Dr. Francis joined the Center for the Future of Arizona in 2002 as a member of its founding team. She plays a key role in all center initiatives, from conception through implementation, and is leading its Pathways to Postsecondary initiative. She also oversees the center’s research projects, which focus on pressing issues facing Arizona such as its high school graduation and dropout rates.

On the center’s behalf, she has championed several public education recommendations to state policy makers such as former Governor Janet Napolitano, Governor Jan Brewer, the Arizona State Board of Education, the Arizona Legislature and others. She is also a member of the P-20 Coordinating Council’s Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Task Force.

In addition, Dr. Francis is deeply committed to Arizona State University’s community outreach and development efforts. She is a founding member and co-chair of the ASU Foundation’s Women & Philanthropy Program, honorary chair of the ASU President’s Community Enrichment Program, and co-chair of ASU’s Hispanic Community Partnership Scholarship Program. She also serves as a senior advisor to the president of the Arizona State University Foundation.

Dr. Francis comes to the center from positions at leading national public policy and research agencies and institutions. She has an extensive background in the areas of energy, the environment and national security.

As a senior policy analyst for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Dr. Francis coordinated government-wide science and technology policy. She also played a key role in advancing a major milestone in public policy, the Federal Research Misconduct Policy. She also held policy and research positions with the U.S. House of Representatives and the University of California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Her education credentials include teaching at Harvard University and serving as a member of the leadership team of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. One of the nation's oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher learning, the college is known for its outstanding academic programs in architecture, art and engineering.

Dr. Francis earned her Bachelor of Arts in chemistry at Oberlin College and her doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is married to Dr. Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University.