The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has announced Nicole Sherard-Freeman as its new chief operating officer. We are looking forward to welcoming Nicole to our CMF community of philanthropy!
Content excerpted and adapted from a Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan press release.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM) has announced Nicole Sherard-Freeman as its new chief operating officer.
In this new role, Sherard-Freeman will join the foundation’s leadership team and report to Richard (Ric) DeVore, president of CFSEM. She will oversee the foundation’s donor services, finance, grantmaking services, information technology, program and the New Economy Initiative (NEI) teams.
“We are thrilled to have a proven leader with Nicole’s experience join the Community Foundation,” DeVore said. “She has established herself as a results-oriented collaborator across public-private partnerships, with a commitment to under-resourced communities and communities of color. We look forward to having Nicole join our leadership team at this exciting time when we are charting our future strategic plan.”
Sherard-Freeman joined the city of Detroit in 2019 as the executive director of Workforce Development and Detroit at Work. Prior to that, she served as the president & CEO of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation. From 2014 to 2018 Sherard-Freeman was managing director for Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, a national research-to-action nonprofit that most notably led JPMorgan Chase’s New Skills at Work portfolio in Detroit. She also held leadership positions in banking, global business-to-business services and was a successful entrepreneur in Metro Detroit for three years.
“Nicole has been a tremendous asset to our city and to my administration,” Mayor Mike Duggan, city of Detroit said. “Her leadership in creating Detroit at Work and guiding our successful job attraction efforts has changed the trajectory of thousands of Detroiters’ lives for the better. She will bring that same level of outstanding leadership to the community foundation, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in her new capacity.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Sherard-Freeman is a proud graduate of the Detroit Public School system. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and has completed graduate studies in Organizational Management and Development at Fielding Graduate University. She serves on the national board of WorkRise: An Urban Institute Initiative and serves locally on the boards of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. She is a guest lecturer at University of Michigan.
“The past six years with Mayor Duggan and his administration have been the most impactful of my entire career,” Sherard-Freeman said. “I’m excited to bring the experience, relationships, and perspective I’ve gained in Detroit to the community foundation team as we advance our strategy for permanent, positive change in the region.”
Sherard-Freeman has been recognized for her leadership, including Michigan Chronicle’s Women of Excellence; Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Women in Non-Profits, 50 Names to Know in Government and 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan; and Axios Detroit 2022 Power Players.
We look forward to welcoming Sherard-Freeman to our CMF community of philanthropy!
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