Anasazi Foundation
Mesa, AZ

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Olympic Gold Medalist,
Renowned Psychologist,
Best-selling Author
Join ANASAZI's Celebration

Olympic gold medalist Peter Vidmar will host ANASAZI Foundation's November 22 Scholarship Gala, which generates scholarship funds for financially challenged families seeking to save children making at-risk choices. The annual event will honor five outstanding ANASAZI alumni, nationally renowned psychologist Ralph Earle, and best-selling author James L. Ferrell of The Arbinger Institute, who will receive the 2014 Turn for Peace award.

Named "one of the top 10 corporate speakers in America" by Successful Meetings Magazine, Vidmar is the highest scoring American gymnast in Olympic history, winning team and individual gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games. He is chairman of USA Gymnastics, the governing body of gymnastics in the U.S., and has served on the President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports. He has worked for years as a gymnastics commentator on CBS and ESPN.

Ralph Earle, Ph.D., is a noted family therapist, psychologist, author, and lecturer. A national authority on sexual addiction, family/relational issues, and the treatment of clergy and missionary personnel, Dr. Earle is past national president of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He founded Scottsdale's Psychological Counseling Services in 1973 and helped launch the Institute for Professional Wellness (IPW) in 2003. An ordained minister, Dr. Earle also founded the New Hope Educational Foundation to provide healing and restoration to religious leaders and their families. He will be the inaugural inductee in the Clan of the Shadow, a recognition to be presented annually to exceptional leaders in the field of behavioral healthcare.

Author James L. Ferrell (The Peacegiver, co-author of Arbinger's Leadership & Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace) will receive the Turn for Peace award, which is presented annually to individuals making a profound impact in the lives of children and families. Past recipients include former First Lady Barbara Bush, NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks Bart Starr and Steve Young, entertainers Marie Osmond and Wynonna Judd, Family Circus creator Bil Keane, and author Stephen R. Covey.

Ferrell is co-founder and managing partner of The Arbinger Institute, a worldwide consulting firm specializing in culture transformation, conflict resolution, and turnaround. A graduate of Yale Law School, he is a sought-after speaker, teacher, and advisor to leaders of corporations, governments, communities, and organizations of all kinds.
"ANASAZI Foundation is honored to recognize Jim for his profound work with families," said ANASAZI founder Ezekiel Sanchez. "His teachings and writings have saved lives, mended countless family relationships, and helped to heal conflicts throughout the world," Sanchez continued. "I am particularly grateful for his help crafting the narrative of ANASAZI's book, The Seven Paths, which has been instrumental in our work with young people."

Held at the SanTan Elegante conference center in Gilbert, Arizona, following ANASAZI's popular silent auction, the gala will also recognize the accomplishments of five ANASAZI alumni - young people who have overcome significant personal challenges to achieve goals that once seemed impossible. Those selected as Young Leaders will receive college scholarships from Forever Young Foundation, founded by NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young.

ANASAZI founder Larry Dean Olsen will receive the event's Legacy Award. Olsen partnered with Sanchez in the 1960s to launch Brigham Young University's pioneering outdoor programs, which sparked the development of the field now known as wilderness therapy. The pair formed ANASAZI in 1988. Olsen's book Outdoor Survival Skills is a national bestseller. Its initial publication in 1967 made him a national authority on primitive survival, leading actor Robert Redford to enlist his services for the film Jeremiah Johnson. The book's influence continues nearly 50 years later - many of today's survival experts, most notably Les Stroud (television's Survivorman), point to Olsen's work as a source of inspiration.

The November 22 gala will include several other surprises, hinted Sanchez, and culminate in a concert by Broadway stars Dallyn Bayles and Sandra Turley.

For reservations or more information, call 480-892-7403 or visit www.anasazi.org.

ANASAZI Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), nationally recognized, licensed, and Joint Commission-accredited behavioral healthcare provider known for its unique and uplifting approach to helping young people. ANASAZI's menu of services includes a 49-day, wilderness-based intervention and treatment program for youth 12-17 and adults 18+, as well as parenting workshops and community drug awareness and education forums. ANASAZI's book, The Seven Paths, is available via booksellers worldwide.