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Gwendolyn S. King, President and Founder

Prior to her launch of Podium Prose, Mrs. King was Senior Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs for PECO Energy Company (formerly Philadelphia Electric Company) from 1992 until her retirement in February 1998. From 1989 to 1992, she served as the 11th Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

Mrs. King was a Founding Partner of The Directors’ Council, a for-profit group committed to increasing the number of women and minorities on corporate boards. She is a director of Lockheed Martin Corporation, Monsanto Company, Marsh and McLennan Companies, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mrs. King is a trustee of the Council for Excellence in Government and the Barnes Foundation. She is a Director Emeritus of Countrywide Financial Corporation.

Mrs. King graduated cum laude from Howard University in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in French and Education, and from 1972 to 1974 did graduate work at George Washington University. She has received honorary doctorates from the University of New Haven and the University of Maryland Baltimore County; the Howard University Alumni Award for Postgraduate Achievement; the American Black Achievement Award from Johnson Publishing Company; and the Drum Major for Justice Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Michael Freeman, Managing Partner

Mr. Freeman has been involved in government, corporate and non-profit communications in the Washington, DC area for over 25 years. In addition to serving as managing partner of Podium Prose, he is executive vice president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of chief executives of the nation’s leading health care companies and organizations.

Prior to that, Mr. Freeman was chief speechwriter for the Social Security Administration. While in that post, he was honored by the National Association of Government Communicators as the nation’s top government speechwriter. He was also president of the Freeman Masters Group, an Alexandria, Virginia-based communications firm that provided consulting services to a variety of for-profit, non-profit and government clients.

Mr. Freeman came to Washington, DC in 1980 as press secretary for U.S. Senator James Abdnor (R-SD) and also served as the primary press spokesperson for the congressional Joint Economic Committee. From 1987 to 1988, he was communications staff director for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under then-Chairman Clarence Thomas.

To e-mail Michael, write to mfreeman@podiumprose.com