Senior Director of Organizational Strategy and Equity

Francia Wisnewski has worked for over 25 years in nonprofits, education and community organizing. Raised in Cali, Colombia, she was a science teacher in South America, before obtaining her Master’s in Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. 

She is a tireless advocate for working families, young children, community development with great passion for philanthropy centered with an equity lens.

Francia serves as a committed mentor to women and young girls. Leading by example, she currently serves on boards with a mission to improve the lives of women as Commissioner Emerita of the regional Hampshire-Franklin Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, as well as the Women in Leadership policy program of the UMass (UWiL). She is involved in local government as the chair of the Finance Committee, and an elected Town Meeting member for her precinct in her town. 

Her national advocacy work has secured millions in funding through union, philanthropic and state funding for new innovative educational workforce structures in the family childcare sector, in multiple states. Through these roles, Francia keeps elevating community leadership and moving forward opportunities for economic development. 

She has been a recipient of the BusinessWest 40 under 40, a distinction that recognizes local leaders in the Pioneer Valley Communities. Other distinctive recognitions includes a nomination by both her current legislators, as a local advocate with the LatinX Excellence in the Hill presented by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus to recognize local leadership of black and Latinx individuals for better policies in the Commonwealth.