Katherine Freund

Katherine Freund (born May 5, 1950) is an American activist who has spent decades of her life on alternative senior transportation solutions. She founded the Independent Transportation Network (ITN) in 1995, which in 2005 grew into ITNAmerica, a nonprofit transportation network for seniors and people with visual impairments in the United States. Freund has acted through her organization to offer dignified transportation alternatives for more than two decades, giving more than 1 million rides to older people and visually impaired individuals to date.

Katherine Freund
Born
Katherine Freund

(1950-05-05) May 5, 1950
Long Island, New York, US
Alma materUniversity at Buffalo (B.A.)
University of Southern Maine (M.A.)
OccupationPresident of ITNAmerica
Children2
WebsiteOfficial website

Her work has been recognized through various national and international honors, including her election to a 2012 Ashoka Fellowship and as an AARP Inspire Award Nominee in 2009.[1][2]

Early life

Freund was born on Mitchel Field Air Force Base, Long Island, New York.

She attended Levittown Memorial High School, and completed her degree in English Literature at University at Buffalo in 1972. She then attended graduate school for English Literature at the University of Washington but did not earn a degree. After enjoying a career as a florist, gardening columnist and gardening TV show host, she later pursued a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.

Move into alternative senior transportation

In 1988 Freund's three-year-old son, Ryan, was run over by an 84-year-old driver who claimed to have mistaken her son for a dog.[3] He survived a traumatic brain injury that resulted from the accident.[4]

Freund drew inspiration from the incident to seek solutions to the dangers inherent when seniors and visually impaired people drive. She pursued solutions through both policy and local action. She chaired the Maine's Task Force to Study the Safe Mobility of Maine’s Aging Population, created by the Maine Legislature in 1993. This work helped her eventually conceive of an organization that would provide rides in private automobiles, recreating the comfort, independence and dignity that individuals experience when they drive their own cars. She founded the Independent Transportation Network (ITN) in 1995, and developed an early social entrepreneurship model over time as she refined the service through research and experience. ITN was initially funded by AARP, the Federal Transit Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Transportation Research Board and numerous private philanthropies as it grew into a sustainable organization with a replicable model.

In 2005, with a business planning grant from the Federal Transit Administration and the Atlantic Philanthropies, Freund founded ITNAmerica. In 2006, the Atlantic Philanthropies funded the national rollout of the ITN model and helped to create the ITNAmerica transportation network. She was also appointed by former President George W. Bush to the Advisory Committee for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.

In addition to serving as President of ITNAmerica, Freund currently serves on the Transportation Research Board's Committee on the Safe Mobility of Seniors and co-chairs TRB’s Joint Subcommittee on Transportation Options for Seniors.

ITNAmerica continues to conduct research, work on policy issues, and provide education to promote safety and mobility for older people. As of August 2018, ITNAmerica operates through 13 affiliated communities in 12 states.

Family and personal life

Freund lives in Portland, Maine. She has one daughter, one son, and three grandchildren.

Awards and honors

Freund has conducted 14 National Transit Institute Workshops, and participated in more than 150 national and international panels, conference sessions, and speaking engagements on alternative transportation for seniors. Among other places, she has presented on her organization's work in Australia, Canada, Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan.

Publications
  • "Aging, Mobility and the Model T: Approaches to Smart Community Transportation," Generations, Journal of the American Society on Aging, pp. 76-81, Freund and Vine, Fall 2010.
  • "Dignified Transportation for Seniors," CCQ Capital Commons Quarterly, pp.13-16, July 2008.
  • "Public and Private Policy Initiatives to Move Seniors Forward," Public Policy and Aging Report, pp.1-5, Staplin and Freund, Spring 2005.
  • "Mobility and Older People," Generations, Journal of the American Society on Aging, pp. 68-69, Summer 2003.
  • "Independent Transportation Network®: The Next Best Thing to Driving," Generations, Journal of the American Society on Aging, pp. 70-71, Summer 2003.
  • "Surviving Without Driving: Policy Options for Safe and Sustainable Transportation for Seniors," Transportation in an Aging Society: A Decade of Experience, Transportation Research Board, pp.114-121, 2004.
  • "Transportation on the Horizon," Mobility and Transportation in the Elderly, pp.145-155. Schaie, Pietrucha, ed., Societal Impact on Aging, Springer Series, 2000.
  • "Independent Transportation Network®, Alternative Transportation for the Elderly," TR News, pp. 3 –12, Jan/Feb 2000.
  • "Transportation Solutions on Horizon," Aging Today, p.10, January/February 1998.
  • "Build it and They Will Come," Transportation, pp.12-15, September/October 1998.
  • "How to Deal with Aging Drivers," Eye on Washington, Maine Sunday Telegram, p.1, Section C, August 2, 1998.

References
  1. Katherine Freund. "Katherine Freund | Ashoka - USA". Usa.ashoka.org. Archived from the original on 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  2. Treen, Joe. "Transportation Activist Katherine Freund Inspire Awards 2009 Honoree - AARP". Aarp ... Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  3. "Here's How To Get Dangerous Older Drivers Off The Road". Huffingtonpost.com. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  4. "How The Story Of One 3-Year-Old Boy Started A Senior Mobility Movement". Forbes. 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  5. Greene, Kelly (2008-02-16). "12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement". WSJ. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  6. "Awardees - Maxwell A. Pollack Award". Prod.geron.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  7. "Archstone Foundation : 2004 Award For excellence in Program Innovation" (PDF). Archstone.org. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  8. "Giraffe Heroes Database - Freund, Katherine". Giraffeheroes.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.