How the Miles4Migrants Team Uses Donated Frequent Flyer Miles to Reunite Displaced Families Around the World
Andy Freedman is the co-founder and managing director of Miles4Migrants, a nonprofit that uses donated frequent flyer miles to unite separated refugees and immigrant families.
Since its inception in 2016, Miles4Migrants has flown over 1,800 people, reunited more than 600 families, and redeemed over 27 million frequent flyer miles, the equivalent of more than $700,000 in cash value. In 2019 alone, the nonprofit helped nearly 400 individuals fly internationally, and with the worsening of the U.S. border crisis this last year, it has flown over 700 individuals within the United States. Miles4Migrants is not slowing the pace, as it recently partnered with United Airlines for a Miles on a Mission campaign tasked with raising 5 million frequent flyer miles in 28 days. As of November 15, they hit that goal.
What’s valuable about the story of Freedman and Miles4Migrants is the power of volunteerism and how it really takes a village. Freedman and his two co-founders volunteer their time to manage their organization. They all work day jobs and are actively engaged husbands and fathers in addition to running this organization. While they finally were able to hire paid staff this year, they also relied on the power and passion of volunteers in a rapid period of growth after a tweet mentioning their work went viral last year. Learning more about how this organization was run without paid staff for several years can be inspirational for other organizations just starting.
In this episode of the Grow Ensemble Podcast, we cover two main topics with Freedman. The first is the opportunity to learn and understand more about the needs of these refugees and asylum seekers and how airline miles can make a life-changing impact. In addition, following the trajectory of Miles4Migrants demonstrates how to identify a societal problem and take a potential solution from an idea to a full-blown execution.
Want more episodes on innovative companies addressing global issues? Listen to:
- #49 — A Refugee Workforce: The Secret to Solving the U.S. Labor Shortage with Chris Chancey, Founder & CEO of Amplio Recruiting
- #51 — Leveraging Marketing Dollars for Social Good with Doug Lessing, Founder of Phin
- #23 — Mobilizing “Sweaty Change Makers” With AtlasGO Co-Founder & CEO Thomas Querton
- #54 — Entrepreneurship as a Second Chance: The Secret to Cutting Recidivism in Half with Andrew Glazier, CEO & President of Defy Ventures
Bonus material: Get the full show notes and extras for this episode.
A few favorite takeaways from our chat with Freedman:
- The Miles4Migrants journey from concept to large-scale impact.
- How nonprofits can use the power of strategic partnerships.
- Insightful advice for those looking to transition into the nonprofit space.
Bonus material: Get the full show notes and extras for this episode.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
Solving a Global Crisis with Unused Airline Miles was originally published in B The Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
