As the CEO of the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, the largest retreat center in the United States, he led the development of their innovative blended learning programs, extending beyond the walls of the retreat center to a global constituency.
David is also a licensed clinical and organizational psychologist, conducting executive-level consultation, training and coaching with business, government, education, and health systems. His international company The Leadership Edge catalyzes executives to lead breakthrough personal and systemic change. His consultations assist leaders to manage the process of organizational change and to insure that change efforts really succeed. His innovatively designed seminars have been presented on four continents and have inspired thousands of men and women towards a new experience of organizational and leadership effectiveness. His book on leadership development, Retooling on the Run: Real Change for Leaders with No Time, (coauthored with Stuart Heller), is a unique roadmap for cultivating versatility of leadership action styles while continuing to manage the ongoing challenges of daily work.
A visionary and innovator, he has created three paradigm changing organizations.
As the co-CEO of a training and research corporation, Dr. Surrenda developed nationally recognized innovations in conflict resolution and crisis intervention utilizing train-the-trainer strategies and state-of-the-art learning methodologies. His work (with Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz) was acknowledged by the Justice Department as the standard for training in the area of crisis management. He has coauthored books on conflict resolution as well as numerous professional articles. He was a developer and implementer of the earliest programs within the US for juvenile diversion and juvenile work placement as an alternative to incarceration.
He was Executive Director of The Natural Step, a groundbreaking environmental organization that consults to industry about the efficient utilization of natural resources as part of a coherent strategy for sustainable development.
He served for two years as a chairman for a Los Angeles based T. E. C. (The Executive Committee) group of CEO’s whose purpose it is to provide training, support, and consultation to each other in the management of their respective companies.
Dr. Surrenda is on the Board of Trustees of the Rippel Foundation, which conducts original programs and research in health innovations. He has worked extensively with hospitals and national health systems to support innovations, solutions and new paradigmatic thinking. He has deep experience facilitating systems solutions for cities, counties and states on issues of maximizing team and department effectiveness.
He has coauthored four books, including the award-winning Safe in the Arms of Love: Deepening the Essential Bond with Your Baby (with Lisa Rafel and Gary Malkin). This combination of research-based music synthesized with best practices in bonding guides parents to successful experiences with their newborn.
As a conference leader, he has designed and directed nine major professional conferences. These cutting-edge conferences brought professionals into dialogue with the lay public about current social and industrial changes.