Les Francis
Les Francis, a co-founder and partner, has extensive experience in education, politics, government and business. His career in politics and government included service as a senior aide on Capitol Hill and as Deputy White House Chief of Staff. He has managed or consulted to scores of campaigns from mayor to President, as well as initiatives and referenda at the local and state levels. He is recognized as having been one of the first political and public affairs professionals to employ “grassroots lobbying” tactics on behalf of corporate and trade association clients (one of his efforts was described by CQ as “a textbook example” of such a campaign.
Trained to be a social studies teacher, Francis’ career began when, at 23, he became the youngest person ever hired as a professional staff member of an NEA state affiliate (California). But, his interest and involvement in education took many interesting turns after that; he and his firm provided federal relations services to the California Department of Education, and more recently, he was the Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs for the Educational Testing Service. While at ETS he helped cultivate public support for the No Child Left Behind Act. He has also consulted with a wide variety of non-profit organizations operating in the education arena, and was an early board member of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. He currently serves on the executive committee of the Civic Mission of Schools Campaign.
Mr. Francis has also served as a volunteer consultant to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and has advised democratic movements and parties in Northern Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Bosnia.
Mr. Francis has authored and co-authored articles for many of the country’s leading newspapers, and he has been a guest lecturer at several universities. He was honored with the first ever “Outstanding Alumnus” award of the College of Social Sciences at San Jose State University.
