Mark Freund, a longtime school leader with Lasallian ties, has been selected as the next executive director of the Christian Brothers Conference Office for Lasallian Education.
Freund, a lifelong Catholic and native of Baltimore, Maryland, currently serves as principal of Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Florida, a school that is in the process of becoming affiliated with the Lasallian mission through the District of Eastern North America. He brings more than 30 years experience as a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools. Freund is a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, a Lasallian school in Towson, Maryland. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Towson University in Towson and a master’s degree in education from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore.
As executive director, Freund will promote the Lasallian mission and assume a leadership role in representing Lasallian Education at the national and international levels. He will also oversee activities designed to serve ministries in the Lasallian Region of North America, including developing formation programs, fundraising, and representing the mission to the Catholic Church, to educational, civic, and governmental entities, and to business and philanthropic organizations.
Charlie Legendre, AFSC, chair of the Lasallian Education Council, the board to which Freund will report, welcomed Freund and praised his record of success.
“Mr. Freund brings extensive experience in Catholic education as a teacher and effective school leader,” said Legendre. “His record of animation and organization in schools, his demonstrated success in development, finance and strategic planning, and his collaborative approach to leadership will serve the Region well. Mr. Freund’s deep faith and affinity for the Lasallian charism led him to seek the position as executive director. We are grateful for his openness to God’s call to serve the Lasallian family of the Region.”
Freund’s Lasallian background also includes participation in a formation program and conferences. This summer, Freund will complete his final year of the Buttimer Institute of Lasallian Studies, a three-year intensive formation program studying the life and work of St. La Salle and the origins of the mission. He has also attended Lasallian Association of Secondary School Chief Administrators conferences.
“I look forward to learning more about the work of Lasallians and their ministries throughout the Region as we walk together in fulfilling our shared Lasallian vision,” said Freund. “The opportunity to serve the mission is an honor for me, as someone who was taught by Lasallians in a way that was, in a very real sense, transformative.”
Freund’s hiring comes after a nationwide search led by Catholic School Management. He will join the Washington, D.C-based office in mid-September 2015.