Mark Freeman – IFIT Executive Director

Mark Freeman is Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). 

A leading expert in political transitions and high-level peace negotiations with more than 30 years of experience, Mr Freeman is regularly consulted for advice on crisis management and conflict resolution. He has worked in countries including Ukraine, Venezuela, Colombia, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Burundi, DRC, The Gambia, El Salvador, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nepal, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. 

Prior to founding IFIT, Mr Freeman was Chief of External Relations at the International Crisis Group. He also helped launch the International Center for Transitional Justice and served as its first Director of International Affairs. Before that, he worked at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York and as a corporate lawyer in Toronto.

A recognised thought leader in international law and human rights, Mr Freeman is the co-author of Negotiating Transitional Justice (Cambridge 2020), which draws upon his years as an adviser inside the Colombian peace talks in Havana. He is also the author of Necessary Evils: Amnesties and the Search for Justice (Cambridge 2010) and Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness (Cambridge 2006), and the co-author of International Human Rights Law: Essentials of Canadian Law (Irwin UTP 2004).

Mr Freeman holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School where he was a Human Rights Fellow and James Kent Scholar. He has been a Lecturer-in-Law at KU Leuven and the University of Ottawa, and a Visiting Professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law.

Mr Freeman is a Paris Institute for Advanced Study Fellow, a Salzburg Global Fellow, a member of the International Panel of Experts of the International Commission on Missing Persons, and an Advisor to the International Strategy Forum. A Canadian and Belgian citizen, he speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian and Catalan.

Some recent IFIT publications by Mark Freeman:

Polarization

1. Philanthropy and Polarization: Ten ideas from a Foundation Leadership Retreat (2026) with Hilary Pennington, Louise Richardson and Saadi Lahlou
2. Ten Ideas on How to Overcome Polarization (2024) with Hilary Pennington
3. First Principles: The Need for Greater Consensus on the Fundamentals of Polarisation (2023)
   

Conflict resolution

1. AI on the Frontline: Evaluating Large Language Models in Real-World Conflict Resolution (2025) with Nathalie Bussemaker
2. Letter to “Amari”: The New Global Head of Political and Peace Mediation (2025)
3. “Fast-Track Negotiation”: A White Paper (2025)
4. Violence Prevention: Understanding the Quiet but Critical Role of “Civic Diplomats” (2024)
5. Negotiating with Criminal Groups: IFIT Guidance Note for Good-Faith Promoters (2024) with Barney Afako
6. Effective Participation in Political and Peace Negotiations (2021) with Julián Arévalo
7. Negotiating with Violent Criminal Groups: Lessons and Guidelines from Global Practice (2021) with Vanda Felbab-Brown
8. Tax Amnesties as an Aid to Peace Deals and Political Settlements (2020) with Rob Dedman and Lisa McKinnon-Lower
9. Building Peace from the Middle (2020) with Phil Clark
   

Some recent podcasts and interviews:

1. Fast-Track Negotiation (2025)
2. “¿Por qué debería ser un tabú negociar con un grupo criminal si es útil para reducir la violencia y dar paz a la gente?” (2025) 
3. Thinking about the Death of the ICC and What Comes Next (2025)
4. Does Transitional Justice Have Anything to Say on Gang Violence? (2024)