Printable Biography of Jim Berk

A lifelong commitment to entertainment, education, social change and business leadership has guided Jim Berk throughout his career.  These passions have shaped his life from his early days as a teacher, magnet school founder and public high school principal, through his tenures as President and CEO of music, hospitality, leisure and career education companies, to his present post as CEO of Hollywood's leading provider of entertainment designed to inspire social change.

Jim joined Participant Media in 2006.  As Chief Executive Officer, Jim leads day to day operations and is responsible for overall strategy, expanding the company's reach beyond motion pictures into other forms of entertainment, extending the brand identity, enhancing social action and advocacy capabilities and overseeing all media investments and acquisitions.

Prior to Participant, Jim was Chairman and CEO of Gryphon Colleges Corporation, where he was responsible for the formation, platform acquisition and establishment of a private company operating for-profit post education schools.  Under his leadership, Gryphon acquired National Career Education, allowing for the establishment of platform services and branding, which lead to multiple add on acquisitions.
Before entering the private equity world, Jim served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Fairfield Communities, Inc., one of America’s largest vacation ownership companies.  He oversaw all aspects of the publicly traded company's operations including new resort development, sales and marketing, financial operations, consumer financing and resort management services as well as strategy, branding and mergers and acquisitions.  Fairfield achieved new earnings records every quarter during his tenure.

Prior to Fairfield, Jim was President and CEO of Hard Rock Cafe International, a global entertainment and leisure company in which Hard Rock Cafe is the core business, where he had the opportunity to blend his interests in entertainment, branding and business operations.  Jim was also Managing Director of the Hard Rock Division and a member of the Executive Committee of The Rank Group Plc of which Hard Rock Cafe is a wholly-owned subsidiary. Jim focused on food quality and increased service standards, refurbished the estate and modernized retail operations throughout the 104 Cafes in 29 countries.  During his tenure he led the creation of a music label, critically-acclaimed weekly music TV series, live music venues, hotels and the NBA City.  Jim also served as CEO of the Hard Rock Foundation, which provided education, social action grants and thousands of hours of employee volunteer services to local charities and schools. As with Fairfield, Hard Rock achieved new earnings records every quarter of his tenure.

Prior to joining Hard Rock, Jim was the founding Executive Director for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Foundation (NARAS).  At NARAS, he produced live concerts, festivals, television programs and records, and oversaw business and marketing initiatives including GRAMMY Records, GRAMMY Showcase and GRAMMY Festival, which established the non-profit, entertainment production company.

Jim enjoyed similar success as the youngest principal in the history of the 725-school Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), when he was appointed Principal of the Alexander Hamilton High Schools Complex in 1990.  During his tenure, he increased the funding base, attendance improved from 72 to 94 percent and state assessment scores moved from the 34th to 81st percentile.

Prior to his principalship, Jim founded the Hamilton Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Los Angeles.  He is credited for having created and established the first comprehensive music/fine arts magnet for the LAUSD, and for developing a curriculum to establish the largest music “magnet” in the west.  Jim instituted an interdisciplinary curriculum that linked academic studies with the arts that resulted in 96 percent of graduating seniors continuing on to higher education.

His first job upon graduation - at the age of 21 - was as a music teacher Carson High School in Carson, California.  There, he reopened the closed music department and focused on the creation of an integrated music education and performance curriculum which included seven performance ensembles and more than 500 students, becoming the largest high school music program in Los Angeles.

Jim currently serves on the Boards of Summit Entertainment, Alliance of Civilizations Media Fund, Gryphon Investors, Broad Center for Urban Superintendents and Communities in Schools, Los Angeles.