Sybil Francis Ph.D.
Executive Director
Center for the Future of Arizona

Sybil Francis is Executive Director of the Center for the Future of Arizona and was part of its founding team. The center is helping to shape and define Arizona’s future through an action-oriented agenda focused on issues and topics critical to the state, with a special focus on education, the economy, and the environment. Dr. Francis is engaged in all aspects of the center’s agenda, from conceptualization through implementation, and also leads the Move on When Ready Initiative, a bold new design for high school to prepare students to be successful in college and careers. She is also deeply embedded in the Arizona State University Community and serves as a Senior Advisor to the ASU Foundation.

Sybil is a public-policy specialist who began her career working in the U.S. House of Representatives where she played a key role in shaping energy, environmental and national security policy. She later served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she focused on national research policy. Sybil gained experience in academic administration as part of the leadership team of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science. Her current academic affiliation is with the ASU School of Public Affairs and with the ASU Consortium on Science, Policy & Outcomes. She earned her B.A. in chemistry at Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, Sybil is devoting her policy skills and expertise to addressing pressing education, environmental, and economic policy issues facing Arizona.

Sybil serves on a number of boards and commissions, including the Arizona Business and Education Coalition, the Arizona Skills Standards Commission, and The Nature Conservancy Arizona Chapter. She is a member of Expect More Arizona Statewide Advisory Council, the Rodel Charitable Foundation’s All A’s for Arizona, the Academic Program Articulation Steering Committee Consortium for Transfer and Alignment (ACTA), and the National Center on Education and the Economy State Consortium Governing Board. She is also a member of Charter 100 and the Arizona Women’s Forum. Sybil is a founding member and co-chair of ASU Foundation’s Women & Philanthropy Program, and Honorary Chair of ASU President’s Community Enrichment Program.

Sybil lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona with her husband Dr. Michael Crow and their daughter Alana.

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