Bio
Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D.
Accomplished author. Internationally sought-after conference speaker and workshop facilitator. Professional counselor. Success coach to executives. Behavioral analyst. Organizational culture change specialist. Corporate trainer. Recipient of numerous awards, citations and honors. Motivational consultant and mentor to pro athletes. Multiculturally astute, with travels to 50+ countries. Critical Incident Debriefing coach. Magazine publisher. Photographer. Passionate about dynamic, fun-filled excellence. Experiences an on-going love/hate relationship with technology. Devoted husband and father. Off-key singer and extremely bad dancer. A life motivated by curiosity. No Bull. No Hype.
Born in Maine (1954) and raised in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Joel A. Freeman brings a rich reservoir of personal experience blended with contagious enthusiasm, clarity and down to earth humor to empower people from diverse walks of life with improved communication skills and maximized productivity. “Dealing With People Who Drive You Crazy!”® is not only the brand for his company, but also is the title of the most requested seminar experience… with a book in the works.
The Freeman Institute® (TFI), of which Dr. Freeman is CEO/President, is a company with seven main arenas of expertise:
i. Workshop / Seminar / Retreat Facilitation / Keynote Addresses
ii. Reality-Based Organizational Culture Change
iii. Executive Success Coaching / Critical Incident Debriefings
iv. Black History Presentations / Diversity (Diversity Day)
& Cultural Awareness
v. Entrepreneurship / Business Intelligence and Creativity
vi. Open Registration Seminar Events — example: Hampton Roads, VA
vii. The Freeman Institute® Foundation
Freeman participated in a Pan African Conference (Fall, 2002) addressing tribal warfare, AIDS and conflict management, with well over 100 African Kings and Queens in attendance (Benin, West Africa). Dr. Freeman is currently working on several films including, African Kings: A Journey Into The Past, Present and Future of African Kingdoms.
A seasoned, well-traveled veteran, Joel has an impressive list of satisfied clients ranging from the Prime Minister of Grenada and senior officials of Barbados to E! Entertainment Television, Blacks In Government (BIG), NASA, Verizon, FBI, GE, EMI Music Group, Ikea, NRC, CDC, YPO, National Security Agency, NIH, Association of International Schools of Africa (AISA), US Sentencing Commission, Billboard Music Group, Black Public Relations Society, European Council of International Schools (ECIS), many pro athletes and executives around the globe.
With well over a half a million copies in print, Freeman’s seven books and three DVDs have received rave reviews worldwide, endorsed by notables like Steve Forbes, Bill Cosby, Julius (Dr. J) Erving, Cathy Hughes, Ben Carson, Brian Tracy, Joe Frazier, Teri Woods, Ken Blanchard, Rich DeVos, George Fraser, Pat Williams and Billy Graham — books published in 28 foreign translations:
1. RETURN TO GLORY®: The Powerful Stirring of the Black Man
(book/audio book & film)
2. KINGDOM ZOOLOGY: Dealing With the Wolves, Serpents and Swine in
Your Life
3. LIVING WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE WITHOUT GOING CRAZY
4. When Life Isn’t Fair: Making Sense Out of Suffering
5. A White Man’s Journey Into Black History® — (2-hour DVD)
6. Professional Bloodsuckers: Dealing With the People Who Drain You of
Your Time, Energy and Patience — (26-minute video VHS)
7. Dealing With People Who Drive You Crazy!® (4-hour VHS album)
8. If Nobody Loves You, Create The Demand® – (book/workbook/audio
book combination)
9. The Moment — Want to participate?
For 19 wonderful seasons Freeman served as veteran mentor/chaplain for NBA’s Washington Bullets / Wizards (’79-’98). Quite a number of pro athletes from basketball and hockey to football and baseball have consulted with him on a variety of personal and professional matters. He has served as mentor to Sports World (’98-’04), an organization with 13-15 ex-pro athletes who speak to close to a million young people every year. Freeman is a Diplomate member of the International Sports Professionals Association (ISPA).
Listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World, Dr. Freeman holds a master of science degree in the field of counseling from Loyola College (Baltimore) and also a Ph.D. in the same discipline. A number of his Ancient Egyptian photographs have been published by McGraw-Hill, Teaching and Learning, Rosh Gadol (Israeli science magazine for kids), Nelson Educational, the Pharaoh’s Curse video game and utilized in countless educational settings.
As a State of Maryland Board certified professional counselor (inactive) and behavioral analyst, he specializes in equipping individuals with the tools to create proactive, motivated personal and business environments. His initiatives in government agencies, the corporate world, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations have received exceptional evaluations and references because of his articulate, entertaining, and thought-provoking style of communication.
Dr. Freeman is the Founder of The Freeman Institute® Foundation. — Funds are being raised to donate a copy of a number of resources, including the Return To Glory film (and other resources) to prisons, jails, juvenile detention facilities and schools in America. Recently the award-wining film was translated into French, Portuguese and Spanish. This translation work will permit the Foundation to donate copies of the DVD across Africa, parts of Europe and South America and the Caribbean. Future plans include utilizing The Freeman Institute® Black History Collection to set up Black History galleries in many major cities across America and also in selected cities internationally.
Dr. Freeman has been the recipient of numerous awards, citations, and honors. An example of one is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We Share The Dream” Award, with Baltimore Mayor as keynote speaker and the Maryland Governor as another honoree at the oldest annual MLK awards dinner event (est. 1988) in the Baltimore/Washington region.
Dr. Freeman is a popular speaker on the topic of Black History, speaking at Blacks In Government, NASA, Department of Justice, NIH, Verizon, ICE, Frostburg State University, Walter Reed Medical Center, AISA (Association of International Schools of Africa), FBI, ASALH (Assoc. for the Study of African American Life & History), Baltimore City Community College, Los Alamos National Laboratory and many other organizations around the world. On certain occasions, Freeman will bring 20-30 pieces of the TFI Black History Collection when invited to speak on the intriguing topic, “A White Man’s Journey Into Black History“®. Freeman collects and studies vintage handwritten letters and first edition books, especially from the 16th-19th centuries. He’s a big fan of primary source material.
In 1980, Dr. Freeman initiated the idea for The Shepherd’s Guide, a comprehensive directory of values-centered businesses in Baltimore. Today, under the guidance of Doug Scheidt (owner and president), 3.5 million copies of The Shepherd’s Guide are distributed annually. With more than 30,000 advertisers represented, the directories are now available for free in 125 different cities across the U.S.A., Canada and Puerto Rico. For a number of years Dr. Freeman served as business mentor and chaplain to the franchisees of The Shepherd’s Guide.
Ever the educational entrepreneur, Dr. Freeman is developing eight models of the famous Rosetta Stone, including a full-size, museum-quality 3-D replica, a “lost wax” fine art bronze, a 3-D digital holographic image, etc. Dr. Freeman officially launched the Rosetta Stone replica project at the Library of Congress (DC), with his popular presentation, “The Mysterious Rosetta Stone.”
As the Editor-in-Chief of the 32-page everyday matters® magazine, Freeman has developed a unique model designed to strengthen families by addressing felt-need issues like child rearing, emotional intelligence, dealing with aging parent, cyberbullying, etc. — along with compelling interviews with such notables as Dr. Ben Carson. The goal is to create regional distribution pockets with this free magazine throughout North America and the rest of the English-speaking world.
Dr. Freeman is the host of “The Entrepreneurial Connection” — a set of 72 free radio 5-minute programs being picked up by radio networks around the world. As a member of the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA) Dr. Freeman loves doing presentations on college campuses on various topics: the entrepreneurial journey, leadership, multicultural competency, emotional intelligence in corporate life, and more.
A number of years ago, Joel promised his children that when they reach 15 each one could go anywhere in the world with him. Feel free to read about these trips and view some pictures. Freeman says, No matter where I travel, the human experience is similar and familiar. Parents want their children to receive a good education and marry a fine match. People of all nations yearn for the same things: economic independence, safety, housing, basic human rights and a greater purpose for their lives.”
Freeman has been quoted or written about in many articles and periodicals including: Washington Times, Maryland Gazette, Loyola Magazine, Diversity, Inc., JobWeek, Nation News (Barbados), Atlanta Constitution-Journal, New York Times, York Daily Record, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, The Guardian (Nigeria), NBA News and many others.
Dr. Freeman has special interest in the archaeology, history and geography of the land of Israel and surrounding countries in the Middle East. His depth of knowledge of that region of the world permits him to function periodically as a guide for groups traveling to that area.
A student of human behavior, Joel gets great delight out of watching “the lights go on” as people of all shapes, sizes, and colors increase the quality of their understanding about themselves and others.
Of added interest, Freeman’s grandfather (on his mother’s side), Gerhard Schroeder, was the Volost Secretary of the White Army during the Russian Revolution.
Contact: Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D.
Email: joel@blogrosettastone.com
Phone: 410-729-4011
Web: www.RosettaStoneReplicas.com
www.FreemanInstitute.com
