About Sesameed
Welcome
Welcome to Sesameed Education!
We are a group of boarding school lovers who enjoy spending our careers promoting boarding education to all corners of the world. Whether it is in organizing boarding school fairs, linking families to boarding school visits and webinars, or interviewing the movers and shakers of the boarding school world, we take delight in bringing boarding education one step closer to the communities.
Above all, we are professional consultants who help parents craft the education path for their child, identify the right boarding schools that provide the best fit, and perhaps most pertinent of all, prepare their child with the necessary skills, perspectives, and character depth to get in and thrive. Boarding will open up and turbo-charge your child to a whole new life of possibilities.
Come and share with us your educational vision for your child, and put our years of experience to your good use.
Daniel Szeto | Founder & Head
Our Story
Sesameed’s story can be traced back to our Founder Daniel Szeto’s first entrance into the education field when he cofounded Foundation Programs in 2001 in Hong Kong. In the form of an academic enrichment summer program in Shanghai, Foundation Programs opened the door for high-achieving high school students from the West to immerse in China for 4-6 weeks and learn about the country’s social, economic, political, and cultural landscapes.
Over the next 8 years, Foundation Programs continued to grow and eventually also expanded to India. As the Program Director, Daniel visited hundreds of top schools globally each year to recruit the best candidates for this selective program. During the process, Daniel built meaningful connections with the schools, their faculty, and most importantly, their students.
In 2009, the Global Financial Crisis put a halt on spending among many Western families. Daniel pivoted into the field of admission consulting for students aiming for top overseas boarding schools and universities and relaunched the business as Foundation Global Education (“Foundation”).
Over the next 14 years, under Daniel’s leadership, Foundation extended out of its Hong Kong base into Greater China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. During this time, Foundation went from serving just a handful of students to over 200 families each year, making it the largest non-mainland-based boarding school consultancy in China.
In 2023, Daniel stepped down from his headship at Foundation to start up a new education venture, Sesameed Education, focused on spreading the good news of boarding education to families in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Our Mission
For Our Next Generation
At Sesameed, we are driven by one unifying purpose: guiding our next generation toward the best possible education opportunities. And from our past 22 years of experience with the elite education world, we simply do not see any type of education establishment that can systematically deliver a more holistic and wholesome development to our teenagers for life success than boarding schools.
We accomplish our mission in a three-step process:
EDUCATE
Educate parents and students about the
transformative power of boarding education
MATCH
Identify schools that best match each student’s
interests and developmental needs
PREPARE
Mentor and train our students toward
a successful application outcome
Our Values
Our students’ long term success is at the heart of everything we do.
We are very aware of the university objectives that many parents nowadays have for their children. When we place your child into his/her boarding school, we have in mind not only where s/he will be 4 years down the road, but also where s/he will be 14 and 24 years down the road. At Sesameed, we mentor and train your child to develop the necessary life skills and character depth for life success.
We believe the journey carries just as much meaning as the destination.
We design our training curriculum not only with application success but also your child’s personal growth in mind. It’s not enough to raise test scores and pick up activities; your child must also demonstrate true ownership, drive, and resilience. It’s not about window dressing with achievements; it’s about truly building inner strengths and developing independence. We are there to orchestrate that genuine change.
We believe in cultivating a strong moral foundation for our students.
From the very start, we teach our students the importance of doing what is right, just, and fair. We teach them to value what is true and good. The end does not justify the means. The process reveals what we are, and what we are determines what we will become. Don’t cut corners; instead, focus on getting the fundamentals right, and the result will take care of itself. Keep adding value to others, and the world will take care of you.
We believe in the transformative power of the right environment.
Teenagers are shaped not by their books but by the people around them. Give them the right type of peer influence and adult mentorship 24/7, and they will soar like eagles. Boarding schools perform exactly that pivotal role. Yet, each boarding school does it slightly differently in line with its mission, culture, and resources. Our expertise is in identifying that best match between what the school offers and what your child needs.
We believe in the strategic rewards from purposeful education planning.
Success in life is rarely random. We can reap the harvest only because someone has sown the seeds. While no one can control fate, rewards go to those who are ready for it. Our child’s life is too precious to just let chance takes the wheel. Be purposeful. Do your homework. Choose the school carefully. Plan for success. We are here to help.
Our students’ long term success is at the heart of everything we do.
We put our students’ interests first before anything else. We are driven by a duty to match our students to a school that is the best fit for them, so that they can achieve ultimate life success. We are not as concerned with getting into the most renowned schools as we are with how our students will benefit from enrolling in that school. Our priority is to guide our students through the doors that will lead them to the best possible education channels, for them to walk the path to a bright and successful future.
We believe the journey carries just as much meaning as the destination.
We design our training curriculum not only with application success, but also your child’s personal growth, in mind. It’s not enough to raise test scores and pick up activities; your child must also demonstrate true ownership, drive, and resilience. It’s not about window dressing with achievements; it’s everything about truly building inner strengths and developing independence. And we are there to orchestrate that genuine change.
We believe in cultivating a strong moral foundation for our students.
From the very start, we teach our students the importance of doing what is right, just, and fair. Value what is true and good. The end does not justify the means. The process reveals what we are, and what we are determines what we will become. Don’t cut corners; instead, focus on getting the fundamentals right, and the result will take care of itself. Keep adding value to others, and the world will take care of you.
We believe in the transformative power of the right environment.
Teenagers are shaped not by their books but by the people around them. Give them the right type of peer influence and adult mentorship 24×7, and they will soar like eagles. Boarding schools perform exactly that pivotal role. Yet, each boarding school does it slightly differently in line with its mission, culture, and resources. Our expertise is in identifying that best match between what the school offers and what your child needs.
Though the application requirements [hyperlink] are quite straightforward and fairly standard across schools, this is where the similarities end. Every boarding school is a unique community and looks for slightly different qualities from its incoming members, and you will soon hear stories from friends where their child was admitted by one school but denied by another seemingly “same-level” school.
Our Model
We are 100% independent.
We are not bound by any agreement with any schools or universities to market their services nor do we receive any financial incentives from any educational institution when we place a student there. We are firm believers in holistic student development through boarding education, but we are not associated with any of them. We represent the interests of our families and, most importantly, our students.
We do not claim to have endorsement from
any schools and universities.
The fact that some schools have shared their admission event schedules on our website and/or participated in our boarding education interviews is in no way to be misconstrued as an implicit or explicit endorsement from these schools and universities.
Families can always reach out to the
boarding schools directly.
While we appreciate the opportunity to discuss boarding education with our families, parents don’t have to go through us to reach out to any boarding school and universities. What we provide on our website is a free convenient sign-up service for the communities to facilitate broader participation in different boarding education events in Asia.
Leadership Team
Daniel Szeto
Founder & Head
Cornell University, Bachelor of Science & Master of Engineering in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering
Daniel Szeto is the Founder and Head of Sesameed Education. Prior to Sesameed, he was the Founder & Head of Foundation Global Education, a leading education consultancy specializing in boarding school and university admission consulting in Greater China. Throughout his 22-year tenure, he guided over 1,000 families on their journeys to find the best overseas boarding schools and universities for their children’s needs.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Daniel first came in contact with boarding education when his parents sent him to The Webb Schools, an independent senior boarding school in California. He went on to complete his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in engineering from Cornell University before working in management consulting and financial services in Asia for a decade. In 2001, inspired by his boarding school experiences, Daniel cofounded Foundation Programs, which later pivoted into Foundation Global Education in 2009. (See Our Story.) Over the following 14 years, Daniel led Foundation to become the largest non-mainland-based boarding school consultancy in China. In 2023, Daniel stepped down at Foundation to start up Sesameed.
Daniel has sent three of his children to boarding schools. Hannah began her Year 7 at Benenden School (England) and completed her final three years of high school at King’s Academy (Jordan). Gabriel began his Year 5 at Ludgrove School (England) and moved on to Winchester College (England) for his senior school. Faith is currently attending Benenden and has been there since Year 7. Daniel himself is currently serving as a trustee at King’s Academy.
Daniel resides in Singapore but travels frequently to boarding schools worldwide.
Rae Kuang
Director
UC Berkeley, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Rae Kuang is the Director of Sesameed Education. Prior to Sesameed, she was Director of Foundation Global Education, a leading education consultancy specializing in boarding school and university admission consulting in Greater China.
Born and raised in mainland China, Rae later moved to the United States with her family and attended a public high school in San Francisco. She graduated with academic honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Rae joined Foundation in 2009 as part of its founding team. Throughout her 14-year tenure, she expanded Foundation out of its Hong Kong base into mainland China, growing its client size from a handful to 200+ families a year. Rae was responsible for establishing the policies and protocols underlying all operations, allowing the infrastructure to be scalable alongside the business during its early growth years. Rae was in charge of all strategic hiring at Foundation and oversaw its legal and compliance matters. She handled all partner relations and established Foundation’s social media presence.
Over the years, Rae has visited more than 200 boarding schools across the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland and has been the architect behind Foundation’s school relations engine. She taught many of the students during Foundation’s early years and led many Asian families on campus tours worldwide. In 2023, Rae followed Daniel in his vision to set up a new education institution focused on bringing the good news of boarding education to all corners of Asia. At Sesameed, Rae is in charge of family outreach and student training.
Rae resides in Singapore.
Rae Kuang is the Director of Sesameed Education. Prior to Sesameed, she was Director of Foundation Global Education, a leading education consultancy specializing in boarding school and university admission consulting in Greater China.
Born and raised in mainland China, Rae later moved to the United States with her family and attended a public high school in San Francisco. She graduated with academic honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Rae joined Foundation in 2009 as part of its founding team. Throughout her 14-year tenure, she expanded Foundation out of its Hong Kong base into mainland China, growing its client size from a handful to 200+ families a year. Rae was responsible for establishing the policies and protocols underlying all operations, allowing the infrastructure to be scalable alongside the business during its early growth years. Rae was in charge of all strategic hiring at Foundation and oversaw its legal and compliance matters. She handled all partner relations and established Foundation’s social media presence.
Over the years, Rae has visited more than 200 boarding schools across the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland and has been the architect behind Foundation’s school relations engine. She taught many of the students during Foundation’s early years and led many Asian families on campus tours worldwide. In 2023, Rae followed Daniel in his vision to set up a new education institution focused on bringing the good news of boarding education to all corners of Asia. At Sesameed, Rae is in charge of family outreach and student training.
Rae resides in Singapore.
Rae Kuang
Director
UC Berkeley, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Hear stories from our community
Read about experiences we've created
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s
Wonder if boarding education is right for your child?
Wonder if your child is ready for boarding education?
Wonder which boarding school is the best fit?