Phil Fisher

Reentry University

Co-Founder

President & CEO

Phil Fisher is an educator; academic program developer; sustainability-company CEO; event marketing and tourism specialist; event producer; signature event developer; television producer; crowd engineering security and safety specialist.

Fisher founded and serves as Chairman and CEO of REACH Innovation Centers (Renewable Energy Applications to Conserve Humanity – Innovation Centers), focusing on innovative technology and advanced technology integration.  Fisher has consulted and advised government and participated in Legislative Body and Energy Committee hearings, as well as supported, drafted, and passed into law, bills for Renewable Energy legislation and Feed-in-Tariff.

Fisher’s entrepreneurial career spans 40 years, spent largely as an educator, including over a decade of teaching at Columbia College, and as a consultant to government offices both U.S. and abroad, including City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events, and Office of Cultural Affairs; Illinois Office of Tourism; City of Miami Mayor’s Office; Miami Dade County Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and Department Parks & Recreation; City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office; Rio de Janeiro; U.S. Virgin Islands Office of the Governor, as well as Office of Tourism, and Dept. of Agriculture; Jamaica Tourist Board; Aruba Tourism Bureau; Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau; and more…

Fisher is lauded by Columbia College for his authoring of the Event Management Studies curriculum, unique motivational style in the delivery of his lectures, and recognized as the “University’s Highest Rated Class in Continuing Education Studies Program.”  Many of Fisher’s students have graduated to successful careers in marketing, arts and culture, corporate events, sports marketing, and entertainment industries.

Fisher is an innovative, accomplished industry professional having produced and managed thousands of successful events with live event audiences as large as three million attendees. Fisher’s entertainment work spans the industries of Tourism, Live-Events, Music Concerts, Festivals, Television Production, Awards, Sports, Comedy, Conferences & Expos, Fundraisers, and more.  With a reputation for excellence and a constant strive to achieve flawless event productions, Fisher has produced prime-time network television specials, launched and implemented international music festivals, and consulted local and international governments and companies on the business of entertainment, tourism, and cultural events, strategic planning, and corporate partnerships.

Tourism / Project Origination

Fisher has been widely sought for his insights and expertise in driving economic development and tourism, including originating destination brand awareness for numerous Island Nation Governments throughout the Caribbean resulting in over $145 Million in direct economic impact and Hundreds of Millions of US Dollars in annual residual tourism, positively affecting local economies and tourism-related businesses.

As a member of an entertainment development team, Fisher created first-time signature events, launching and managing the original Cancun Jazz Festival, the Acapulco World Music Festival, the St. Croix Jazz In Paradise Music Festival, and the HBO televised Sinbad’s Soul Music Festivals in Jamaica, Aruba, St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands, and Miami.

For over 20-years Fisher was instrumental in managing multiple elements of the Taste of Chicago, then the nation’s largest food festival, for the Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events, and has served as a consultant for numerous corporate sponsors, media partners, and restaurateurs.

Fisher conceptualized, developed, and produced the first Taste of Philadelphia for the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, modeled after his work serving in numerous management positions for over 20-years for the production of Taste of Chicago, once the Nation’s largest food festival. Serving as a consultant to the City of Philadelphia’s Welcome America Program, Fisher developed and managed 43 major events comprising a summer series, including the City’s 4th of July Independence Day Celebration with an attendance of more than three million people.

During Fisher’s work for the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events & Cultural Affairs, Fisher developed the City’s first Neighborhood Festival Program, a community grant program where he was responsible for as many as 200 events per year, including Fisher’s authoring of a manual on “How to Produce Your Own Neighborhood Festival.”  Fisher also developed and managed many areas of Taste of Chicago – the nation’s largest food festival; Chicago Jazz Festival; Chicago Blues Festival; Chicago Gospel Festival; Viva Chicago; Venetian Night Boat Parade; July 4th Fireworks.  As a consultant to the Chicago Park District, Fisher served as Producer of the Chicago Air & Water Show, one of the nation’s largest shows of its kind, attracting over 2.5 million people.

Television Production

Fisher’s work has been touted in many countries and has been seen on various television networks including HBO, BET, Showtime, Comcast, MTV, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, WGN, HTN, Telemundo, and Pay Per View.  Fisher’s clients include numerous Fortune 500 Companies with work having included scores of nationally and internationally acclaimed celebrity A-list talent, including performers from Jazz, Pop, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Rock, and Hip-Hop music genres.

Fisher served as Executive Producer for the creation, development, and production of the Allstate Awards, a WGN Superstation variety network television special and international broadcast filmed live at the Chicago Navy Pier Ballroom.

Sports & Entertainment

Serving in event management for the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events, Fisher executed various aspects of each of the City’s major sports team celebrations including Winning Championships for Chicago Bears – NFL Super Bowl Win, Chicago Bulls – NBA Championship Wins, and Chicago Cubs – MLB World Series Win.

Serving on the 325-person core production team of the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Half Time Show, Fisher was honored to achieve a decades-long goal to execute this fast-paced production on the center of the NFL Football Field with only eight minutes to install the 14-minute spectacular show and only seven-minutes to strike and remove everything before the second half of the Super Bowl Game began.  This extremely high-pressured live television broadcast production event featuring J. Lo and Shakira was implemented flawlessly with a total of 670 production personnel on the field.

Fisher managed the production of “Bears Plaza” which overtook the Chicago Daily Center Building Plaza for the public viewing of the 1986 NFL Super Bowl XX match-up between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots.  The game, played at the New Orleans Superdome, was aired live at “Bears Plaza” on a huge Diamond Vision digital video monitor with bleacher seat public viewing.  This Super Bowl event was an epic first-time Super Bowl Game match for the Chicago Bears and was exhilaratingly attended by tens of thousands of fans.  Upon the Bears return to Chicago, and with little planning time, Fisher managed the City of Chicago-produced celebration parade rally for the new World Champion Chicago Bears, which was also held at “Bears Plaza.”

Community / Crime Prevention
Fisher has developed and produced numerous projects to effectuate a reduction in crime in major markets with high violent crime rates, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Miami.  His work includes the creation of a Concert Tour within Illinois Maximum Security Prisons; No Crime Day; Stop The Violence Gang Summit; Unity Day; MLK Reclaim The Dream; and more…

Fisher developed and produced an annual festival entitled “No Crime Day” on behalf of The Black On Black Love organization whose mission is to replace “Black-On-Black Crime” with “Black-On-Black Love” within the Chicago inner-city communities.  The annual free outdoor festival promoted an anti-violence, motivational, no-crime message of hope and peace and successfully achieved a reduction in violent crime including a cease-fire truce between local rival gangs.

Fisher, serving as Executive Producer, for more than a decade, developed and produced the ongoing annual Reclaim The Dream Candlelight Memorial Service & Gospel Concert, sponsored by The City of Miami and The Martin Luther King Jr. Economic Development Corporation.  This free outdoor community event is held annually on April 4 th , the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in honor of the great civil rights leader’s life and works.  During the event, Clergy from multiple religious communities including; Baptist, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and more, deliver an audience-participatory Candlelight Reflection Prayer prior to the event-culminating with a Featured National Gospel Musical Performance.  This event inspires community peace and reduction in violent crime.

Academic Program Development for At-Risk Youth
Fisher has developed and implemented numerous programs focusing on the development of at-risk inner-city, socially, or economically challenged youth including, World Literacy Crusade – Girl Power Mentoring Program; US Department of Education/National Council of Negro Women – Readership Leadership Academy Workshop;  REEL Opportunities Filmmaking Program;  It Takes A Village Mentoring Conference;  and more…

Sponsored by The Children’s Trust, Fisher developed and implemented for the Foundation of Community Assistance & Leadership – Finishing Fundamentals, an educational program designed to teach students the elements of etiquette that help to develop respect for self and others, confidence in any situation and personal pride.  Program elements included: Image, Goal Setting, Social Introductions, Conversation Skills, Dress To Impress, Personal Care, Dining Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Budget & Time Management.

Fisher produced “Get Your Money Right” Hip-Hop Summit for Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, featuring New York Times’ best-selling author on personal finance, Suze Orman.  This program was an educational summit with a student audience and celebrity Hip-Hop panelists who shared valuable information on basic finances and how to avoid the pitfalls of making difficult decisions.  Topics like understanding FICO credit scores, asset and wealth management, auto financing, homeownership, and entrepreneurship were explored and young people took away with them a Hip-Hop Summit Action Network booklet explaining the tools of financial planning, as well as Suze Orman’s best- seller The Money Book For The Young, Fabulous, And Broke.

Honors and Accolades
•  Recognized by Columbia College as “University’s Highest Rated Class in Continuing Education Studies Program.”
•  Recognized by Columbia College undergraduate and continuing education studies students as the “The Best Professor” they ever had.
•  Praised by Johnson and Wales University professors for his service as roll-model and mentor to Entertainment Management student interns.
•  Applauded as featured lecturer for the Illinois Bar Association Entertainment Law Committee Conference as an expert producer of outdoor events, focusing on the topic of risk management, crowd engineering, security, and safety.
•  Fisher was named “Best In The Business” by the Office of the Chief of Police, Chicago Police Department, who has adopted Fisher’s Crowd Engineering Management Systems as a paradigm for all large-scale outdoor events produced in the City of Chicago.
•  Many years after Fisher’s development of his Crowd Engineering Management Systems, Fisher’s system is still used by The City of Chicago and Chicago Police and Fire Departments and was deployed at the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series-Win Rally, which was reported by the Chicago Tribune to have over 5-million attendees.

“We thank G-d Almighty, for all of the great blessings we have received and for the opportunity we have been granted to do
His will.” – PF