Marc Friedman (BBA ’82, Marketing) is Chief Operating Officer (COO) and co-founder of buildOn – an international nonprofit building schools in developing countries and helping at-risk youth in the U.S. connect with service opportunities.
In the late 80's Marc met Jim Ziolkowski – when Jim spoke about a remote village of Nepal that celebrated the opening of its first school. He mentioned how moved he was by the community’s commitment to education and their resilience in the face of extreme poverty. Jim wanted to bring that same kind of experience to American youth – Marc jumped at the chance to help.
Marc started at buildOn when it was just a handful of people – everyone doing a little bit of everything. At the time, Marc was COO for ET Systems – but spent his free time working at buildOn. In 1997, Marc joined the buildOn family full-time.
As buildOn grew, Marc focused his strengths in business on fund raising. He attributes a bit of his expertise to Western, “I spent many hours raising money for the WMU Alumni Association under the direction of Jamie Jeremy. This is where I honed my fund raising skills.”
From volunteering in the U.S. to working in buildOn’s current project countries – Malawi, Mali, Haiti, Nepal and Nicaragua – Marc believes in staying connected to the mission and the people on the ground.
BuildOn’s work is invaluable to the populations they serve. In addition to building schools, adult literacy classes are offered – many adults (mostly women) are learning to hold a pencil for the first time. They understand how important literacy is and – by the light of lanterns – are learning how to read, write and do math.
In its first 20 years, buildOn has built 453 schools in remote villages, mobilized youth in the U.S. – contributing close to 1 million hours of service where 95% of U.S. high school seniors involved with buildOn graduate and go on to college.
Marc commented on his time at WMU in relation to his career path, “I was afforded so many opportunities to develop my leadership and business skills. I was student chair for Homecoming, leader in the Marching Band, and president of the Burnham Hall Council. These roles and experiences still shape the work I’m doing today.”
To learn more, please follow the link below:
WEBSITE – BUILDON
If you are interested in contacting Marc directly he has offered his email address, marc.friedman@buildon.org