the clarity and confidence our clients need to make decisions that endure.
iii.Values
- Discretion above all
- Precision in every recommendation
- Legacy-oriented thinking
- Partnership, not transaction
iv.Our Positioning
Rooted in education.
Built for complex organizations.
Supporting leaders through moments of change, growth, complexity, and strategic consequence.
Our foundation is education — a sector where mission, performance, stakeholder trust, and long-term outcomes are inseparable. That experience shapes how we advise: with discipline, discretion, and a clear understanding of how institutions make decisions, build credibility, and sustain progress over time.
While education remains a core area of expertise, our work extends to knowledge-driven, mission-led, government, and performance-oriented organizations across sectors.
We advise clients whose challenges require more than generic strategy — they require judgment, structure, evidence, and trust. We help organizations clarify direction, strengthen performance, communicate with authority, and make decisions that endure.
v.Our Focus
Strategy, performance, and trust for organizations that shape people, systems, and outcomes.
Where knowledge, credibility, and institutional performance matter.
Our counsel is especially relevant to clients operating in complex stakeholder environments — where decisions must satisfy leadership, boards, investors, funders, communities, employees, partners, regulators, public-sector stakeholders, and broader public audiences.
We bring together expertise in strategy, organizational performance, research, evaluation, communications, and change advisory. Our work is not limited by industry category; it is defined by the nature of the challenge.
Clients who need clarity in complexity, precision in execution, and advice that stands up to scrutiny.
vi.Our Approach
Counsel. Precision. Legacy.
Three principles guide how we advise, how we think, and what we optimize for.
i
Counsel
Not strategy. Counsel — a relationship, earned through trust and experience.
Counsel is relational, discreet, and earned through experience. We help leaders think clearly, evaluate trade-offs, and make decisions with confidence.
ii
Precision
Not innovation. Precision — rare, earned, and specific to firms that genuinely know what they are doing.
We bring structure, evidence, and disciplined thinking to strategic and organizational challenges. Our work is clear, practical, and focused on what matters most.
iii
Legacy
Not impact. Legacy — decisions that hold up ten years later, not just in the next quarterly review.
We advise for durability — decisions, strategies, systems, and messages that can withstand scrutiny and continue to serve the organization beyond the immediate moment.
vii.How We Help
Advisory practices for strategic, organizational, and reputational decisions.
I.
Strategy & Direction
Strategic planning, growth strategy, institutional positioning, market entry, program strategy, and executive decision support. We help leaders define direction, evaluate options, prioritize initiatives, and make decisions of long-term consequence.
II.
Organizational Performance
Leadership alignment, organizational design, change management, performance improvement, and transformation planning — for organizations seeking stronger alignment, clearer operating models, and more disciplined execution.
III.
Research, Evaluation & Insight
Research frameworks, evaluations, and knowledge systems that turn evidence into practical insight. Rigorous, structured, and built to inform decisions — not simply produce reports.
IV.
Positioning & Strategic Communications
Institutional narratives, stakeholder messaging, executive communications, brand positioning, reputation-sensitive communications, and engagement strategy. Communicating with clarity, credibility, and authority.
V.
Change & Institutional Advisory
Counsel for leaders navigating transition, expansion, reform, restructuring, reputational pressure, or stakeholder complexity. Bringing structure to ambiguous situations and moving organizations from uncertainty to disciplined action.
viii.Core Sector Depth
Education
remains our
foundation.
A core domain — not a market category, but an institutional environment.
We understand the education sector as an institutional environment shaped by mission, governance, pedagogy, evidence, public trust, and long-term human outcomes.
Our experience spans K–12, higher education, EdTech, learning companies, foundations, research organizations, workforce development, education policy, and adjacent learning ecosystems.
This sector depth gives the firm a distinctive advisory lens: we understand how organizations perform when outcomes are complex, stakeholders are diverse, and credibility must be earned over time.
That same lens is valuable beyond education — for organizations whose work depends on knowledge, trust, transformation, and measurable performance.
ix.Who We Serve
Education-sector depth.
Cross-sector advisory capability.
A select portfolio of clients across education, knowledge, technology, philanthropy, government, public impact, and organizational performance.
01
Education Institutions
Schools, universities, colleges, systems, and academic organizations navigating reform, growth, enrollment pressure, academic strategy, leadership transition, stakeholder complexity, or institutional change.
02
EdTech, Learning & Workforce Companies
Digital learning platforms, education technology providers, training companies, workforce development organizations, and learning-focused businesses seeking clarity on positioning, adoption, growth, partnerships, or market direction.
03
Foundations, Nonprofits & Mission-Led Organizations
Philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, NGOs, and social impact institutions working on strategy, program design, evaluation, stakeholder engagement, funding narratives, or systems-level initiatives.
04
Government & Public-Sector Organizations
Government agencies, ministries, public-sector bodies, and publicly funded initiatives seeking support with strategy, institutional development, stakeholder engagement, research, evaluation, communications, or transformation.
05
Research, Policy & Public-Impact Organizations
Research institutes, think tanks, policy organizations, and evidence-driven teams seeking strategic clarity, knowledge frameworks, evaluation, or communications support.
06
Corporate & Professional Services Clients
Companies, advisory firms, and professional services organizations seeking support with organizational performance, strategic communications, stakeholder trust, knowledge systems, leadership alignment, or change initiatives.
07
Knowledge-Driven Organizations
Organizations across sectors whose value depends on expertise, insight, learning, credibility, and the ability to make informed decisions in complex environments.
x.Our Team
Counsel rooted in experience.
Precision earned in the field.
Two principals and a focused team, with practitioner depth across education, technology, and international markets. The most effective counsel comes from advisors who have led the institutions they now advise.
Ann W. Davis, Ed.D.
Managing Partner · COO / CFO
David W. Taylor, Ed.D.
Managing Partner · CEO
Zakaria Odeh
Head of Growth
Christina Ingram
Operations Manager · Director of Education Programs
xi.Training & Certification
Capability, passed on.
In partnership with accredited providers, the practice is developing third-party professional training and certification programs — delivered with the same rigor as our counsel.
In development — details to followi
Leadership & Institutional Development
Structured programs for leaders navigating change, reform, and organizational performance — grounded in the frameworks the firm advises on.
Program details forthcoming
ii
Certified Professional Credentials
Accredited, third-party certifications recognized across education and adjacent sectors, awarded with established certifying bodies.
Provider & curriculum to be confirmed
iii
Custom Institutional Cohorts
Training designed around a specific institution's mandate, stakeholders, and goals — delivered on-site or remotely for teams and leadership.
Scope on request
xii.Research & Insights
Evidence, not opinion.
Original white papers on the questions facing education leaders — enrollment, AI-native learners, and leadership in complexity. Rigorous, practitioner-grounded, and written to be acted on.
From iKids to AI Natives
The research that saw it coming. The framework to lead what's next.
Leading in Complexity
A professional-development framework for leaders at every level of the system.
xiii.Regional Reach
Global perspective with regional fluency.
Strategy does not travel unchanged across contexts; it must be adapted to local realities, institutional norms, cultural expectations, governance structures, and market conditions.
Americas
Institutional
& sector depth.
& sector depth.
Institutional strategy, organizational performance, education systems, foundations, research, technology, government, and professional services.
Europe & Middle East
Transformation
& engagement.
& engagement.
Education transformation, institutional development, strategic positioning, government and public-impact initiatives, organizational performance, stakeholder engagement, and regional growth.
Asia & APAC
Growth
& innovation.
& innovation.
Market expansion, learning innovation, education technology, institutional partnerships, organizational change, public-sector initiatives, and regional growth strategy.
xiv.How We Speak
Words with weight.
We speak with calm authority. Every word is considered. We do not overexplain. We speak plainly about complex things.
"We don't promise outcomes. We deliver the clarity to pursue them with confidence."
We Are
- Measured
- Direct
- Authoritative
- Considered
- Precise
- Discreet
We Are Not
- Casual
- Hyperbolic
- Jargon-heavy
- Sales-forward
- Loud
- Uncertain
Begin the Conversation
For organizations navigating change, performance, and strategic complexity.
If you are navigating transformation, growth, strategic positioning, stakeholder complexity, organizational performance challenges, or regional expansion — Davis • Taylor Advisory provides counsel built for the long term.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com
Our Team
Counsel rooted in experience.
Counsel rooted in experience.
Precision earned in the field.
Advisors who have led, implemented, and been accountable for outcomes — not studied them from a distance.
Back to homeOne firm.
Two principals.
A focused team.
The most effective counsel comes from advisors who have led the institutions they now advise. Between them, the principals bring more than 60 years across classroom teaching, school and district leadership, state education policy, global EdTech implementation, and executive advisory work.
Every member of the team brings direct, practitioner-level experience — from the American classroom to Gulf education modernization, from district technology governance to international EdTech deployment. Clients engage one firm and get all of it.
The Principals
Ann W. Davis, Ed.D.
Managing Partner · COO / CFO
Ann's career began in the classroom as a secondary mathematics teacher — a foundation that has shaped every role since. Over three decades she served as a high school principal, associate superintendent, university faculty member, and senior education strategist, supervising more than 56 doctoral dissertations and chairing the accreditation team for educational administration licensure. A scholar and published researcher, she built credibility from the ground up.
She was named NC Principal of the Year and NASSP National High School Principal of the Year, secured over $25M in research and education grants, and created the USDOE Framework for 1:1 technology deployment. Her advisory work extends well beyond domestic systems — including a U.S. project-manager role on large-scale AI-driven EdTech deployments in global markets and delegate study tours to Finland and Australia.
David W. Taylor, Ed.D.
Managing Partner · CEO
David's career spans K–12 classroom teaching, state education agency leadership, and senior executive roles at IBM and Pearson — where he led large professional-services organizations and oversaw tens of thousands of client engagements annually. A practitioner-scholar whose command of education systems, enterprise technology, AI-driven platforms, federal compliance, and workforce strategy is rare in the advisory space.
He originated the North Carolina Statewide Student Information System from the client side at NCDPI, then delivered the same initiative as Project Executive at IBM — serving 1.5 million learners across 117 districts. He led the SIS deployment for the Abu Dhabi Education Council across an emirate, directed an AI-powered tutoring platform, and built a multi-year federal data warehouse spanning five Pacific Island agencies.
Ann — Education
Ed.D., Educational Leadership
Ed.S., Educational Leadership
M.S.A., Educational Administration
B.S., Education
David — Education
Ed.D., Educational Leadership
Ed.S., Educational Leadership
M.A., Instructional Technology
B.S., Business Education
Ann — Recognition
NASSP National High School Principal of the Year
NC Principal of the Year, NCASA
Secured $25M+ in research & education grants
Created the USDOE Framework for 1:1 Deployment
Supervised 56+ doctoral dissertations
U.S. Delegate — Finland (NASSP) & Australia (ISTE)
David — Recognition
PMP — Project Management Professional
PM Master's Certificate — George Washington University
NC Statewide SIS — client-side origination & IBM delivery
ADEC eSIS deployment — Abu Dhabi schools
Taylor Leadership Development Framework
The Team
Zakaria Odeh
Head of Growth
Most advisory firms describe their international capability in general terms. Zak makes it specific. A native Arabic speaker with ten years across the GCC, Europe, and the United States, he pairs deep regional fluency with the analytical and communications discipline built across a career at organizations including APCO Worldwide and Google.
His work sits at the intersection of global affairs, strategic communications, and high-stakes intelligence research — translating geopolitical complexity into clear narratives that inform consequential decisions. His expertise in open-source intelligence, scenario forecasting, and communications planning gives the firm a market-intelligence capability well beyond conventional business development.
Christina Ingram
Operations Manager · Director of Education Programs
Christina has spent more than ten years building K–12 education programs that work — not in theory, but in the day-to-day reality of schools navigating educator shortages, turnover, and the challenge of matching the right teachers to the right environments. She began her career teaching in high-needs schools.
That classroom foundation anchored a six-year tenure at Framework, where she rose from Teacher Placement Project Manager — leading recruitment, placement, and retention across K–12 systems — to Program Director overseeing governance and multi-initiative coordination at scale. She is the operational backbone of every engagement, ensuring what the firm commits to is delivered as described.
Zak — Experience
Strategic Communications — APCO Worldwide
Strategic Communications — Google
10 years across GCC, Europe & the U.S.
Public affairs, technology & institutional sectors
Zak — Capabilities
Native Arabic fluency (MENA institutions)
Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
Geopolitical analysis & scenario forecasting
Data-driven analysis & reporting
Christina — Experience
Program Director — Framework (2025–present)
Teacher Placement PM — Framework (2020–2025)
Classroom teacher — high-needs schools
Education, UNC Greensboro
Christina — Focus
K–12 educator workforce development
Special Education & Elementary Education
Recruitment, onboarding & retention systems
Multi-phase program management & governance
Begin the Conversation
Work with advisors who have sat in your chair.
For organizations navigating change, performance, and strategic complexity, Davis • Taylor Advisory provides counsel built for the long term.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com
Training & Certification
Capability, passed on.
Professional training and certification, delivered with the same rigor as our counsel.
Back to homeIn development.
Built for the long term.
In partnership with accredited providers, the practice is developing a portfolio of third-party professional training and certification programs for institutions and the leaders who run them.
Our programs draw on the same practitioner depth that defines our advisory work — leadership earned in the field, frameworks tested at scale, and a discipline of measurable outcomes. Full curricula, providers, and accreditation details will be published as each track is finalized.
i
Leadership & Institutional Development
Structured programs for leaders navigating change, reform, and organizational performance — grounded in the frameworks the firm advises on.
Program details forthcoming
ii
Certified Professional Credentials
Accredited, third-party certifications recognized across education and adjacent sectors, awarded with established certifying bodies.
Provider & curriculum to be confirmed
iii
Custom Institutional Cohorts
Training designed around a specific institution's mandate, stakeholders, and goals — delivered on-site or remotely for teams and leadership.
Scope on request
What to Expect
Rigorous, practical, and built to credential.
A consistent standard runs through every program we develop — principles to be expanded as each track is finalized.
Principle 01
Practitioner-
led.
led.
Taught by advisors who have led the institutions and programs the curriculum addresses — not theorists.
Principle 02
Accredited
& recognized.
& recognized.
Delivered with established third-party certifying bodies, so credentials carry weight beyond the room.
Principle 03
Outcome-
measured.
measured.
Structured around demonstrable capability and evidence — the same discipline we bring to every engagement.
Register Interest
Be first to know when our programs open.
We're shaping the first cohorts now. Tell us a little about your institution and the capability you're building, and we'll be in touch as tracks are finalized.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com
Research & Insights · White Paper
Beyond the Brochure
What universities must understand about the students they are losing — and what it takes to win them back.
Research & InsightsSomething fundamental has shifted between universities and the students they seek to recruit. The glossy viewbook, the campus visit, the one-size-fits-all scholarship appeal are losing their hold on a generation formed by algorithms, accustomed to instant personalization, and fully able to tell authentic institutional character from marketing performance — even as the demographic and financial pressures on higher education intensify.
This white paper presents a qualitative research framework for understanding how Gen Z and the emerging AI-native cohort actually experience, perceive, and respond to the enrollment processes built to reach them. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model and Social Cognitive Theory, it is organized around three research questions — the use of AI in admissions, the balance of personalization and trust, and global experience as a yield tool — and a qualitative research design institutions can adapt to their own students, competitive context, and enrollment goals.
Inside the paper
- Students don't experience your enrollment funnel — they experience your institution. Every chatbot, email, and scholarship offer is an audition.
- Three research questions: AI in admissions, personalization & trust, and study abroad as a yield tool.
- Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory.
- A framework built for chief enrollment officers, provosts, and institutional leadership teams.
The full white paper — the complete framework, theoretical grounding, and qualitative research design.
Download PDF
Begin the Conversation
Turn the framework into enrollment results.
Davis • Taylor Advisory helps institutions diagnose the highest-leverage next investment given their enrollment position, competitive environment, and student population.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com
Research & Insights · White Paper
From iKids to AI Natives
The research that saw it coming. The framework to lead what's next.
Research & InsightsIn 2009, a qualitative study of seven high school teacher leaders documented the first full year of a 1:1 digital computing initiative and identified six core components of successful digital transformation. Fifteen years later, those components have proven prophetic.
This white paper revisits the original research through the lens of what we now know — an AI-saturated, globally connected learning landscape — and synthesizes current evidence into a grounded, actionable framework for the next phase of digital transformation in K–12 education. Access to devices was never the finish line; it was the starting gate. The real work lies in what happens pedagogically, professionally, and systemically once devices are in students' hands.
Inside the paper
- Since 2021, 90% of high schools and middle schools have adopted 1:1 device programs — access was the starting gate, not the finish line.
- The six enduring components: leadership, community, professional development, curriculum, infrastructure, and the change process.
- Generative AI as "the new 1:1" — and the three digital divides of access, use, and design.
- Sustainability after the $190B ESSER funding cliff, with equity as a non-negotiable foundation.
The full white paper — the six-component framework and recommendations for every level of leadership.
Download PDF
Begin the Conversation
Lead the next phase of digital transformation.
Davis • Taylor Advisory supports districts, state agencies, and education organizations navigating the next chapter of digital and AI-driven learning.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com
Research & Insights · White Paper
Leading in Complexity
A professional-development framework for superintendents, state and federal education leaders, and international ministers of education.
Research & InsightsEducation leaders remain among the most consequential and least-supported professionals in public life — even as superintendent turnover reaches historic highs, board conflicts intensify, and AI arrives in classrooms before most leaders were prepared to lead it.
Drawing on a qualitative study of twelve practicing superintendents, analyzed through Complexity Leadership Theory and updated through 2025, this white paper presents a three-tier, career-staged framework for developing the people at the top of the organizational chart — from district superintendents to national ministers of education. The challenge is shared. The framework is universal. The investment is necessary.
Inside the paper
- Three organizing themes: mentorship as the substrate, peer networking as an intervention, and operational experience as capability.
- A three-tier career continuum — early, mid, and late career — each with distinct development needs.
- Superintendent turnover reached 37.8% among the 500 largest U.S. districts in 2023–24.
- The AI-literacy gap: only 36% of educators report adequate training — and preparation for leaders is thinner still.
The full white paper — the complete framework, applied from district to ministry.
Download PDF
Begin the Conversation
Invest in the leaders on whom everything else depends.
Davis • Taylor Advisory partners with systems, associations, and ministries to design professional development that develops, supports, and sustains education leaders.
hello@davistayloradvisory.com