Introducing Kimberly Freeman, USC Dornsife’s new diversity dean

Growing up in mid-city Los Angeles as the youngest member of a family of eight, Kimberly Freeman was a product of voluntary busing at her local public school.

Her parents were involved in their children’s education and her mother, in particular — a preschool teacher — was determined that all of her children would have access to the best education programs the city had to offer. This determination meant that Freeman frequently switched schools and she credits her mother’s deliberate choices with giving her a first valuable taste of diversity and inclusion. Indeed, she believes it was the first step in helping her acquire many of the valuable skills she brings to her new role as USC Dornsife’s new associate dean, chief diversity officer.

“Moving around forced me out of a comfort zone, even as a kid, and taught me that I had to make connections with people,” she said. “The thing that I learned very early on was how to network, make friends and represent myself and make sure that my voice was being heard. Even today, I find myself in settings that might terrify some people if they haven’t ventured too far outside of their own communities or had to interact with a diverse group of people. But that has never been my story. I hope it never is.”

Building an inclusive culture

Freeman comes to USC Dornsife from UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she served for four years as assistant dean for diversity initiatives and community relations. She is particularly proud of having grown programming for women, who are traditionally underrepresented in business schools.

Freeman’s primary goal in her new role is to build an inclusive culture at USC.

Freeman earned a bachelor’s in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley. As a student, she was active in the National Society of Black Engineers, a student-run, non-profit organization that built strong students, leaders, and professionals in the engineering and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.

Working in her first job out of college as an environmental engineering specialist for Southern California Gas Company fueled her interest in public policy. She earned her master’s from USC Price School of Public Policy and later an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. (She is now completing a doctorate in Education Leadership at UCLA.)

Although her plan was to work in Sacramento on energy policy, when the industry deregulated, she took a job as a lobbyist in San Francisco with SoCalGas’ parent company, Sempra Energy.

“Around this time, my work as a lobbyist gave me an appreciation for collaboration, team building and being an effective public speaker,” she said.

She also started volunteering as a board member for nonprofits, reinforcing her interest in leadership.

Promoted to director of community relations at SoCalGas, a position she held for 12 years, Freeman and her team were responsible for managing all of the nonprofit and philanthropic activity on behalf of the company.

Home to USC

If Freeman, a recipient of the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, could pick one thing that would define her, she says it would be travel.

“Whether at school, at work, or abroad, I have always been in settings where I’ve had to meet new people and learn about new cultures,” she said. “Those early experiences have informed my worldview, my professional choices and how I view the importance of diversity and inclusion in workplaces and on campuses like USC.”

Notwithstanding her love of travel, she said she’s glad to have returned to USC.

 “I’ve traveled back to USC for this next part of my career journey, and it feels like home. I love the integration of the campus with the community. I walked on campus the first day, and I already felt the connection.”