Our Host

Matthew J. Norcross is the creator of The Phoenix and the host of Character in Action. 

A graduate of Coastal Carolina University with a Bachelors in Communication, he is a native of High Point, North Carolina where he is employed as the director of New Media at Phoenix Academy, a public school of choice founded by his family in 1997, currently operated by National Heritage Academies, which operates over 100 schools across the United States serving over 100,000 students. He is one of the co-founders and Board Member of the 7 Degrees of Change Foundation, also based in High Point.

Mr. Norcross’ columns on character and culture have been published by several national news organizations. He is the author of “The Phoenix”© Character Book Series directed towards pre-K through sixth grade, which is the foundation for the “7 Degrees of Change Character Education Curriculum©” in-school, after-school and in-home character-based education activities and training.

Matthew was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, worked in Washington, DC at a communications consulting company, and lived in Orlando, FL while participating in the Disney College Program©. He has traveled extensively across the United States and internationally, starting at a very early age on mission trips, leisure and business. From Wuhan, to Paris, Havana and dozens of other global centers, he has seen how different cultures live, are educated, work and interact with one another and those that are different from them.

Matthew’s parents, Kimberly K. Norcross, M.A.Ed., and Paul J. Norcross also live in High Point. While his sister and brother-in-law, Mari and Dean Murphy, reside in Manhattan.