Our Mission
- Further develop vital life skills that are keys to success
- Receive monetary funds for the use of educational scholarships
- Enhance career and financial planning strategies through interactive workshops
- Educate and expose youth to the importance of practicing lifelong education
Our Workshops
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS & FINANCIAL PLANNING
- Discover the strategy, tools, and goals of the College Admissions process
- Learn the cost, life launch strategies, and process of college financial planning
- Bridge the gap of financing your education to your taxes, debt management, and financial goals
- Receive hands-on consultation that education institutions do not relay, from a team with 15+ years experience in Higher Education and Business arenas
DRESS-4-SUCCESS / GAME SKILLS
- The message read when you enter or exit a room
- How to grasp professionalism
- What employers are seeking in the interview
- Imagery begins from within
*If you plan to ever go on a date, enjoy the night-life, or attend a banquet, graduation, or reception, then this one is for you.
ETIQUETTE-101
- Dining and Dating Etiquette
- Confidence and Character Building
- Personal Branding and Social Media
- MEN – It is imperative to provide and protect for your woman but it is equally important to lead in love, affection, and prayer as well.
- WOMEN – It is imperative to know your self-worth but it is equally important to know what to look for in the man you ultimately desire.
*Chivalry is alive and well however it is a learned behavior. We equip young males to operate in a spirit of love and prepare young females how to identify males with those desired qualities.
Our History
The Free Man Beyond Me Foundation is a youth centered College, Career, and Life Planning resource. It is the result of merging business and personal experience with a passion for improving lives in under-served communities. The core purpose is to boost life launch endeavors and off-set college debt. The mission is accomplished by conducting college, career, and life planning strategies through interactive workshops.
In 2003, our Founder and Executive Director, Jerry A. Freeman, listened to the voice of his call to service. While rendering a financial management workshop at his home church, Townsend’s Temple, located in Bolton, NC, he made a pledge to someday start a scholarship foundation. After years of experience and exposure through career, personal, and business endeavors, as of November 18th, 2014, The Free Man Beyond Me Foundation, is an official IRS recognized non-profit organization.
We have moved with deliberate impact three years running. Our service workshops include; “College Admissions & Financial Planning”, “Dress 4 Success / Game Skills”, and “Etiquette-101”. These sessions equip our participants with life planning tools that are not taught in a high school or college classroom. Our scholarship applicants participate in rigorous interviews to display their skills gained and efforts to move from applicant to recipient.
Finally, leveraging passion for people development and key partnerships with school, business, political, and faith-based communities is the driving force to accomplishing goals and proficient operations.
Our Leadership
Jerry A. Freeman
Founder / Executive Director
Jerry is a native of Wilmington, NC. He earned his BS degree in Civil Engineering from NC A&T State University and holds an MBA in finance from Keller Graduate School of Management. His 19 year adult career began in Atlanta, GA in June of 1998, which covers 5 years in Project Management, 10 years in Post Secondary Education Management, and 2 years in the Banking arena. His professional experiences cover an array of capacities that include: Sales Management/Business Development, Real Estate Investment, and Non-Profit Service.
His passion for service and improving lives of African American youth was further fueled as he became a member of the Omicron Phi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in April of 2002. Jerry’s most humbling service endeavor is that he founded and is the active Executive Director of an official IRS recognized non-profit organization, coined the Free Man Beyond Me Foundation, specializing in College Admissions and Financial Planning as well as Career and Life Planning strategies. For the past three years running, FMBM has rendered signature workshops and provided $2,000 in annual scholarships to college bound HS seniors in rural NC communities.
Finally, Jerry is most blessed through God’s amazing grace to be newly married to TuRhonda S. Freeman as of March 2017.
TuRhonda S. Freeman
Vice Chairman
TuRhonda is a native of Centreville, MS. After graduating High School she moved to Atlanta, GA in 1999 to pursue her collegiate studies at Clark Atlanta University. Her 14 year adult career began with Marriott Hotels, where she gained a vast array of experience in Sales & Marketing, Event Planning, and Catering. Through years of preparation, planning, and sacrifice, in Spring 2013 TuRhonda pursued her entrepreneurial dreams and became a Franchisee with the Planet Smoothie brand. She is also a National Brand Ambassador for the Corporation, aiding perspective franchisees in opening their own stores. Most recently, on October 10, 2017, with the support of her husband, Jerry A. Freeman, she launched her second Planet Smoothie location in Atlanta, Ga.
Her passion for service and love for God’s people has been further fueled through serving as the Vice Chair of Free Man Beyond Me Foundation. She uses her life’s experiences, ministry platform, and passion for empowering women, to live a bolder life in Christ.
