“Thank you for your efforts to educate Filipino school children. May you be richly blessed in return!”
Washington Z. SyCip
“I am happy to extend my sincerest congratulations to you on receiving the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. This is a tremendous honor, and you should take great pride in this distinguished award. Your selection is a tribute to the many years of service you have given to North Carolina. Your career truly reflects the highest standard of integrity, and I thank you for your commitment to public service.”
Sen. Thom Tillis
“[Paul’s] tireless education reform and global literacy efforts are unmatched, and we are thrilled of his receipt of this great honor in the land of the long leaf pin”
Sen. Richard Burr
“I’d like to thank this great leader. The charter school movement took a whole lot of heat when it was initiated. Some saw that as hurting the traditional public school system. Those who had the courage to start this school up with five kids were seen as kind of renegades. When in fact, they weren’t renegades, they were visionaries. And these visionaries are continuing to make a difference for hundreds upon hundreds of kids in Guillford County. And it take visionaries like this to stick their neck out against the status quo.”
Governor Pat McCrory
“Paul has worked tirelessly on innovation in education and literacy, not only in North Carolina but internationally as well. Developing new education programs, opening libraries for the under served and tirelessly working on policies and legislation at the state and federal level.”
Lt. Governor Dan Forest
“I am proud of Paul and the work he is doing to promote education and literacy as a means to a better life for all.”
Representative Ted Budd, Congressman NC-13
“Paul’s efforts in education reform and global literacy are well known, what is not well known is his dedication to his adopted home town. As the new President of Business High Point, I have worked with him in his capacity as a Vision Board member and Education Committee member. He is always ready to tackle any obstacle that stands in the way of what is best for the community and push a positive agenda.”
Patrick Chapin, President – Business High Point / Chamber of Commerce
“Paul ventured to Macau in 2005 when the project was first coming out of the ground. He aggressively pursued the business and was awarded the loose FF&E installation of the 6th largest building in the world, competing with established competitors with decades of experience in the region. Over the course of the project he was always there and filled any void we had in a market that was virtually brand new with very little infrastructure to serve our needs. He was responsible for developing the systems and implementing the rollout and ongoing operations for the: Mail Services, Outbound Logistics for soiled laundry, Inbound Logistics for clean laundry, off site Receiving, Storage and Distribution of all company owned retail outlets, All receiving and dock operations for the Integrated Resort including food, high value merchandise and all other goods, installation for several of the public areas and retail outlets. On opening night even 20 men to receive and deliver luggage to the rooms with thousands of VIP guests from all corners of the world. He never turned down a request and no matter how difficult the challenge he always found a solution and never said “no”. All of this in a high intensity environment dealing with many cultures and personalities from Nepalese dock workers to Australian senior executives. Depending upon the occasion he would be in a Tuxedo, tailored suit of blue jeans and work boots. Whatever the need, he was there and on the job.”
Tim Nauss, Former Senior Executive – Venetian Macau
“My first day on the job as COO of a major global entertainment company in Macau (China), I was bombarded with issues surrounding our Supply Management Department, which controlled all sourcing, procurement, warehousing, inventory control and distribution. I sent a facebook message to Paul who was in North Carolina, he was halfway around the world to meet me three days later. He brought his team in and worked tirelessly with them, our management, frontline staff and other service providers. In a matter of months he was responsible for consolidating multiple warehouses into a single location, integrated new IT systems, developed and implemented Policies and Procedures, Process Flow, Job Descriptions with full training and completely redefined the feel and atmosphere of the department and how it interacted with other departments within the organization. We were so impressed with Paul and his company that we extended the agreement and modified the scope to cover a complete Lean Management Program, whereby his team evaluated every contract held by the multi-billion dollar, came up with recommendations and renegotiated with our suppliers. The annual savings was well into the millions of US Dollars.”
Nicholas Naples, Former CEO – Melco Crown Entertainment
“Paul Norcross played an important role in securing the passage of SB-8, which eliminated the cap of 100 schools in North Carolina. This was the first step in real reform and was critical to the process of getting us going in the right direction. He worked closely with the legislature and was instrumental in its passage.”
The Honorable Richard Stevens, Esq, Former NC Senator – North Carolina Senate
“Paul Norcross played an important role in securing the passage of HB 250 and SB-337. Mr. Norcross has a great deal of knowledge related to charter schools, and he is passionate about public education. I was pleased to work with Mr. Norcross in the crafting of this legislation. Mr. Norcross also worked with other members of the legislature to help the advancement of this bill and other charter related legislation.”
The Honorable Jon Hardister, District 59 Representative – North Carolina
“In my many years of public service as a Mayor, State Senator and Chairman of the State Board of Education, I have a vast knowledge of governance and education policy. I have known Paul for many years and am impressed with his knowledge and experience in these areas, and his devotion to educational choice and equity in education, which is why I was pleased to have him serve on my Board at the Howard N. Lee Institute for equity and opportunity in Education.”
The Honorable Senator Howard Lee, Former Chairman – North Carolina Board of Education
“I had the privilege of being the Chairman of the State Board of Education at the point when Charter Schools started ramping up on the education landscape in North Carolina, and awarded Kim and Paul their charter in 1999 when they converted from a private school. They have been at the tip of the spear from the beginning by bringing PBIS into Public Education, being a pioneer of integrated web based curriculum, being the first charter IB candidate school in the state and creating a hybrid industry specific University, College, Corporate partnership career track programs. They exemplify the goal of charter schools, to be an incubator for new ideas and Innovation in Education.”
Phil Kirk, Former Chairman – NC State Board of Education & Department of Commerce
“It was a pleasure working with Paul in his role on the Charter School Advisory Council. He worked tenaciously to automate and streamline the application process, working closely with policy makers on the SBE and leadership at DPI. He understands the big picture of the process as well as the minutia of each detail.”
Bill Harrison, Former Chairman – North Carolina State Board of Education
“We are a coalition of international and local organizations committed to literacy and community empowerment, building at least 200 community libraries by 2020 and empowering the Filipino people. Paul grew up, went to school and has done business in the Philippines, he immediately agreed to become a partner in the program and has provided books for several libraries and has committed to see the project through until 2020 when we meet our objective. Paul has been in and met with leadership of impoverished rural schools with no resources, supplies, and infrastructure all of the way to state-of-the-art, cutting edge schools in Singapore and China. He has seen first hand and understands education on a global basis at all levels.”
Quintin Jose Pastrana, Founder & Chairman – Library Renewal Partnership
“What Paul, his family and the 7 Degrees of change team have done to impact learning halfway around the world is truly remarkable. Schools that didn’t have dictionaries or encyclopedias, not to mention storybooks, now have them. Whole new worlds have opened up for students” Because there are 50-60 students in every classroom, a rolling bin system (now called the Paul Norcross Rolling Bins) has been established wherein books in rolling plastic bins can be rolled from class to class, and eventually from school to school.”
Vicky SyCip Herrara, Retired Educator – International School, Manila