Eric Fridman

Biography

Eric Fridman, principal of Fridman Associates LLC, has spent the better part of his 30-year professional career as a marketing, communications, and strategy executive helping high-technology companies and universities tell their stories of who they are, what they do, how they’re different, and why that matters. He now teaches, consults, and maintains an executive coaching practice, supporting individuals and organizations who want to develop skills and behaviors that will make them more successful and their work more fulfilling and meaningful.

For 15 years Fridman held senior leadership positions at Northwestern University, including assistant dean of marketing and communications for the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, managing director of marketing and communications for the Kellogg School of Management, and assistant dean of marketing for the Kellogg School’s executive education and executive MBA programs. Prior to his years at Northwestern, Fridman spent 20 years working for telecommunications and computer networking companies in a variety of sales, marketing, and strategic planning roles. He graduated from Denison University with a major in European history, earned a master’s degree in humanities from the University of Chicago, and received his MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management. He has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses at Northwestern and DePaul universities in leadership development, leading high-impact teams, organizational change. Currently, Fridman co-teaches two courses in the MSLOC program: “Accelerating Learning and Performance” and “Building Transformative Client Relationships.” He also serves as an MSLOC ILP coach and supports the Kellogg School’s Executive MBA program as a leadership coach and team facilitator.

A graduate of the inaugural cohort of MSLOC’s Organizational and Leadership Coaching Certification program, Fridman is a passionate student of how adults learn, grow, and build expertise, as well as how models of organization and leadership development evolve in response to shifting organizational priorities and market realities. He has extensive experience in marketing strategy and implementation, executive communications, institutional branding, electronic and social media, business development, team building, strategic planning, and executive coaching.

Fridman serves as president of The Chasing Hope Foundation, an advocate for supportive housing that provides safe and structured living space for children who are suffering from mental illness and are enrolled in therapeutic day schools. He is also on the advisory board of id8TE, a startup that provides research and education mapping wisdom practices to the real-world transformation of business leadership, innovation, communication, engagement, and productivity. Fridman volunteers as a coach with One Million Degrees, an organization that empowers low-income, highly-motivated community college students to succeed in school, in work, and in life. He is married with two adult children and lives in Glenview, Illinois.