Her Dream Job Helps Kids Dream of Theirs

When Debra Streicker-Fine graduated from USC in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she didn’t have a doubt about what the future held for her. She founded AfterGrad, a magazine devoted to helping recent graduates find direction, hone interviewing skills and land jobs. The publication folded within a year, but it lasted long enough for Streicker-Fine to realize that someday she would be at the helm of another company helping people find direction in their lives.

In following years, Streicker-Fine completed a master’s in business administration at UCLA and landed some plum positions as a vice president at MCA and Republic Pictures. She joined the marketing department at Disney Interactive in 1994, where she helped launch such popular products as Lion King Print Studio and Aladdin Activity Center.

Streicker-Fine had been at Disney only a year when the idea for her next company evolved. “I was at an interactive conference in Europe and I saw all the different products out there,” she says. “But I also saw that there was so much more that could be done.” After brainstorming with some colleagues at the show, she came home with the concept of a CD-ROM series aimed at helping kids explore career possibilities.

Cloud 9 Media was founded after Streicker-Fine raised seed money that mushroomed into $3 million in capital investments. The first Learning Adventure title was released in 1996. “I Can Be a Dinosaur Finder” was based on an original idea of Streicker-Fine’s: “I wanted to be an archeologist when I was 8 years old.”

The Learning Adventure Series allows children to role-play what they want to be when they grow up, while learning about science, math and animals. “Dinosaur Finder” was followed by “I Can Be an Animal Doctor”; “I Can Be an Astronaut” is scheduled to be released in 1998. Cloud 9 is co-developing an arts and crafts series with Portland, Ore.-based multimedia developer ImageBuilder. It also licenses the Marvel Super Hero Series from Marvel Characters Inc. of New York that teaches children to draw such Marvel characters as Spiderman and the X-Men.

With more households getting computers, children’s “edutainment” has become one of the fastest-growing categories of software. Sales of software for children increased more than 200% in 1996 over the previous year, according to Streicker-Fine. Cloud 9 faces a lot of competition, but Streicker-Fine isn’t worried. “The Learning Adventure Series is popular because it focuses on more than just career exploration. It’s what we call ‘stealth learning’--kids have so much fun they barely know they’re learning. And we’re the only ones doing it right now.”

Sarina Simon, senior vice president of content, research and development at Knowledge Universe, a Los Angeles-based education company devoted to lifelong learning, agrees that Cloud 9 has filled a niche. “Debra’s products speak to the most popular interests of young children and frames them in the context of learning. It’s an interesting framework that gives Cloud 9 products a uniqueness.”

Streicker-Fine sums up her vision for the company succinctly: “mini-Disney.” She is expanding the company to include children’s television, film and video. And perhaps Streicker-Fine will develop a fourth Learning Adventure title: “I Can Be the President of a Multimedia Edutainment Conglomerate.”

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Bio Box * Name: Debra Streicker-Fine

* Company: Cloud 9 Media

* Title: President and CEO

* Home: Los Angeles