Outward Bound Wilderness Names New President
G.P. Michael “Mickey” Freeman to Lead Wilderness Expeditions Division
Garrison, NY – April 18, 2006 – Outward Bound, a 40 year-old, national non-profit, experiential education organization, announced today that G.P. Michael Freeman has been named president of Outward Bound Wilderness, a division of Outward Bound.
Mr. Freeman has held executive level positions at emerging companies for over 15 years, specializing in general management, strategic positioning, business development, and sales and marketing. Most recently, Mr. Freeman was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer for BizAir Ventures, LLC, an innovative, Atlanta-based regional transportation company where he defined local and national markets, negotiated operating agreements, and launched the company’s sales and marketing campaign.
“Outward Bound Wilderness has undergone significant change over the past two years,” said John Read, President and Chief Executive Officer of Outward Bound, “and Mickey Freeman brings with him the experience, attitude and entrepreneurial spirit that will bring additional momentum to this renewal. He shares our commitment to balancing a reverence for our past and core values with the drive to remain relevant, nimble and responsive to the changing needs of the students we serve.”
Outward Bound Wilderness is the nation’s leading, non-profit, adventure-education organization. Offering more than 500 expeditions year round and multiple activities, Outward Bound Wilderness serves over 6,000 students annually. Outward Bound Wilderness is the flagship division of Outward Bound, and was launched in the US in 1962. Today, courses continue to emphasize personal growth through hands-on experience and challenges. Students of all ages develop self-reliance, responsibility, teamwork, confidence and compassion, as well as environmental and community stewardship.
“As an Outward Bound Wilderness alumnus of two courses, I experienced first-hand the positive influence that these transformative wilderness experiences can have and always respected the mission and core values of this organization,” said Mr. Freeman. “Outward Bound Wilderness is a national treasure. I am motivated to extend our mission and capabilities and focused on delivering the nation’s safest, largest wilderness adventure experience uniquely committed to inspire personal challenge.”
Prior to BizAir Ventures, Mr. Freeman served in various general management and senior functional capacities for LoyaltyPoint / Schoolpop Inc., Shoptalk Inc., HotOffice Technologies and Sprint Corp. Mr. Freeman holds a B.A. from UNCG and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
About Outward Bound
Outward Bound is the leading, non-profit adventure-education organization comprised of four nationwide programs and two urban centers. The programs/centers serve individuals through wilderness expeditions (Outward Bound Wilderness), business and professional organizations (Outward Bound Professional), school systems (Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound), youth at risk (Outward Bound Discovery) and communities (The Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Center and Philadelphia Outward Bound Center). Each Outward Bound program emphasizes personal growth through experience and challenge and facilitates self-reliance, responsibility, teamwork, confidence, compassion, and environmental and community stewardship. Outward Bound is celebrating 45 years of experiential education, touching the lives of over 60,000 individuals a year.