Biography of Charles Garcia

Charles Patrick Garcia, 43, founded Sterling Financial Group of Companies at age thirty-six with three people—and has seen the company grow to more than fifty offices in seven countries. The media characterizes Garcia as a “Jack of all trades” for his success across many fields as a highly decorated military officer, community leader, author, philanthropist, attorney and former White House Fellow. In 2002, Sterling Financial was named the number one fastest growing Hispanic-owned business in the country by Hispanic Business magazine and number eight on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing privately held companies in the nation. For his success across many fields, Garcia was named one of the nation’s 100 most influential Hispanics and his leadership abilities have earned him a role in the administration of three U.S. Presidents, a Cabinet Secretary and a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.
In January 2003, Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to a four-year term as one of seven members of Florida’s State Board of Education responsible for overseeing the state’s K-20 strategic plan for education and its $16 billion budget. During the war in Iraq, he was Telemundo’s behind-the-desk military analyst, and his political-military analysis has been sought by Crossfire, FOX News, CNN, CBS, Univision, Telemundo, CNN en espanol and The Christina Show. In October 2003, John Wiley & Sons released his first book, A Message from Garcia: Yes, You Can Succeed , which hit #6 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list with its inspiring and motivating messages that empower people at any age, at any stage of their life to find their true calling and passion in life.

Mr. Garcia is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy; he received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and earned a law degree from Columbia Law School.

Speech Topics
Apply the Secrets of Great Leaders
Live these proven “greatness strategies” Charles Garcia learned from his four-star mentors. Charles Garcia has always believed in the power of mentors. Throughout his diverse career he has worked with some of the greatest leaders in the military, political and business arenas, including: General John Galvin, a four star general who went on to become the NATO Supreme Allied Commander; John C. Whitehead, former chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs and Deputy Secretary of State; William Bennett, former Secretary of Education and drug czar whom Garcia helped draft the nation’s first National Drug Control Policy. While under the tutelage of some of this nation’s most prominent individuals, Garcia paid close attention to how they operated and what they taught him. Synthesizing their knowledge he applied it to his own life and career as founder of the stunningly successful and widely recognized national and international firm Sterling Financial Group of Companies.

Get Motivated - Yes, You Can Succeed
Plenty of motivational speakers get you revved up and energized about possibilities and opportunities. The problem is, once you leave the room you don’t know what to do next. Your energy dissipates, your excitement vanishes, and your hopes and aspirations fade with each passing day. Entrepreneur and author Charles Garcia is a different breed of speaker. He inspires, yes, but he also provides do-it-now strategies for dreaming big, setting goals and creating concrete action steps to achieve them. He uses powerful stories of people he’s encountered in his rich and varied career—as a highly decorated military officer, a White House Fellow and founder of investment powerhouse Sterling Financial Group—to validate his points and make them real to every person. Whether you want to achieve stellar success in your career, your personal life or both, Garcia will give you the tools and strategies to get started today.

How to Catch the Latino Wave
Living the Americano Dream: What Latinos Must Do to Harness Our Power and Leverage It for the Common Good We know the challenges faced by the Latino community: poverty, high drop-out rates, a reluctance to assimilate into American culture, a tendency for various Hispanic groups to fight among themselves. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, in terms of sheer numbers, we are a force to be reckoned with—and we have the strength of character and capability to come together as a united people. Latinos comprise nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population; we are some 40 million strong and growing. Charles Garcia believes that to leverage this power we must unite under a core agenda. We must band together as “Americanos” and determine the core issues that are most important to our community. Garcia believes these issues are: Education—We must break the “drop-out” cycle and push for bilingual education. Immigration—We must promote a fair policy, dispel myths and expose realities. Heath care—We must address the huge problem of uninsured Latino families. Foreign policy—We must engage Latin America as a major partner in U.S. trade and politics. If we all unite and stand behind the issues that matter to us—and vote!—we can enjoy all the benefits that come from being Americanos. And yes, we can do it without losing our identity or our culture.

How to Fix Our Schools
Seven out of ten children cannot read proficiently. This statistic comes from the National Center for Education Statistics in their annual “Nation’s Report Card.” Staggering, indeed—disheartening, to be sure. Something must be done. Since 85 percent of the curriculum is presented in written form, children who cannot read at grade level early on (key years are first through third grades) will inevitably get left behind. U.S. students now rank near the bottom in international comparisons of knowledge and achievement. America cannot compete on a global level if we do not solve our education crisis! Charles Garcia, who serves on Florida’s State Board of Education, and who was chosen by President George W. Bush to draft a strategic plan for improving education for Hispanic Americans in this country, believes the solution can be summed up in five words: Run education like a business. If we can refocus our attention on student achievement—and back it up with empirical data—we can turn around the dismal performance of our public schools. History has shown that throwing money at the problem does not work. The solution centers on good teachers. Garcia believes that by recruiting and keeping the best educators, rethinking teachers’ unions, redirecting inefficient dollar allocations and reevaluating rigid qualification criterion, we can begin to make policy decisions based on evidence and success as opposed to educational hunches and proven failure.

Make Diversity Work for You
Integrate diversity into your corporate culture and enjoy increased profits, improved maket share and higher shareholder value. Charles Garcia is a strong supporter of diversity in business. In fact, in 2003 he directed that his company, Sterling Financial, join the “Fortune 500” brief of leading American businesses supporting the University of Michigan in its quest to attain a diverse student body. Garcia believes that diversity in education translates into diversity in Corporate America—and that embracing diversity is not just a way to remain competitive in our changing world but can give you the competitive edge in seeking out new customers and increasing revenues. The rapid globalization of business and our own changing demographics will have a profound effect on America’s corporations. Those who embrace diversity with a strategic approach and an eye on economic benefits and return—as opposed to a socially mandated, “feel good,” unquantifiable way—will be able to compete more effectively in the future. Companies must take a holistic approach to diversity, one that incorporates employee recruitment, supplier/affiliate relationships, marketing, community involvement and more.