Sybil Francis, Ph.D.

Sybil Francis, Ph.D., serves as the Chair, President & CEO of Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA). A member of the organization’s founding team, she brings her passion for creating positive change, her love of Arizona, and her considerable prior national public policy experience to her leadership of CFA, whose mission is to bring Arizonans together to create a stronger and brighter future for our state.

Under Sybil’s leadership, Center for the Future of Arizona has an ambitious and positive agenda, focused on where Arizonans agree and where there is opportunity to come together for positive change. CFA advances The Arizona We Want, based on Arizonans’ Shared Public Values and shared aspirations for the future of the state. As a self-proclaimed “do-tank,” CFA also impacts education, workforce, and civic engagement through its innovative programs aimed at changing the trajectory of Arizona for the good and benefit of all Arizonans.  

Earlier in her career, Sybil served in a variety of national leadership roles, including as a senior policy director 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 for the national laboratories and universities. 

Sybil is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. She served on the board of The Nature Conservancy of Arizona for 12 years and chaired its Conservation and Public Policy Committee for much of her tenure. She was a founder and remains the Standing Chair of ASU’s Women and Philanthropy program, a model women’s organization with a unique approach to engaging women in the community. She also serves on the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship steering committee for the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and is a member of both the Arizona Women’s Forum and Charter 100. 

Widely regarded as a visionary leader, Sybil is the recipient of numerous honors that reflect her contributions to Arizona and beyond. Her leadership has been celebrated by the Phoenix Business Journal, which named her an Outstanding Woman in Business in 2011 and awarded her the Lifetime Achievement honor for Most Admired Leaders in 2023. In 2024, AZ Business Magazine recognized her among the AZ Big 100 Leaders Shaping the Future and as one of Arizona’s Most Influential Women.

The Arizona Capitol Times has recognized Sybil's ongoing impact on public policy, naming her a Woman Achievers of Arizona honoree in 2021, awarding her Leader of the Year in Public Policy in both 2022 and 2023, and honoring her as Woman of the Year in 2024.

She has also been celebrated for her broad influence and inspiration. In 2022, 48 Arizona Women and the Arizona Historical Society named her one of Arizona’s 48 Most Intriguing Women. In 2023, she was featured in PHOENIX Magazine's The Great 48.

Sybil earned her BA in Chemistry from Oberlin College and her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She and her husband, Dr. Michael Crow, live in Paradise Valley. She finds great joy in being the mother of their adult daughter.