As small business owners, we often hear about the importance of innovation and adaptability—but sometimes, the most powerful examples come from unexpected places. At SuiteWorld 2025, I had the chance to speak with Claudia Freed, President and CEO of EALgreen, a nonprofit that’s rethinking how to fund higher education through the principles of the circular economy. Her organization doesn’t just hand out scholarships; it transforms surplus inventory that might otherwise go to waste into life-changing financial aid for students.

That’s an idea any small business owner can appreciate—turning inefficiency into opportunity. Whether it’s unused products, outdated processes, or legacy systems, every organization faces the challenge of doing more with less. EALgreen’s story proves that innovation doesn’t have to be confined to tech startups or massive corporations. It can come from a mission-driven nonprofit that has sustained itself for over 40 years without outside funding.

In our conversation, Claudia shared how EALgreen evolved from a grassroots idea into a model of operational efficiency and purpose-driven leadership. She also discussed how NetSuite’s cloud ERP system helped modernize their operations, eliminate risk, and unlock new growth opportunities—all while staying true to their mission of helping students succeed. Here’s my full conversation with Claudia Freed at SuiteWorld 2025.

Leland McFarland

All right, I am here at Oracle’s NetSuite’s uh SuiteWorld 2025 with Claudia Freed, President and CEO of EALgreen. So, Claudia, thanks for coming on and uh doing this interview. So, first of all, for those who are maybe not that familiar, uh can you start by telling us what EALgreen does and who you serve?

Claudia Freed

We are a non-profit organization founded over 40 years ago and what we do is give students scholarships so that they can go to college and fulfill their own human potential. What we do that is so unique is how we do the funding of the scholarships, which is in the space of the circular economy and reverse logistics. We convert donated inventory into financial aid.

We serve a population of college students that would love to go to college but sometimes are limited with regards to their finances. We also serve corporate donors that have a supply chain challenge of product that they perhaps would have had to send to the landfill. And ultimately, uh we feel that we serve the world and society so that everyone has an opportunity to go to school.

Leland McFarland

So similar to like consignment shops that utilize um donations to uh support local uh charities but instead or you utilize um objects that may go to the landfill or even surplus to be able to uh donate to uh college students, right?

Claudia Freed

In fact, let me help you with an analogy. We think of a college as a small city. So a small city uses products for transportation, equipment, supplies to maintain their infrastructure. Therefore, we work with corporations that have that type of product to donate. And then we evaluate three different channels where we can either reuse the product on a college campus.

If the product cannot be reused because it may not be in the right place or in the right condition, we will either try to repair, or if it has to be resold, the funds that we raise fund additional scholarships. And ultimately, if it cannot be reused or repaired, it will be recycled.

The brilliant model that we inherited from our founders from 1982 is that when that snowblower, let’s say, went to a college campus, the university generates operational savings. That means that those savings are then transferred to a student to lower their financial aid costs.

The cool thing about my story is that I was the very first student that they ever helped in 1982. And I have felt the impact of the work that we do in my own life. And that is what is a large motivator for continuing that legacy.

Leland McFarland

So what inspired the founding of it? So original founders and and you you were the like the first recipient, so you can you can really attest to this.

Claudia Freed

The the the great question, you know, what inspired an engineer and a businessman that were friends um in 1982? And there was the perfect storm of ideas and opportunity. What inspired them was the thing they had in common: both gentlemen had gone to college with the financial aid help of a scholarship. So that is what they had in common.

And they were really ambitious. And they said to themselves, “Not if, but when we become successful, we want to pay it forward.” So what is the principle behind the founding of EAL? Is this concept of paying it forward and giving back. And that has been the core value of EAL that despite technology changes 40-some years in business, uh we hold very dear.

Leland McFarland

Great. Uh what challenges or pain points led you to start looking for a solution like NetSuite?

Claudia Freed

Great question. Part of being successful in business is managing risk very well, recognizing when you have an exposure, managing the risk and taking mitigating actions. A few years ago, we began to look at a potential single point of failure. We were looking at outdated technology. We had gone from pencil and paper to digital, then to um a point where if we hadn’t made the decision of updating our technology, we were going going to probably not be able to continue to grow and thrive. We also had a very fragile system of volunteers and IT personnel that were either going to be retiring or transitioning. So we recognized that as a single point of failure. Our motivation was to save the business from becoming obsolete. And that is the point at which we then began the journey to look for a partner.

Leland McFarland

Okay. Um, how were you managing operations before NetSuite? Now, you you did cover that. You you said pen and paper and so, yeah. Um, can you share how NetSuite has changed your day-to-day operations?

Claudia Freed

NetSuite has changed our day-to-day operations in ways that has made in some ways life a little bit simpler. And how? By giving us tremendous visibility into the organization, and giving us mobility, and giving us the safety of our data in the cloud to have a backup. So, specifically how it has changed: at any one point, anyone in my team has been able to develop their own KPIs and their own dashboard. So whatever their area of operation or responsibility, at a moment note—at a moment’s notice, they see data real-time. When we had five different systems, we had to be jumping from one to another. So it has changed the efficiency with which we arrive at data, empower decisions. We can now make decisions much faster. We don’t have to wait for five reports. If we have to pivot, if we have to offer a different solution, the ability for NetSuite to provide that data to us more quickly, more clearly, uh in a reporting format that can be communicated, uh that has been a tremendous boost to the operations of a small organization with 12 employees.

Leland McFarland

So drilling down a little bit, was there like a aha that like that that that moment where you just go, “Wow, this thing works and this thing is going to save us money”? Was there that defining moment?

Claudia Freed

Well, yes, and it continues, right? The moment for me, because I am responsible for finance on top of the uh mission, uh was really when we declared that we were going live. And we had to transfer data, so we had to bring data from other systems. The process took a few months, but the aha moment for us was when we recognized our own data in the new shiny model. So for us, it was the ability to trust the data the moment that it landed there. Those were our numbers, that was our P&L, those were our scholarships.

I think if we had not been successful in that transition, you cannot accelerate the change the way that we have done it. But we made a very good first step. From there, we can build out from it. The second aha moment is really coming now as we are playing and demo um AI solutions to see the way that AI is expanding our ability to analyze the scenario, the ability to think about potential risks and potential opportunities for us to create more scholarships. You mentioned about, you know, how does the business measure its success in terms of how can you be more financially successful. For us, success is measured by the number of students we can help. And NetSuite has enabled us to measure those uh lives as well.

Leland McFarland

Great. You’ve already answered some questions that were down here too. So, but um which NetSuite models or tools are you most criti— or are most critical uh to your organization’s success today?

Claudia Freed

Great question in terms of pairing your business to the right solution. We, as I have said, are a non-profit organization. NetSuite does have a module called Social Impact. Social Impact is designed for non-profit organizations that operate a more traditional fundraising model, where perhaps you are tracking grants, you are tracking ticket sales to a gala or an event. That is not the EALgreen business model. We live in the world of reverse logistics and operations. So for us, what was most attractive was the wholesale distribution model. So we use wholesale distribution to track a catalog that has about 1.5 million SKUs, through which we then fulfill orders. The second module that we use out of NetSuite is SuiteCommerce Advanced. And SuiteCommerce Advanced is, of course, the more advanced version of SuiteCommerce. And why we need that? Because our model is predicated on an object, a piece of inventory, a tool, becoming a scholarship. And when you are under an integrated system, as NetSuite is, that transaction will end up on your general ledger to feed into your financials. And SuiteCommerce Advanced allows us to do that.

Leland McFarland

That’s great. Um, you already talked about like measurable results and and and the efficiencies that you’ve already um achieved through uh NetSuite. Um, how has having real-time data through NetSuite influenced your decision-making uh um decision-making um as a uh CEO?

Claudia Freed

It enables me to communicate to my board of directors the impact of their support. So their decision to support a digital journey a few years ago, before this was even a known a known frontier, we said, “We recognize a risk. We need to make an investment. Trust us, we are going to find the right partner.” And the ability to now demonstrate success, not only to the board, but also to donors. How are we measuring success?

Over the years, we have converted over $40 million worth of donated inventory into over 30,000 scholarships. Those are real students that have gone to college. Year over year, just in the last year, because of the new tools that we have implemented in NetSuite, we have seen a 55% increase in the scholarships that are being awarded to students. The average scholarship is $3,000. We are on our way to award 1,000 scholarships this year alone. In SuiteCommerce, the platform, through an implementation of AI, which is intelligent item recommendation, our customers, who are physical plant directors of colleges and universities looking for that snowblower, a hard hat, tools to complete their work, they can log onto the system and be provided recommendations. That has increased engagement with our own partners by over 13%. And as a CEO, having data very quickly that you can follow through and investigate why is that happening, why is it 13% and not 15, or what made it go from 10 to 13, it gives you the power of analytics very quickly.

Leland McFarland

That’s great to hear. Um, as a leader, how do you balance EALgreen’s social mission with the need to stay operati— operationally efficient?

Claudia Freed

Many, many years ago, I had to come up with a metaphor for that question. Because in life and in business, it’s always about a trade-off. We’re trading off a benefit and a cost. And so for us, it’s always been the idea of flying a twin-engine plane. We need the mission to attract the support. And without the support, we really, what’s the point of a mission? So for us, they they matter in equal measure.

And one of the things that we are very proud of is that when we speak to our donors, some of whom have been with us from day one, they funded the very first scholarship and they’re still our donor without interruption. One of the words that are used to describe EAL is that we’re a thoughtful organization. And I believe that that comes from that idea that you have to always be mindful, what’s the mission of EAL? To help students go to college. And what is the business model? We are self-funded. We rely in absolutely no outside funding. We don’t have grants. That’s why we don’t use the Social Impact model, but we use the wholesale distribution. And every aspect from the board of directors on down, we know that what we do every day matters to that student that one day may be sitting here with you speaking because we do change lives.

Leland McFarland

All right, final question. Uh, if you were to describe your NetSuite experience in one sentence, what would it be?

Claudia Freed

In one sentence. Um, challenging but rewarding. Challenging and rewarding. I I wouldn’t say but. Challenging and rewarding. Rewarding because uh we are now on the other side. But better yet, let me uh share with you, just before coming here, I’m the CEO, I call Greg at one of our fulfillment centers on a Thursday afternoon at 2:30. He was understandably nervous. Why is the CEO calling me unannounced at 2:30 in the afternoon?

And I said, “Greg, I’m preparing for this event in Las Vegas. Would you describe for me a couple of good things about NetSuite and a couple of not-so-good things about NetSuite? What has been your experience?” And he was so quick to enumerate, “Well, Claudia, we now have a lot of visibility. I know where all the snowblowers are.” Great.

“Some things that are not so good.” And I heard nothing. Silence for a couple seconds. And I was like, “Greg, are you there?” And he said, “Well, I have to think about it. However, if you had asked me that question two years ago, the list would have been flipped. I would have only bad things to say. It was challenging. We didn’t have the right systems. We had the right data, but we had to put better Wi-Fi in the system, in the warehouse. Um, we had to uh acquire different type of equipment for them to do their job.” So there were some pain points. But with anything, with anything in life that is a change or an improvement, um, it’s difficult. Even if you are trying to be more fit in your own life, um, this is bringing fitness into our operations. And therefore now we are completely reliant on our data that comes from NetSuite. So for us, it has been challenging and rewarding and the proof is that we are here today as their guest, showcasing and sharing the benefit of EAL being a customer, and we believe in that.

Leland McFarland

Great. Well, thank you uh for your insight. Uh, it speaking with you has been really great. And I I love seeing what you’ve been able to do with NetSuite and and being able to accelerate your growth and and yeah, it’s it’s it’s truly amazing. Thank you.

Claudia Freed

Thank you, Leland. I I appreciate your curiosity and the questions and, you know, I could talk all day about EAL. I love what I do, but I know we have things to do. So thank you very much.

Speaking with Claudia reminded me that technology, at its best, isn’t just about automation—it’s about amplification. It amplifies impact, efficiency, and the reach of a good idea. What EALgreen has done through its partnership with NetSuite isn’t just a story about software implementation; it’s a blueprint for resilience and reinvention.

Small businesses can learn a great deal from EALgreen’s journey. Claudia’s focus on managing risk, eliminating single points of failure, and aligning mission with metrics reflects the same balancing act entrepreneurs face every day. Her metaphor of “flying a twin-engine plane”—keeping both the mission and operations in harmony—resonates deeply in an era when many small organizations struggle to grow sustainably without losing their purpose.

Even more inspiring is the measurable impact: converting $40 million in donated inventory into 30,000 scholarships, and seeing a 55% increase in awards after modernizing with NetSuite. That’s proof that efficiency and empathy aren’t opposites—they’re partners in long-term success.

For small business owners, the takeaway is clear: digital transformation isn’t just for big enterprises. With the right mindset and tools, it’s possible to scale impact, make smarter decisions, and ensure that every ounce of effort drives both profit and purpose. EALgreen’s story shows that meaningful growth starts with a clear mission—and the courage to evolve.

This article, “Interview with Claudia Freed, President and CEO, EALgreen” was first published on Small Business Trends