Sybil Francis, Ph.D.

Sybil Francis, Ph.D., was part of the founding team of the Center for the Future of Arizona and was appointed president and CEO in 2018. Dr. Francis brings her passion for creating positive change, her love of Arizona and her national public policy expertise to her leadership of CFA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission to bring Arizonans together to create a stronger and brighter future for our state.

Her leadership has been instrumental in driving CFA’s success and statewide impact. CFA is committed to achieving The Arizona We Want, a shared vision of success based on what matters most to Arizonans that expresses their hopes and aspirations for the future. To accomplish its work, CFA listens to Arizonans about what matters most to them, shares trusted data about how Arizona is doing in those areas, brings critical issues to public attention, and works with communities and leaders to solve public problems. More than a think-tank, CFA is a “do-tank” taking good ideas and turning them into action for Arizona. CFA launched “The Arizona We Want” Progress Meters, a set of data-based tools designed to measure and report on how Arizona is doing in areas critical to Arizona’s future. CFA’s signature programs include major initiatives in education, civic health and workforce development. CFA’s programs involve multiple partners at local, state and national levels, including nonprofit, K-12, higher education, community-based organizations, government, philanthropic, and business and industry partners. 

Committed to achieving prosperity, quality of life and opportunity for all Arizonans, Dr. Francis is more passionate than ever about the importance of CFA’s mission and work and has built an equally committed team to rise to the challenges of the day. She believes that how we position our state to succeed in these changing and challenging times is key to emerging stronger, more connected, and more committed to each other and to our communities. She believes that including the voices of Arizonans is more important than ever in shaping Arizona’s future success. Dr. Francis recently renewed CFA’s partnership with the Gallup organization to launch the “Gallup Arizona Project,” a groundbreaking initiative that will provide critical insights into how Arizonans are thinking about life in Arizona today, what unites us as Arizonans, and what is needed to create a stronger and brighter future for our state. The results will be communicated broadly at a virtual event in April 2021; it will help inform decisions and actions by leaders in the public and private sectors and be used by communities to create positive change.

Dr. Francis earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has worked as a legislative director in the U.S. Congress and as a senior policy analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is the daughter of educators and a first-generation heritage French speaker. She lives in Paradise Valley with her husband Michael Crow.