Luke Freeman
Executive Director of Giving What We Can. Motivating people to give more, and give more effectively. Former entrepreneur, technology and marketing specialist. Striving to be a force for good in the world.
I’m Luke Freeman, Executive Director of Giving What We Can (GWWC), a global community on a mission to make giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm. We’ve got a strong base of over 8,000 members from 100 countries, who’ve pledged to give 10% of their lifetime income to effective charities, amounting to a collective $3 billion pledged and over $300 million given so far.
Prior to GWWC my career was mostly in tech start-ups, focusing on marketing and growth (most notably, I was on the initial team at Sendle, Australia’s first technology B-Corp, and co-founded Positly).
Beyond my work, I’m a devoted member of Giving What We Can and Founders Pledge, pledging to donate a significant portion of my income to effective charities.
I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences on effective giving and have had the pleasure to do so on platforms such as BBC Radio 4, Aussie Firebug, DW News, and hosting The Giving What We Can Podcast. Feel free to tune in!
You can contact me through the form below if you’re interested in talking about my current projects, collaborating on something wonderful, or if you find yourself in Sydney and would enjoy joining me for a chat, climb, coffee, beer, cycle, paddle, walk or play some music together.
Reaching out cold? You get extra points if you make some connection relating to me or my interests. To help out, here’s some trivia about me:
- I enjoy long walks
- I regularly go bouldering (rock-climbing)
- I occasionally play music at bars, and love a sing-a-long
- I’ve brewed tonnes of craft beer
- I prefer black coffee (or soy if it’s done well)
- I read a lot (especially non-fiction)
- I watch mostly sci-fi and comedy
- I’m a plant-based foodie
- I married my university sweetheart
- I love being an uncle to three nephews and a niece
- I’m a dad to 2 cats (+ often foster kittens)
- I own 5 ukuleles
- I dream of owning a grand piano
- I started university at age 15
- I started first business at age 8
- I wrote my thesis on political communication and deliberative democracy
- I represented Australia in rowing
- My weekends occasionally involve cycling between Australian cities
- I once contested a seat for federal parliament
- I lived on less than $2 per day for a month
- I’ve organised several large conferences
- I’ve pledge to give at least 10% of my lifetime income (and most of my estate) to effective charities