Michele McCullom

General Counsel and Secretary
Student Freedom Initiative (“SFI”)

Accountable to the Executive Director, responsible for representing SFI in all legal, regulatory, and administrative proceedings and rendering advice and legal counsel to the Board of Directors, officers, and employees of SFI.  As secretary, responsible for maintaining the records of SFI’s Board meetings and other formal documentation.  Drafted the following essential operational contracts: Student Freedom Agreement (“SFA”); SFA originator and servicer; lease for headquarters facility; vendor contracts for communications & training, longitudinal study, and student internships; and SFI dashboard and communications portal.  Developed and coordinated the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that enables the integration of Historically Black colleges and Universities (HBCUs) into the SFI Program.  Prepared and submitted states’ charitable registrations and prepared required paperwork to receive funding from federal sources.

Corporate experience in both Legal and Human Resources realms. Recent career highlights include playing a key role on cross-functional teams to complete M&A transactions, including restructuring subsidiaries, engaging in due diligence, negotiating investment terms, collaborating on commercial, purchase, and sales agreements, drafting closing documents, and completing premerger antitrust filings.  Most recently, held position of Associate General Counsel at NAACP where responsible for corporate transactions, corporate governance, and litigation authorization and oversight.  As Assistant General Counsel at a fortune 500 company provided practical legal advice for corporate affairs and commercial agreements. Negotiated and drafted commercial and corporate transactions on a global scale.  Additionally, rendered legal expertise to support global projects and complex transactions in United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India, Brazil, and Europe. Graduate of Howard University School of Law (JD) and Cornell University (BS).