Bess Freedman (born May 31, 1969) is an American

businesswoman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

. She is currently the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Brown Harris Stevens Brown Harris Stevens is an American real estate service company headquartered in New York City with offices across the East Coast serving Connecticut, New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, the Hamptons, Palm Beach, and Miami. The original firm was found ...

. Previously, she also practiced law.

Career

Born in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, Freedman got her undergraduate degree from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...

and completed her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree at the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

. She practiced law as an Assistant State's Attorney and worked as an attorney at

Legal Aid Society The Legal Aid Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal aid provider based in New York City. Founded in 1876, it is the oldest and largest provider of legal aid in the United States. Its attorneys provide representation on criminal and civil mat ...

. In 2003, Freedman joined the

Corcoran Group Corcoran Group is an American real estate firm founded in 1973 by Barbara Corcoran. History Barbara Corcoran, a former diner waitress, founded her own real estate company in 1973 with a $1,000 loan. In 2001, Barbara Corcoran sold her company ...

, an American real estate firm. At the Corcoran Group, she served as Senior Managing Director for the East Side headquarters. In 2013, Freedman joined

(BHS) as Senior Vice President. In 2017, she was named co-president of BHS alongside Hall Willkie. Less than a year later, Freedman was appointed as the company's first CEO. In 2018, while at an event for the Asian Real Estate Association of America
Ms. Freedman made headlines
for publicly confronting John Catsimatidis, CEO of the Red Apple Group, for comments he made about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In 2020, Freedman became one of the first NYC-based brokerage leaders to offe
Election Day as a paid company holiday to all employees
nationwide. In 2022, when Roe vs. Wade was overturned, Ms. Freedman announced that Brown Harris Stevens woul
reimburse travel expenses up to $4,000
for any real estate agent or employee who must travel to access safe and legal reproductive healthcare.

References

Businesspeople from Troy, New York Ithaca College alumni University of the District of Columbia alumni Legal Aid Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Bess 1969 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers American women chief executives 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople