Annie Foster Freedland

annie.freedland@harperfoster.com

Actress / Philanthropist / Jewelry Designer / Mother / Wife

After growing up in San Marino, California, and attending USC, Annie's professional modeling and acting career spanned more than four decades.  In 1971, she began her career as a top model at the legendary Wilhelmina Agency and was later recruited to join Eileen Ford's agency, The Fords.  

Annie has starred in over 50 national commercial campaigns, from the iconic Coppertone billboard and ad (she was the "green bathing suit") to replacing Pam Austin as the Dodge spokesperson to serving as the original Hertz spokesperson (before OJ).  She is fond of saying "I have sold you everything but a coffee!" when asked why she looks so familiar.  Along the way, Annie appeared in several TV series, including Starsky & Hutch (as Hutch's girlfriend Abby), Happening!, and Barnaby Jones.

It is less well known that Annie’s ancestors played an important role in settling New England.  Her direct descendant, Reverend Ralph Wheelock, founded the towns of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts, and was the first public school teacher in America.  Reverend Ralph Wheelock helped raise the initial funding to found Harvard College in 1653, and his great-grandson, Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, founded Dartmouth College in 1769. 

She is equally proud that her cousin Leolyn Everett Spelman, who donated the family's Villa Spelman in Florence, Italy, to Johns Hopkins University, which used it for over 25 years to host the Johns Hopkins Center for European Studies.  Annie is currently researching Leolyn's life story as part of a plan to film a documentary on her amazing life.

Everyone who knows Annie has experienced her commitment to any number of charities to which she has lent her time and considerable fundraising efforts.  And she is most proud that she has accomplished all of this while raising a wonderful family including three children and one granddaughter. 

Most of all, they remember Annie's warmth, her smile, and her interest in everyone she meets.

 howard@haperfoster.com 

𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 | 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 | 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿 | Entrepreneur

Trusted strategic advisor and CEO coach with deep expertise in fostering open dialogue, building consensus, and guiding executive decision-making. Noted for strategic foresight, identifying emerging business opportunities, blending cross-industry experience, creative problem-solving, and incisive questions to unlock breakthrough solutions. Mentor leadership teams to align on vision while navigating complex challenges. An influential business partner and complex problem-solver with talent for cultivating high-trust cultures from the C-suite to the frontlines, driving alignment and breakthrough performance. Significant Board Experience across multiple industries and companies, from start-ups to public companies.

CORE COMPETENCIES

■ Board Director

■ Executive Coaching

■ Strategic Leadership

■ Corporate Strategy

■ Executive Leadership

■ CEO Mentor and Advisor

■ Strategic Planning

■ Board Governance

■ Corporate Governance

■ Business Transformation

■ Audit Committee

■ Finance Committee

■ Cybersecurity Oversight

■ Enterprise Risk Assessment & Management

■ Capital Market Strategy

■ Cross-Functional Oversight

■ Crisis Management

CORPORATE BOARD MEMBER & ADVISORY BOARDS

■ Board Member & Consultant (Private) | Lending USA

Scaled a leading consumer lender from seed stage to a national platform. Chaired audit, finance, compliance, cybersecurity, and governance committees while supporting capital raising and credit facility negotiations. Served on board since its inception.

■ Board Member | Maxicare Health Plans (Public)

Negotiated the spin-out of Maxicare from Fremont General. Raised $200M in equity and debt from IPO and follow-on debt offering as the Finance Committee Chairman.

■ Board Member | Stars to Go (Public)

Co-founded the company and recruited a COO for high-growth operations. Negotiated deals to put video tape kiosks in all Seven-eleven and Circle K convenience stores. Chaired the finance committee to execute a successful IPO within one year of founding the company.

■ Other Public Boards: TFC Telecommunications, Cable Advertising Systems

■ Advisory Boards

• Advisory Board Member: Empower America
• Advisory Board Member: Save Venice
• Advisory Board Member: Zacchary Opera Auditions
• Advisory Board Member | National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)
• Chairman of Advisory Board | Residential Utility Billing Society (RUBS)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

■ Invested $10 million in seed money and raised an additional $50 million in seed money through Online Lending Partners. Coached the LendingUSA CEO as a Board Member and Consultant for 11 years, raising $220M+ in debt financing while scaling from seed to national lender issuing over $1.5 Billion in consumer loans.

■ Pioneered institutional marketplace lending during the Great Recession as a speaker at the first LendIt conference, advocating consumer loan portfolios as an institutional asset class.

■ Instrumental in achieving a 30% reduction in energy consumption that helped resolve California’s electricity shortage in 2000 by advising the CA State Assembly and governor during a major statewide energy crisis.

■ Enabled AT&T and other major companies to improve capital forecasting by developing the Net Terminal Budgeting formula, which resolved IRR limitations and guided future budgeting decisions.

■ Mentored C-level execs and next-gen principles at companies I founded or was a Board Member.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

HARPER | FOSTER • FOUNDER, PRINCIPAL, CEO & CIO

■  Oversees capital deployment, manager selection, and direct investment decisions for our single-family office, managing diversified traditional and alternative assets. Lead and coordinate outsourced legal, accounting, and advisory relationships to ensure continuity and performance oversight. Guides next-generation family members on financial literacy, investment stewardship, and philanthropic initiatives while maintaining a conservative capital strategy focused on long-term preservation and liquidity management.

■  Leveraged family philosophy to "Do well while doing good" and "Traditional Values. 

Non-traditional Thinking" to guide Harper| Foster investment and philanthropic strategy. These are not taglines but an operating model.

■  Founded Online Lending Partners as an investment subsidiary which allocated $10M seed investment to co-found LendingUSA with $60M total capital from an additional 

HNW family office for sustained success.

■  Secured a major Family Office partnership, unlocking substantial funding for high-yield 

income-generating investments.

■  Raised $220M+ in total capital for LendingUSA, scaling from seed to national lender.

■  Sourced innovative companies delivering predictable income-generating returns

■  Navigated SEC receiver crisis by repurchasing $220M position for $51M, executing a major capital 

restructuring while preserving all clients and credit facilities for LendingUSA.

■  Ensured sustained growth and stability for portfolio companies with ongoing capital markets support and strategic oversight.

■  Recognized as a primary advisor for C-Suite professionals on critical life/business decisions through ongoing one-on-one coaching.

■  Guest speaker at exclusive VC firm dinners and senior leadership events, providing relevant historical perspective on cross-generational investment perspectives to principals and portfolio companies.

■  Actively involved as a donor and Board Member on a number of philanthropic projects.

EMERALD DIRECT LENDING ADVISERS • CHIEF STRATEGIST

■  Pioneered institutional marketplace lending by founding Direct Lending Advisors in 2012 and structuring one of the first private credit funds investing in LendingClub and Prosper loans. 

■  Partnered with LendingClub to create its first institutional forward flow program. Sold the firm to Emerald Asset Management, a multi-billion-dollar mutual fund and institutional RIA, served as Chief Strategist, building funds with some of the longest-running and best-performing track records in online consumer lending.

LIDO CAPITAL / THE VENICE GROUP • MANAGING PARTNER

■  Led a strategic consulting firm of 9 senior consultants with a total team of 60+, specializing in telecom, utilities, fiber buildouts, and data centers. Delivered high-impact consulting services to major clients, including managing Sierra Pacific Communications’ fiber assets, saving ~$200M in fiber contract liabilities. 

■  Hired by the California State Assembly to mediate between the governor 

and state senate during the electricity crisis, successfully negotiating/implementing a solution that resolved California's electricity shortage.

■  Other Clients included: AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, SBC, Fremont General, Broadband E2E, Los Angeles, Department of Water & Power, Abbey Healthcare & Abbey Pharmaceutical, American Farming Corporation, and FrigoLux.

EARLIER CAREER & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

■  Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO | National Water & Power

Founded the largest outsourced utility billing provider for the multifamily market. Chaired the National Residential Utility Billing industry association and served on the NMHC. Established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Open-C, providing billing/CIS enterprise systems to major utility companies, raised $20M in venture funding, and achieved a 10x return with its sale to Accenture.

■  Strategic Adviser and Consultant | ResCom (a subsidiary of Oakwood Worldwide)

Negotiated a 50/50 joint venture with GE Capital. GE Capital committed $280M to launch Capital - ResCom. Built the executive team, secured partnerships with major telecom providers, and led FCC regulatory changes that enabled nationwide bundled service that reduced capital costs by $100M+.

FINANCIAL CAREER

■  Started as a quality-of-earnings analyst at St. Paul’s mutual fund subsidiary. Promoted multiple times to senior portfolio manager. Recruited to CMB Investment Advisors as a partner and senior portfolio manager. Founded and managed September Investors, LLC, one of the first hedge funds on the West Coast. Founded September Venture Associates in 1978 to invest in early-stage companies.  Founded London Freedland, a FINRA-registered institutional broker/dealer and market maker in 1979.

EDUCATION, LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS

■  CFA Charter Holder | CFA Institute, CFA Society New York

■  Ph.D. Candidate in Finance | University of Minnesota, Graduate School of Management

■  Bachelor of Arts, Combined Major in Philosophy, History, and Political Science, University of Minnesota, Experimental College

ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS

■  Purchasing Power – Taking Ownership of Mistakes

■  Barron’s – The Not-So-Fast Lane – A Balanced Newsletter Produces Fancy Returns

■  Forbes Magazine – Up and Comers – The Class of ‘83

■  Forbes Magazine – America’s Most Promising Companies

■  California Agent Magazine - Morbidity versus Mortality

■  Co-Author and Publisher of Port & Starboard – The Investment Strategist

■  Twin Cities Accounting Society - The Gaps in GAAP Accounting

■  Southwestern Journal of Finance - Net Terminal Value – A Capital Budgeting Methodology

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/howfree