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BUSINESS GROWTH · SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERPRISE

I structure the partnerships that turn cultural investment into business outcomes.

Founder and Chief Experience Officer, Agency For Creatives. Fifteen years across institutional finance and enterprise partnerships.

Kirjuan "Free" Freeman — You see it, I achieve it.

Kirjuan Freeman, Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Agency For Creatives.

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Merrill
JPMorganChase
Bank of America Private Bank
NFL
NBA
FIFA
Formula 1
72andSunny
Live Nation
Doc Rivers at a candlelit dinner on the Croisette during Cannes Lions
Cannes Lions, June 2026

You literally made my journey to Cannes Lions amazing. Thanks for everything. Best in class.

Doc Rivers

NBA Champion · Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

PROOF

Proof of impact

Three engagements across sports, entertainment, and enterprise where strategy became operating results.

GLOBAL BRAND MARKETING · CANNES LIONS 2026

The first head coach brought to Sport Beach — into a global advertiser's first activation of its kind.

Doc Rivers speaking on the Coach's Corner panel at Sport Beach during Cannes Lions
Coach's Corner, Sport Beach, Cannes Lions 2026

Situation

Sport Beach is Stagwell's platform at Cannes Lions and the sports marketing industry's most contested room: 6,343 attendees, 45 A-list athletes, more than 30 brand partners, and over 8 billion earned media impressions. Four years of rosters built on athletes and broadcasters — Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Shaquille O'Neal, the Kelces. No coaches. The leadership conversation brands actually want was missing.

What I built

I architected, closed, and managed the placement of Doc Rivers — NBA champion, Coach of the Year, Hall of Fame, named among the top 15 coaches in NBA history — into Coach's Corner, Indeed's leadership program at Sport Beach, activated with 72andSunny. Sourcing, terms, coordination across three organizations, and delivery on site through Cannes week.

Metrics

First
head coach in Sport Beach's four-year history
First
activation of its kind for Indeed
3
organizations coordinated — Sport Beach, Indeed, 72andSunny

Indeed stated publicly that it won't be their last.

Your presence, your voice, and your energy helped shape SPORT BEACH into something truly special... the stories, insights, and connections you helped foster have already sparked momentum that will carry well beyond the Croisette.

Lauren Phillips

VP Athlete Partnerships, Sport Beach

on the Doc Rivers delegation at Cannes Lions 2026

STATE PUBLIC HEALTH

Reaching the audience conventional public health messaging consistently misses.

Walking the convention hall at the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Conference in Springfield
Massachusetts Problem Gambling Conference, Springfield

Situation

In the three years after Massachusetts legalized online sports betting, Problem Gambling Helpline referrals for men in their twenties and thirties more than doubled. It is the demographic most exposed to the harm and least responsive to the channels the Commonwealth already owned. The Office of Problem Gambling Services didn't need more messaging. It needed a channel that this audience would actually trust.

What I built

As execution and talent lead under the campaign's Lead Strategist, I built the channel: a three-sport athlete cohort with lived experience of gambling harm — an active NFL player, a former NBA All-Star, and a professional boxer. Credibility with the target audience was the selection criterion, not profile. Vetting, terms, message discipline inside state approval requirements, and live delivery at the MassMutual Center.

Metrics

500+
registered attendees — sold out in weeks
3 sports
NFL · NBA · professional boxing
5 outlets
SI, WWLP-22, State House News, City of Springfield, Mass.gov

The most-attended problem gambling conference in state history. OPGS renewed into FY27 with two of the three athletes returning as campaign ambassadors.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT & HOSPITALITY

Programming that made a seven-month-old venue Boston's live music venue of the year.

50 Cent performing live on stage at Grace by Nia in Boston's Seaport
Grace by Nia, Seaport

Situation

Grace by Nia opened on Seaport Boulevard in May 2023 — a 166-seat supper club from restaurateur Nia Grace, the Boston Globe's Restaurateur of the Year, in partnership with Big Night Entertainment Group. It entered a saturated market needing programming that would establish the venue's identity and fill nights that traditionally underperform.

What I built

As Head of VIP Talent I owned booking strategy and VIP program design — deciding not just who played, but how each booking served a positioning arc for the venue. Programming for clients and audiences including the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics, and a former President of the United States.

Recognition in year one

Boston Music Awards 2023
Live Music Venue of the Year (under 250 capacity)
Best of Boston 2023
Best Restaurant with Live Music
Eater Boston 2023
Best Night Out

Three outlets. One year. All three awarded for the live music.

SERVICES

What I'm engaged to do

Partnership architecture

Enterprise-to-talent partnerships structured to survive legal, finance, and renewal. Full deal architecture — terms, contracting entity, exhibits — built to close rather than to pitch.

  • Deal structuring
  • Contracting entity
  • Renewal architecture

Commercial strategy for cultural investment

Translating cultural spend into terms a finance function will accept: audience definition, budget visibility, cost per outcome, and the renewal economics that decide whether a program gets funded twice.

  • Audience definition
  • Budget frameworks
  • Investment case

Institutional athlete placement

Matching talent to institutional objectives rather than to bookings. Public health agencies, foundations, universities, and Fortune 100 impact teams — buyers who need credibility they cannot purchase directly.

  • Talent sourcing
  • Procurement channel
  • Narrative stewardship

Live program architecture

Experiences engineered as business systems, not moments. Built to produce pipeline, content, data capture, and partnership entry points that outlast the night itself.

  • Program design
  • Platform curation
  • Festival talent architecture

Renewal & measurement advisory

The verdict on a partnership is whether it gets funded twice. I define success terms before the engagement starts, instrument the program to produce evidence a finance function will accept, and build the internal case for the second cycle.

  • Success criteria
  • Cost-per-outcome frameworks
  • Renewal case

Career journey

  1. 2008–2016

    Where it began

    Financial ServicesBank of America Private Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Bank

    Wall Street foundation, creative execution

    Grounded in a rigorous 8-year financial services background across premier institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citizens Bank.

  2. 2010–2020

    FounderElevation Theory

    Translating rigor to accountability

    Leveraged that disciplined financial framework to build ventures that deliver measurable, accountable business value rather than just surface-level hype.

  3. 2021–Present

    Founder & Chief Experience OfficerAgency For Creatives (AIVC)

    Bridging culture and enterprise

    Currently leading experience architecture and strategic partnerships, uniting elite financial acumen with the sports, music, and entertainment ecosystems.

  4. 2022–Present

    President & Co-FounderCovered By Music Foundation

    Scaling impact through philanthropy

    Applied high-level strategy and operational oversight as Co-Founder and President of the Covered By Music Foundation and Architect for the Beating The Odds 80 to 1 Foundation.

  5. 2023–2025

    Head of VIP TalentGrace by Nia / Big Night Entertainment Group

  6. 2025–2026

    Foundation ArchitectBeating The Odds 80 to 1 Foundation

  7. Today

    Where I am now

    Founder & Chief Experience OfficerAgency For Creatives (AIVC)

    Experience architecture and strategic partnership firm — structuring enterprise partnerships across sports, entertainment, and enterprise.

About

I build the rooms where creators, institutions, and outcomes meet.

I came up in institutional finance — Bank of America Private Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Bank — where every recommendation had to survive a numbers conversation before it reached a client. Fifteen years of that teaches you a specific discipline: you don't get to defend a position with enthusiasm.

I apply that discipline to a category that usually runs on instinct. Cultural partnerships, athlete programs, and live experiences are typically sold on energy and measured after the fact, if at all. I structure them the way a balance sheet demands — with a defined audience, a defensible budget, and a definition of success agreed before anyone signs. I build this capability inside organizations as readily as alongside them.

I started as a musician and I'm a Berklee College of Music alumnus, which is why I can sit on both sides of the table. I know what a creative career actually costs, and I know what a CFO needs to see before approving the spend. Most people in this business can do one or the other.

Today I'm Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Agency For Creatives, President and Co-Founder of the Covered By Music Foundation, and Foundation Architect for the Beating The Odds 80 to 1 Foundation.

Free
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