Karen Marie Freeman-Wilson (born October 24, 1960) is an American attorney, former judge, and politician who served as Indiana Attorney General from 2000 to 2001, as well as mayor of

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

from 2012 to 2019. She has been President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League since January 2020.

Early life and education

Freeman-Wilson was born and raised in

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Career

Freeman-Wilson served as judge of the Gary City Court from 1995 to 2000.

Attorney General of Indiana

In 2000, she was appointed Indiana Attorney General by Governor

Frank O'Bannon Frank Lewis O'Bannon (January 30, 1930 – September 13, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 47th governor of Indiana from 1997 until his death in 2003. As of October 2022, he remains the most recent United States Governor to ha ...

to serve the remaining eleven months of the term of Jeff Modisett, who resigned to become Deputy CEO and General Counsel to the Democratic National Convention. As the incumbent, Freeman-Wilson ran for Indiana Attorney General in 2000 but lost to Republican Steve Carter. State auditors later found that the Freeman-Wilson issued more than $700,000 in grants without approval from the Governor and various agencies during her eleven months in office. The Indiana State Board of Accounts discovered this when it filed the annual audit of this office in 2001. The State Board found that Freeman-Wilson issued grants from the $1.39 million payment Indiana received for work on the national tobacco settlement. A $500,000 grant to the Indiana Minority Health Coalition was also issued without approval from the Governor and agencies under his control. Freeman-Wilson acknowledged, "mistakes were made." In an interview with ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the '' Indiana ...

'', she said, "I'm not going to criticize Mr. Carter and I don't think he should criticize me." Attorney General Carter responded, "We can only clean up the office from this point forward."

Non-profit work

After leaving office, Freeman-Wilson went on to become CEO of the nonprofit

National Association of Drug Court Professionals The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to furthering the treatment court model and criminal justice reform worldwide. About NADCP is the premier training, membership a ...

. While there she helped get a trial of

Prometa Gabasync is an ineffective treatment promoted for methamphetamine addiction, although it had also been claimed to be effective for dependence on alcohol or cocaine. It was marketed as PROMETA. The treatment, based loosely on the research of Span ...

, a treatment for methamphetamine addiction, launched in the Gary drug court. In July 2007, Hythiam Inc., the company licensing the Prometa protocol, named Freeman-Wilson to its board of directors. Other executive posts held by Freeman-Wilson include Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute and director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. Freeman-Wilson served as legal counsel to the Gary Urban Enterprise Association from 1995 to 2006.

Mayor of Gary

In April 2011, Rudy Clay announced he was ending his re-election campaign due to prostate cancer, endorsing Karen Freeman-Wilson as his successor. Rudy Clay asked his supporters to vote for Freeman-Wilson. In May 2011, Freeman-Wilson won the Democratic mayoral primary for the city of Gary. She had previously run in both 2003 and 2007, losing to Scott L. King and Rudy Clay respectively. Given the political nature of Gary she was considered a heavy favorite in the general election. She won the election with a landslide 87 percent of the vote. She became the city's first female mayor. Freeman-Wilson and her "New Day" Transition Team developed a Blueprint for Gary, promising to improve public safety, economic development, and the city's appearance and image. She has refused to allow a museum in the childhood home of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. Freeman-Wilson appeared during her tenure as mayor in a December 21, 2016 episode of ''

Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...

'', in which she was disguised as a long-haired woman from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

with a Southern accent. The episode highlighted wage and infrastructure challenges related to Gary's tight budget and allowed the mayor to evaluate ways to improve working conditions. Unlike other episodes, in which bosses tend to provide gifts with the organization's money, she relied on private donations, a personal donation, and strategic budgeting to provide gifts and investments. Freeman-Wilson was denied a third term in the May 2019 mayoral primary, when she lost to Lake County Assessor, Jerome Prince. Since there were no other contenders on the November general election ballot, Prince officially succeeded her in office on January 1, 2020, two days after he was sworn in as the city's 21st mayor on December 30, 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman-Wilson, Karen 1960 births Women mayors of places in Indiana Living people Mayors of Gary, Indiana Indiana Attorneys General Indiana Democrats Women in Indiana politics Harvard Law School alumni African-American women lawyers American women lawyers African-American lawyers African-American people in Indiana politics Participants in American reality television series Harvard College alumni African-American mayors in Indiana 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American women mayors