Leah Bradford Francis

Leah joined the Gates Foundation in 2020 with a focus on education. Prior to joining Gates, she was Managing Director at Synergos Advisory, leading their global social impact advisory practice and assisting clients such as – Bloomberg Philanthropies (health), Citi Foundation (global NGO capacity building), Gates Foundation (agriculture & financial inclusion), WalMart Foundation (agriculture), Conservation International (coffee), Unilever (various), Mondelez International (nutrition), Abbott (foundation operations), PepsiCo Foundation (water/nutrition), and Porticus (education). She has worked on projects in countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Argentina, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Namibia and Malawi. Prior to Synergos, Leah was President of the Kraft Foods Group Foundation, and led the company’s philanthropic strategy in community partnerships, humanitarian aid and employee civic engagement with a focus on food access and nutrition. Leah’s philanthropy journey started at the Chicago Community Trust, where she oversaw investments in affordable housing, workforce development, community organizing, justice system reform and economic development. Over the years, Leah has served as a volunteer, board member and speaker at numerous organizations. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia.