"In my work it became evident that the neglect of emotional health in our families and schools threatens the future of our youth and our nation. Since this seemed to be unknown in America I felt the necessity not only to wake up our country but also to develop a program to do something about it. Thus I wrote How To Raise Emotionally Healthy Children…Meeting the Five Critical Needs of Children and Parents, Too.”

— Dr. Gerald Newmark

“I decided to leave working in the corporate world after 22 years to partner with my husband, Dr. Newmark, and create The Children’s Project. Raising emotionally healthy children, families, schools and communities is too important to leave to chance. That is why I now dedicate my life’s work to this journey.”

— Deborah Newmark, Co-Founder, The Children's Project

About Us 2017-09-30T18:06:58+00:00

Meet Deborah and Jerry Newmark, Founders of the Children’s Project

JerryNewmarkDr. Gerald Newmark’s specialty for several decades has been “people.”

He has had experience at every level of education from elementary school to university as a teacher, consultant or researcher. He has lectured extensively in the United States, and periodically in Europe, Japan and Mexico on doctor-patient, manager-employee, parent-child-teacher relations, and on innovative methods of teaching and learning. In these venues, he captivated his varied audiences with his ability to connect with all cultures and groups and penetrate quickly to the heart of the subject. In non-technical, straightforward language he conveys his messages in an interesting and entertaining manner so as to produce understanding, learning, and smiles. He speaks French and German fluently and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Italian.

With funding from the Ford Foundation, Dr. Newmark worked with children, parents, and teachers in Los Angeles city schools as co-director of a project to develop a model school. The results of this effort are described in his book, This School Belongs to You and Me: Every Learner a Teacher, Every Teacher a Learner. For this work, Dr. Newmark received a presidential citation. With his latest book, How To Raise Emotionally Healthy Children: Meeting the Five Critical Needs of Children… and Parents Too!, Dr. Newmark focuses his attention on improving parent, child, teacher, family, and school relations.

An important aspect of Dr. Newmark’s adult life has been participation in civil rights and youth affairs. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and arranged for three planes of people to go to the Selma march. He was involved for six years with the Synanon Foundation in its pioneering work in the treatment of drug addiction, and with Operation Bootstrap in Central Los Angeles in projects to improve inter-racial relations. He has been a consultant to the California Special Olympics and the California State Department of Education. Dr. Newmark has served on the advisory boards of the National Commission on Resources for Youth, the Center for ReUniting Families, and two drug abuse programs—Amity, Inc. in Arizona, and Tuum Est (now Phoenix House) in Los Angeles. He is presently on the Board of the Catticus Foundation.

Dr. Newmark is a member of the American Association of Humanistic Psychology, the Charles F. Menninger Society, the National Association For The Mentally Ill, and the Rand Alumni Association.


DeborahAndBookDeborah Newmark is Executive Director of The Children’s Project, whose purpose is to help parents and teachers provide children with the emotional foundation necessary for success in school and in life. The Children’s Project is responsible for distributing over 570,000 copies of How To Raise Emotionally Healthy Children during the past 13 years.

Prior to that, for 20 years, Deborah was president of a successful promotional advertising business working with Fortune 500 companies. She was also one of the founders of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s (MOFGA) Common Ground Country Fair, one of the largest celebrations of organic farming in the United States.

Deborah and her husband, Dr. Gerald Newmark, have dedicated themselves to work for the improvement of the emotional health of children, parents, families, schools and cities throughout the world.