Our people · Leadership & consulting team
You will always know who is working on your file.
Four people run this firm. Each engagement has one lead consultant, named to you at the first meeting, who stays on the file from the opening call to the agency’s decision.
We stay small on purpose. A team this size cannot take on work it doesn’t genuinely understand, so we don’t.
Leadership
The people accountable for the work.
Three officers decide what AEC takes on, how it’s staffed, and what standard of evidence has to be met before anything reaches an agency.
Dr. Ramin Golbaghi
Ph.D. Business Leadership · MBA, Business Analytics · B.S. Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Before founding AEC, Dr. Golbaghi built and ran Career College, a private postsecondary institution in Southern California. As its owner, he personally obtained state authorization, institutional accreditation, Title IV certification, VA education benefits approval, workforce training eligibility, and SEVP certification. Running the school meant carrying every regulatory responsibility himself, and that experience still shapes how he leads engagements today.
You have to know whether the evidence is complete, whether the staff understands the policy, and whether the institution can do in practice what it promises on paper.
He teaches at MBA level in strategic planning, enterprise risk management and project management. A new program, a new location or a new approval is rarely just a compliance question. He pushes clients to weigh mission, financial stability and regulatory exposure together before committing.
He founded the Accelerated Mentorship Program for professionals building careers in risk and project management.
Approvals obtained
- State authorization
- Institutional accreditation
- Title IV certification
- VA education benefits
- Workforce training eligibility
- SEVP certification
- Curriculum Development
Sam Askari
M.S. Business Economics
Sam has taken schools from formation through full accreditation. He has supported institutions through site visits and self-evaluation report submissions, enough of them to know how a reviewer reads a file.
The application rarely fails on writing. It fails when the evidence someone promised turns out not to exist yet.
He runs AEC’s engagements day to day: what’s in scope, in what order, who’s assigned, and whether an institution is genuinely ready to submit or should wait a cycle. That judgment call saves clients the most time.
His background in business economics shapes AEC’s risk work too. Before an institution adds a location, a program or a new approval, he helps them understand what’s actually at stake financially, before the commitment is made.
He currently serves on the boards of several private companies and non-profit organizations.
Dr. Barbara Wilson
Medical degree, 1983 · Neurosurgery residency · Pathology, City of Hope (1993–1996)
Dr. Wilson trained as a physician: a medical degree in 1983, a neurosurgery residency, then several years in a hospital surgery department until 1992. She relocated to the United States in 1993 and spent the following three years in the pathology department at City of Hope before moving into education full time.
A curriculum reads differently to someone who has stood in the room where the procedure actually happens.
She has since built and led diagnostic medical sonography programs at multiple institutions. At AEC she leads health sciences curriculum design and CME accreditation work under ACCME standards. Her clinical training means she reads allied health curricula the way a subject-matter reviewer does: checking whether the coursework and clinical hours actually hold up, not just whether the paperwork is complete.
Reza Rostami
B.S. Computer Science
Reviewers now expect institutions to produce records on demand. Reza works on the part of the file most consultants skip: whether the underlying systems can actually retrieve that evidence, consistently and securely.
A policy that cannot be pulled up in front of a reviewer within a minute is, for review purposes, a policy that does not exist.
He came up through software development, holding roles as developer, programmer and IT manager, and built AEC’s own technical infrastructure. He also placed first in a national Computer Olympiad.
His current focus is access control, data integrity and network security. These are now standard items in an institutional capacity review, not optional extras.
Beyond the core team
Specialists brought in when the standards call for them.
Some engagements need expertise our four leads don’t personally carry: organizational structure, enrollment practice, leadership transitions. For that, we bring in the right specialist for the project, introduced to you by name before they touch your file.
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Eric Hauser
Business strategy & organizational developmentBrought in when a standard about administrative capacity turns out to be a question about how the organization itself is structured.
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Cindy Ngu
Enrollment marketing & growth strategyBrought in when catalog language, advertising claims or enrollment agreements need to agree with each other before growth does.
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Tracee Spates
Leadership developmentBrought in to prepare administrators and program leads for the interviews a site visit team actually conducts.
This isn’t the complete list. If your engagement needs someone specific, we’ll tell you who and why before they’re on your file.
How we work
One lead, the right specialist, no handover.
- A lead consultant is assigned matched to your accreditor, your program mix, and what you’re up against right now. That person is your point of contact for the whole engagement.
- Specialists join where the standards require it curriculum, systems, governance, enrollment. Brought in for a reason, not by default.
- The same people finish the work through the response, the visit, and whatever follows the agency’s decision.
If we can’t staff your engagement with someone who genuinely knows the standards involved, we say so at the first call.
Next step
Speak with a consultant, not a call center.
The introductory meeting is with someone who would actually work on your file. Bring your current status, your accreditor, and your deadline. You’ll leave knowing exactly where you stand.
Professional disclaimer. Accreditation Expert Consulting provides educational, accreditation and regulatory consulting services. AEC does not accredit, authorize, certify or approve anything. Those decisions belong to the applicable government agencies, accrediting organizations and regulators. Consulting services do not guarantee approval or accreditation. Degrees, licenses, prior positions and agency names on this site belong to the individuals named and identify their experience only. They are not an endorsement by, or affiliation with, any organization named.
