Pam began her career as an advertising executive, working on global consumer brands, before becoming the VP of International Ad Sales Marketing for Time Warner-Turner (TWT) in New York. While at TWT, she managed marketing teams that were charged with finding innovative ways to drive incremental client revenue for CNN, TNT, and Cartoon Network in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
With her success at TWT, Pam was recruited to design and launch an integrated marketing division for the CBS Corporation. Following Viacom's acquisition of CBS, Pam was elevated to the role of SVP, Viacom Plus, a division she built and co-led.
Following the birth of her twin daughters, Pam left corporate life and launched Swiftwater Consultants. Her first project was to develop the marketing plan for the 2005 launch of a highly diverse, independent high school in Los Angeles. The deep learning from this experience helped to further ignite Pam's passion for educational equity and access. She has continued to consult in the education space while serving on both national and international nonprofit education boards.
In 2021, Pam participated in Harvard's Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), a one-year, in-residence program focused on social impact. While there, Pam developed a capacity-building non-profit that supports education organizations dedicated to creating college pathways for first-generation, low-income students. With the support of her partners, EdAccess Lab continues to grow and evolve as it prepares for its national launch.
Currently, Pam serves as Chair of the board of directors of ASSIST Scholars, Inc. and as a board member for Breakthrough Collaborative, Mindful Philanthropy and the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact. She also enjoys the honor of mentoring first-generation women at Dartmouth College.
Pam earned her BA from Dartmouth College and her M.Ed. from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. She lives with her husband, Randy Freer, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and cherishes every moment she gets with her young adult daughters.