Cary is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who has lived on the Central Coast since 1986.  His wife Linda, is a native born Santa Marian.  Cary served as Vandenberg’s Community Liaison Officer from 1992-1997 and was appointed Ex-Officio Board Member to five Central Coast Chambers:  Santa Maria, Lompoc, Buellton, Solvang and Pismo Beach, and was very active in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Chamber programs.  He has served on the Central Coast United Way Board since 1992 and is a Board Member of the Central Coast Development Corporation, a non-profit organization which helps businesses in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties obtain Small Business Loans to sustain their operations, expand their operations and create jobs in the Three-County Area.  

Cary is a graduate of five of the California Central Coast’s community leadership programs:   

Leadership San Luis Obispo, Leadership Santa Barbara County, Leadership Lompoc Valley, and Leadership Santa Maria Valley—a program he co-founded in 1995.  Cary was also a Founding Board Member and a pioneer class member in North San Luis Obispo County’s Foundation for North County Leadership Development.  He is currently a member of Class 2000-2001 for both the Ventura Chamber’s Leadership Program and the Ventura County Leadership Academy.

In 1996, Cary was named a California Distinguished Community Leader and in 1997, was recognized as a Distinguished National Community Leader by the National Association of Community Leadership Programs.  Additionally, he served on the Executive Board of the California Association of Leadership Programs (CALP) from 1996-1998. 

Cary earned a Bachelor Degree in Business Management from the University of Southern Colorado in 1976, a Bachelor Degree in Electronic Systems Management from Southern Illinois University in 1981, and a Master Degree in Systems and Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1986.  Cary taught college business courses for 7 years with the University of La Verne and Chapman University, where he specialized in Ethics in Business, Corporate Communications, Principals of Leadership and Management, International Business, and graduate courses in Organizational Leadership.

The Center for Effective Organizations is a franchise of Leadership Management International (LMI), a worldwide consortium of independently-owned companies which, since 1960, have provided client-specialized leadership development and team training services to businesses and organizations in 66 countries.

In his first year with LMI, Cary was named LMI’s 1997 Rookie Associate of the Year for the United States and was presented the prestigious award by LMI Founder, Paul J. Meyer, at LMI’s 1998 World Convention.  

Linda A. Gray, co-founder of the Center for Effective Organizations, currently serves as the Executive Vice-President of LMI-CEO.   

Linda has more than 20 years of experience as a Registered Nurse working acute care, medical floor, surgical floor, reserve status, CCU, and DOU. She is also experienced in dialysis and as a circulating nurse in ophthalmologic operating room, home health care, and forensic nursing.   

She graduated with an Associate Degree in Nursing from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo; and an A.A. and A.S. in Licensed Vocational Nursing from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.  
   

R. Stewart Fisher, LMI-CEO's Senior Vice-President for Ventura County, serves as our chief ISO 9000 Auditor and is our Lead Facilitator for total quality leadership training programs. 

Stew is a cum laude graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.  He retired as a captain from the Navy in 1998, after 31 years of service spanning the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. 

During his long career, he attended the prestigious Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C., and served in the Secretary of the Navy’s Total Quality Leadership Office.  He authored and taught many of the Navy’s quality and leadership courses and was a Strategic Planning Instructor and Facilitator.

Stew Fisher led a helicopter combat search and rescue squadron in Desert Storm and later commanded 2,000 men and women at the Naval Air Station, Pt. Mugu, California.  He has received numerous awards including the Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and Legion of Merit. 

In his civilian career, Stew is an ISO 9000 auditor, a leadership, team skills, program management, and quality instructor, and the author of several leadership courses.  He has served as the keynote speaker for many events and ceremonies.  Stew also trains in the martial art of Aikido and is a Certified FAA Flight Instructor in both helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.  In 1999, he joined LMI-CEO.  Stew and his wife, Annie, reside in Camarillo, California, and have four children: Molly, Kelly, Patrick, and John.