Nomination Papers, Candidate Bio and Q&A

About

Douglas Freeman is the President of the Global Reflections and Inclusive Leadership practice of UniWorld Group Inc. (UWG), a global, multicultural communications and advertising firm. UWG at 55 years, is the oldest Multicultural/Human Capital Demographics firm in the United States and is a WPP company. Douglas and UWG currently serve as the Chief Human Capital advisor to 4 of the 10 largest publicly traded companies on the planet. He is the founder of a UWG/WPP backed Venture Lab, the Freeman ROI Lab, focused on the Sports and Entertainment Industries. As of September 2022, he has been an Executive Instructor at Howard University’s Business School in Washington D.C., in the MBA and Executive Education programs. His Executive students range from the C-Suite of Warren Buffet’s largest company at Berkshire Hathaway to the most senior executives at Nigeria’s leading economic development organization.

Prior to UWG, Douglas served as the Interim Chief Human Resources Officer and CDO of Gold Coast Health Plan, a $1B Medicaid/care insurance plan with over 250,000 members in Ventura County/Los Angeles metro. Prior to Gold Coast, he founded Virtcom Consulting, a boutique strategy consultancy with offices in New York, Brussels and London. Virtcom developed a range of business innovations such as the World Diversity Leadership Summit, the first cross-sector global Human Capital and Demographics conference (over 3,000 attendees), hosted in locations from Prague to the United Nations, NYC. In May 2025, Douglas will host the 20th Anniversary edition of the WDLS at the United Nations, NYC. Before Virtcom, Freeman was the head of business development and operations group for Mondus, a B2B Internet startup founded by two Oxford Rhodes Scholars. His team sold the company for $582M to Siatte Pagine, a former Italia Telecom subsidiary. He has also been a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting and an Investment Banking Analyst at JPMorgan Chase.

Douglas has served as Vice Chair of the United Nations Gender Equality Experts Panel, was named a 40Under40 business leader by the NYC Network Journal and is a former board trustee of Georgetown College (US educational partner of Regents Park College, Oxford University). Douglas holds a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, attending as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley.

What is your connection to SMUS?

I am a 1988 graduate of SMUS who entered the school in 1982 as a sixth grader. I had the opportunity to experience life as a day student at the Junior School after spending two years at a public elementary school. Prior to this I was raised in Detroit, Michigan where I attended elementary school from Kindergarten to Grade 3. My parents decided to place me at SMUS at age 12 because I had revealed that I was not challenged academically at my public elementary school in Victoria. I was certainly incredibly happy that my parents recognized my developmental needs, as I flourished at SMUS ultimately graduating as an “all-rounder”: thriving in the arts, academics and athletics. In the arts, I was an alto saxophone player and had the opportunity to tour in Japan in my grade 11 year, performing at locations all around the country. In my grade 12 year, I performed the role of Judas in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Athletically, I played on the First XV Rugby team as a starter in both my Grade 11 and 12 years, and was the youngest player to start on the B.C. provincial under 19 Rugby team as a national winner at my first of three national championships. I was a Canadian under 21 representative prior to a forced retirement due to injury. Academically, I was a solid A-level student, and was accepted into all universities that I applied to, both in the USA and Canada.

Why do you want to be on the Board of Governors for SMUS?

Related to the previous question, my connection to the school continued beyond graduation, particularly when I resided in NYC. I was fortunate enough to remain connected to SMUS staff and administration, which afforded me the opportunity to host a number of SMUS Alumni events in New York City. I hosted in the range of 40 to 60 people at the Harvard Club of NYC (3 occasions) and at the NY Times HQ building, where alumni were able to walk through the NY Times Pulitzer Hall of Fame and meet legendary journalists. In 2013, I was honoured to receive the Alumni of the year award, which was extremely special for me, and in particular for my mother and father. Building on that ongoing relationship with the school, I was asked to speak in 2016 at the inaugural SMUS disruption conference, which was an amazing experience and wonderful community gathering. Following that, I was invited in 2018 to become a member of the SMUS Strategic Planning Committee, and in 2021 a member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Committee. I wanted to provide the context for an over 40-year pathway that my life and SMUS have maintained since entering the Junior School in 1982. Board participation to me is at its core about service to the school and its stakeholders - students, parents, staff, alumni and the community at large. I wanted to join the Board to help all SMUS stakeholders thrive, in service to all members of the SMUS community. Having served on the SMUS Board since October 2021, I have focused on my duty to all stakeholders in the SMUS community. I look forward to continuing to advance the mission of the school as a collaborative Board member, enabling the Board and the school to thrive moving forward.

What personal and professional experience would you bring to the Board if selected?

I have been afforded the opportunity to work with and for a number of the world’s leading organizations as a strategic advisory management consultant. Over the past 25 years, I have collaborated with leaders in the Mayor of London’s Diversity Works for London office and have served as the Chief Diversity advisor to the European Union’s Commissioner for Labour, Social Affairs and Equalities (the EU equivalent to the Minister of Labour in Canada). I lead one of the world’s foremost DEI Advisory firms and have built the first of its kind global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference (the World Diversity Leadership Summit, WDLS) which launched in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2004. This thought leadership gathering brought together multinational corporations, policy makers and multi-lateral organizations, and was hosted twice at the United Nations, the IMF, and Harvard Medical School. In May 2025, we celebrate 20 years of WDLS achievements at the United Nations. I have served on the Board of two academic institutions: at my alma mater on the Harvard JFK School of Government’s Alumni Leadership Board, as well as the Georgetown College Board. Currently, I serve on the Chicago Sinfonietta Symphony Orchestra Board, an organization that is the most diverse major Symphony Orchestra in the United States. I lead the International and New Markets Committee, am a member of the Executive Committee and was a member of the 2025 CEO Search Committee.

Prior to joining the Board, I hoped to bring the following:

• Creative ideas with rational implementation - offering different or unique perspectives and ideas, but recognizing that ideas need to be feasible and doable
• A local and global perspective - a strong feel for the culture of Victoria and Vancouver Island, along with insights and knowledge from experiences around the world
• Tradition and transformation - a commitment to the strong mores of SMUS, but with an eye toward consistent and continuous organizational improvement
• Bold and “bite-sized” approaches - I strive to push organizations to think boldly and think in terms of greatness, but realize that all organizations are stretched and can only effectively implement 1 to 2 priorities yearly in an effective manner.

As a Board member, there have been a number of opportunities to apply the aforementioned competencies to critical leadership situations and decisions.

Do you understand and agree to the principles of good governance as outlined on the Society Webpage?

Yes, I do. Moreover, the aim of the Board is to offer at its core, oversight of the Headmaster, Senior Leadership, support the school’s Mission and to be overseers of effective fiscal and budgetary management. All boards have a fiduciary responsibility to make solid, well-thought through decisions, and to effectively manage risk to the best of the Board’s abilities. The role of the Board is not to intervene in the day-to-day activities of the school, but to be strong stewards of the school’s traditions, support core stakeholders, guide discussions around the future, and position the school for ongoing success. Board Members are also role-models in the areas of philanthropy, service to non-profits, and service to society as a whole. Board members should represent themselves and the school with grace and dignity and should be role-modelling leadership in all avenues of work on behalf of the school. I believe I have applied these Good Governance principles as a Board representative.

Do you understand and support the Strategic Plan, Floreat, for SMUS?

Yes, I do. As mentioned earlier, I had the opportunity to serve on the Strategic Planning Committee, so I have an intimate understanding of the Strategic Plan. I do want to note that I am proud of my participation, and especially thankful for the opportunity to build the foundation plan for a bright SMUS future. As a member of the process, it was very important to me and my committee colleagues to get as broad a view and set of voices from as many stakeholders as possible. The Floreat plan was one of the most comprehensive data gathering efforts carried out by any independent school in Canada. It is the diversity of data points, and viewpoints that can serve as a great strength for the development of a strategic plan. The other extremely important consideration is the need to leverage our traditions, yet adapt to a rapidly changing world that is dramatically impacting core SMUS stakeholders. What is the SMUS role locally, regionally, nationally and globally in our disruptive and changing world? These and other major considerations were at the heart of the plan’s four Key Pillars:

• Foundation
• Preparation for Life
• Sustainability
• Community

There is a strong linkage between Foundation and Preparation for life because students require not just educational knowledge in preparatory school, but it takes a village, post SMUS, to build a great contributor to society. SMUS is starting to continue linkages via alumni, learning, ongoing engagement to offer further support, as students navigate the complexities of life. Sustainability and Community are intertwined as well, as a focus on sustainability not just at the school, but as a philosophy for contributing to society, by building not only a strong community internally, but continuing to participate and contributing to local, regional, national and global communities for life.

Do you understand and support the need for a culture of philanthropy at SMUS, both amongst the Society Members and the Board itself? If elected to the Board, please confirm that you plan to contribute to both the Annual Fund and the Journey for Life Campaign for each year that you are on the Board?

As mentioned previously, I donate to the school via a named scholarship, Journey for Life and alumni receptions. Philanthropy is an important element as SMUS grows and morphs as a great institution. However, the culture of Philanthropy may be different according to the cultural orientation of stakeholders. We must be sensitive to different cultural orientations around Philanthropy. For some stakeholders, the fees provided to SMUS may have been hard to manage and as a result, the notion or feeling is that “my work is done” upon graduation. For other stakeholders, there is a realization that SMUS is an organization that needs donors to not just survive but to thrive and excel. Recognizing these diametrically opposing cultures, the Board must serve as a source of credible education, to explain to all stakeholders the authentic and specific reasons for philanthropic contribution. I believe that the board must build trust with stakeholders, especially for those skeptical of philanthropic giving. This requires a constructive strategy to build relationships with alumni, to be sensitive to concerns that the school may focus too heavily on fundraising dollars from alumni versus supporting the growth and development of that stakeholder group. It is also important for Board members to role- model philanthropy to the greatest degree possible. In that regard, all Board members should contribute philanthropically to the highest possible level, according to a Board member’s circumstances. These actions serve to help the ongoing process of building a culture of philanthropy. Also, the school must at an early stage (pre-graduation) explain to students the culture of philanthropy and must be clear about why philanthropy matters post-graduation.

As a board member, I have increasingly grasped the necessity for developing a culture of philanthropy. The pressing challenges for SMUS in the short, medium and long-term around school expansion, financial aid and economic inclusion, require me as a board member to become as supportive as I can to achieve SMUS philanthropic goals. As a member of the Advancement committee, I have worked with not only my board colleagues, but the SMUS Advancement office, to offer any and all support for philanthropic initiatives - time, money, relationships and intellectual capital. Leveraging relationships and networks both within my year and outside, along with driving influence across these networks, has served as an effective informal means to drive home the importance of philanthropy. I will continue to drive a culture of giving, to ensure that the school remains a leader among independent schools.

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