BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Gary Sonora Surdam

Gary Sonora Surdam is an educator, entrepreneur, businessman and visionary whose unique career experience has made him one of America's top leaders in educational consulting.

After 13 years of classroom teaching experience, and having dealt first-hand with obstacles to learning and literacy, he realized that simply "following the lesson plan" wasn't enough to create a spirit of lifelong learning. Surdam developed a vision of empowering parents, teachers and school administrators to help children succeed in school and life. He called his vision "Healthy Gente".

With the support of his wife, Surdam went from teacher to entrepreneur, working out of his home to establish Healthy Gente as a company in 1995. Healthy Gente filled a genuine need in education, and soon became so successful that Surdam decided his small company would benefit from the insight and direction of a larger educational company. Surdam sold Healthy Gente to the Tribune in 1999, under its educational division, The Wright Group. Healthy Gente filled a niche by adding substance to The Wright Group's offerings for its Professional Development and Family Literacy market. Surdam continued to provide input as Director of Business. When the Tribune sold The Wright Group to McGraw Hill in September of 2000, Surdam saw Healthy Gente's function changing under a different corporate structure and philosophy. In 2001, he reclaimed his vision by purchasing Healthy Gente back from McGraw Hill and incorporating it as a division of Pacific Learning. Surdam took it a step further and on October 1st, 2002 he bought out Healthy Gente from Pacific Learning, and in the first month contracted 85% of business it had done 2001 under Pacific Learning under its new name - Bright Start Educational Consultants.

Going full circle, Bright Start Educational Consultants continued Surdam's original vision of creating innovative hands-on classroom-friendly training for first-year teachers and workshops for parents that demonstrate the most effective techniques for promoting lifelong learning, literacy and family communication. Bright Start Educational Consultants also pioneered dynamic leadership retreats for school administrators, helping these leaders foster an atmosphere of success in their schools and among their teaching staff.

Surdam appeared on the KTLA Channel 5 television show "Making It." The show, which profiles up-and-coming minority businesspeople, praised Surdam's humanistic approach to business, citing this "heart" for education as a significant part of Bright Start Educational Consultants's success.

Research has proven the impact of Surdam's educational innovations. Since 1996, the Pomona Unified School District, California, has utilized Surdam's first-year teacher training program. The District now reports an 80 percent retention rate for the 500 teachers who have received this training, compared with the California state average of only 50 percent new-teacher retention. Not only are Bright Start Educational Consultants-trained teachers staying in their jobs--they're also better teachers. Independent research by one of California's foremost educational consultants has found that school principals believe graduates of the new-teacher training program are more competent in the areas of literacy techniques, classroom management and quality teaching than teachers who have not received Bright Start Educational Consultants training.

Surdam's article "Changing Your Child's Behavior Through the Kaizen Process" was published in Brooklyn Family with a readership of 3 million. His book entitled: "The Heart of the Business" - will be published in the Fall 2004 documents the journey of Bright Start Educational Consultants and Surdam's open and honest stories of developing his learning skills and the travels of making his passion for bringing educational excellence to schools and community a reality. Surdam was the keynote speaker on "Family Life & Literacy" at the New York Family Literacy Even Start Downstate Regional Conference and the Oregon Association of Bilingual Education and will be the keynote speaker at the Colorado Council International Reading Association in 2003. Bright Start Educational Consultants is developing a National Awards Show - Touching the Heart Award - which celebrates and spotlights those unsung heroes - TEACHERS!

Gary Sonora Surdam's innovations have united business and education to make academic success a reality for students, teachers and administrators throughout the nation. He continues to share this vision, providing access to the heart of education and helping other people reach their potential in academics and in life.

Surdam earned a Liberal Studies degree from California State University at Long Beach, with majors in English and Elementary Education. Upon obtaining his teaching credential from the State of California in 1988, he proved his potential to the Los Angeles Unified School District, receiving a rarely given, highly prized endorsement from both his school's principal and the School District to the prestigious Administrative Academy at California State University, Los Angeles. Following his post-graduate work in Education at San Diego University, Surdam went on to a distinguished teaching career.