Mick Freeman

Mick Freeman is a seasoned business leader, social entrepreneur, and strategic advisor. His experience spans the nonprofit, private, and public sectors, including startup, scale-up, turnaround, Fortune 500, nonprofits, and for-profit social enterprises.

Freeman is passionate about education and youth initiatives. He was CEO of Boon Market & Supply, an eco-friendly alternative school fundraiser that has raised over $100m for education. He served as co-founder, president and CEO of Education Funding Partners (EFP), a pioneering for-profit social enterprise and benefit corporation that leveraged the power of Fortune 500 companies to support major US K-12 public school districts, engineering corporate sponsorship partnerships with leading brands such as Target, Microsoft, Walmart, Staples, and Sports Authority, building a socially responsible marketing channel reaching 16m parents and teachers. EFP received a 'Best for the World' award from B Lab for five consecutive years (2013-2017) for scoring in the top 10 percent of B Corps worldwide, was recognized as one of Harvard Business School’s 'Five Bright Ideas for Education', and received broad media coverage on every major television network and in USA Today, Education Week, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine. He also served as president of Schoolpop, previously the largest online school fundraising company in the US.

Freeman participated in two transformational Outward Bound courses in his youth and came to Colorado in 2006 to serve as president of Outward Bound Wilderness then later COO of Outward Bound USA, overseeing national program operations, over 1,000 full-time and seasonal staff, and spearheading fundraising initiatives, including helping establish Outward Bound Denver with a $1M grant and secure and deliver $3.5M in grants for special courses for military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Freeman previously served as an executive at multiple dot.coms and Sprint Corp., where he led strategic planning for the $2.3b consumer long-distance business, launched Sprint’s first internet product as brand manager, and served as head of marketing for the $1.2b wholesale long-distance division. he began his career placing top college students in state government summer internships to promote civic-mindedness.

An active volunteer, Freeman serves on the Colorado Financial Services Board, appointed by Gov. Jared Polis, and previously served as a commissioner for Serve Colorado, the Governor’s Commission on Community Service, appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper. He was founding chairman of AXL Academy, the most diverse public charter school in Colorado, and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, where he co-led the two-year turnaround of a major multi-site blended learning model supporting underserved K-12 students and communities.

A native North Carolinian, Freeman was a Reynolds Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), graduating with honors and earning its Young Alumni Award, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was selected as one of 50 rising college seniors nationally for the inaugural class of Leadership America and was awarded the top rank of Spaatz Cadet Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol by NC Governor James G. Martin.

Freeman is the proud father of three children and lives in Golden, CO.