Barry Sommer is a licensed educational psychologist, certified school psychologist, and a marriage and family therapist. Barry serves as the Director of Advancement for the Lindsay Unified School District, a Race to The Top and Teacher and School Leader District, where he is responsible for leadership development, grant writing, partnership development and scaling the Lindsay Performance Based System. He is in private practice in Visalia, California, and is faculty at Columbia University in New York City.

Sommer is a graduate of Cornell University and Queens College of the City University of New York. He is the co-author of You Can Choose Your Own Life, a decision-making curriculum for middle grade students, and Beyond Reform: Systemic Shifts Towards Personalized Learning (Marzano Research, 2017).