Gail Perry-Mason - MASTER OF CEREMONIES
We are honored to have Gail Perry-Mason as our Master of Ceremonies. Gail has come a long way from foster care to caring for others. And from the receptionist to Senior Director of Investments at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
Ms. Perry-Mason is a respected authority in the financial industry. She is a national speaker and has appeared on national radio and television outlets.
A prolific writer, Gail has published articles for local and national print media. In 1999 she published her first book “Money Matters for Families.” In 2003, Gail published “Girl, Make Your Money Grow,” a book co-authored with Glinda Bridgforth. This highly successful financial guide, featured on Oprah’s Debt Diet, helped Ms. Perry-Mason build a national following.
Gail founded Money Matters for Youth in 1996. This Detroit-based financial literacy program teaches children ages 8 through 18 the basics of economics and financial responsibility through a five-day annual camp for youth "investors." This program has received national recognition, including an invitation from Warren Buffett to be the first youth group to attend the Berkshire-Hathaway Shareholder Meeting.
Please read about Gail Perry-Mason’s countless accomplishments and accolades in her full biography. In the details, you will see her mottos “Success Benefits Others First” and “OpportUNITY Doesn’t Happen without UNITY” come to life!
Alexander zojic
We are excited to have Alexander Zonjic & Friends taking center stage at our Inaugural “Dollars for Foster Scholars” charity fundraiser.
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Mr. Zonjic is a 15-time Detroit Music Awards winner. Alexander began his musical life playing guitar. By his mid-teens, he played in rock and soul bands, then transitioned to flute at 21. Mr. Zonjic was accepted into the University of Windsor music program, where he started his classical training. Upon graduation, he continued his studies under the tutelage of Ervin Monroe, principal flutist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Over the years, Alexander has performed with orchestras nationwide and some of the biggest jazz artists in the world, including Grammy and Emmy Award-winning keyboard icon Bob James. Mr. Zonjic has been a multi-media personality since 1998, when he began hosting the morning radio show at the longtime smooth jazz station WVMV. Since 2016, he has hosted “Alexander Zonjic from A to Z,” a weekly half-hour hybrid TV show on WADL TV-38.
As Zonjic puts it, he morphed from “that flute guy from Canada” into the owner of a veritable cottage industry as a philanthropist and the artistic director and producer of over ten annual festival events in the region under the umbrella of his “Hi-Falutin Music.”
Believing in Gandhi’s words that the “best way to find oneself is to lose oneself in the service of others,” Zonjic and Hi-Falutin work with many large charity organizations in the Detroit area. They host an annual “Soup City” fundraiser for COTS (Coalition on Temporary Shelter). They have partnered on various fundraisers for many years with the Children’s Foundation, Mariner’s Inn, Franklin Wright Settlements, Habitat for Humanity, Lighthouse of Oakland County, Windsor Downtown Mission, SAY Detroit, and Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, Michigan.
We are proud to have Bravo Programs of America added to this list.