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Entertaining, fast-paced, instructional, The Change Maker is not only a memoir, but a blueprint for how we can change our own lives, as well as the world around us, by providing personal lessons in the values of strategic thinking and responsible leadership. Through compelling true stories, both humorous and serious, Al Checchi demonstrates that through experience, vision, and courage, one person can make a difference and lead others to move beyond their comfort zones and transform our institutions. Al Checchi, a remarkable change maker, chronicles how his creativity, strategic thinking, and negotiating skills helped transform three major American institutions--Marriott Corporation, Walt Disney, and Northwest Airlines--and led him to challenge the California political establishment as a candidate for governor. Peppered with excerpts from speeches and articles, The Change Maker offers thoughtful perspective on institutional change in America since the 1960s, and scalding commentary on the current state of our public and private institutions, political parties, the emergent political class, and the economic policies and leadership of today’s administration. The Change Maker challenges us to confront the status quo and demand accountability and a restoration of the fiduciary standards that are so vital to reclaiming and maintaining America’s position of economic and political leadership. Readers will finish the book feeling revitalized, hopeful, and armed with new ideas on how change can, and always will, occur.

Al Checchi was raised in Washington, D.C. He played transformational roles at three American institutions: Marriott Corporation, the Walt Disney Company, and Northwest Airlines, and in 1998 took on the California political establishment as a candidate for governor. He wrote a strategic plan for California, The Checchi Plan, and has drafted a new ＂Declaration for Independence.＂ He is married and has three children.