Richard is an attorney, educator, and human and civil rights activist. He is recognized throughout the

USA, South America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean for his social and educational service to underdeveloped

communities and underserved African-descendant populations. He currently serves as the President of the Joe

Beasley Foundation, Inc., an international humanitarian organization, as well as the Executive Vice President and

General Counsel of Cleveland Carter Enterprises, Inc., a construction firm and licensed utility contractor, specializing

in water, sewer, and storm drain services.

Mr. Freeman was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the youngest of five siblings of Clifford and Susan Freeman, who

were divorced shortly after his birth. Unfortunately, Mr. Freeman never lived in a household headed by his father

and regrets that circumstance to this day. The absence of a father in the home has shaped Mr. Freeman’s dedication

to and passion for serving as a surrogate father to young people not only in the USA, but throughout the world.

Mr. Freeman is a life-long member of the Congregational Church. During his formative years, Freeman was a member

of the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, where was mentored by the Rev. Theodore S. Ledbetter, Sr., and his

successor, Rev. Edwin Edmonds. At a young age, Freeman demonstrated exceptional academic and athletic ability

and was accepted into Yale University’s Ulysses S. Grant Scholarship Program, which afforded inner city Black

children intensive tutoring in Math, English, Latin, and French. Having successfully completed a rigorous two-year

course of study in that program, Freeman won a scholarship to a preparatory school, The Hotchkiss School of

Lakeville, CT. Thereafter he won scholarships to Coe College for undergraduate studies in political science and

business administration, and finally he won the Martin Luther King Scholarship to Drake University Law School.

Prior to entering Law school, Freeman was eminently involved in the provision of social and substance abuse

services. He was appointed at a young age to serve as the Assistant City Manager of the City of Des Moines, Iowa,

was elected as the President of the National Association of Substance Abuse Workers and was subsequently invited

by then Gov. Jimmy Carter to come to Atlanta to provide inner city services to disadvantaged youth. In that capacity,

Freeman worked closely with the Rev. Joe E Boone and developed proposals that secured governmental funding to

underwrite social services and substance abuse programming.

After law school, Freeman served as an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Labor Relations

Authority and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While at the EEOC, Freeman served as lead

attorney in some of the largest cases in EEOC history, involving the then largest corporations in the world, including

General Motors ($50 million consent decree), The Ford Motor Company ($25 million consent decree) and Cargill, the

large food manufacturer, and J.P. Stevens, Inc., one of the nation’s largest textile manufacturers, (two more multi-

million dollar consent decrees). Since leaving his civil service career, Mr. Freeman has been primarily involved in the

areas of higher education and the international human rights. He has served as the head of three DeVry University

campuses, has taught business law and international law at a variety of institutions, and was the founder of Adam

International University.