Francis has spent the past twenty years as a community
organizer, trainer, administrator, and writer.  He worked
at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) from
1984 to 1999, serving as Co-Director from 1990-1999.  In his
work at CTWO, Francis was the key liaison to other
community organizing networks including Grassroots
Leadership, ACORN, Industrial Areas Foundation,
National People’s Action, SNEEJ, and the Midwest
Academy.  He is a founding member of numerous
organizing initiatives including the National Organizers’
Alliance (NOA), Californians for Justice, and the Asian
Pacific Environmental Network.  In 2003, Francis
completed a Ford Foundation funded study entitled “Bi-
National Research Project on Social Change Initiatives in
the Philippines and the United States”.  Francis is a native
of the Philippines, and immigrated to the US in 1977.  He
has received numerous recognitions for his work,
including the Bannerman Fellowship, Gerbode
Foundation Fellowship, Fellow at the California Wellness
Foundation, and a Koshland Fellowship from the San
Francisco Foundation.  Currently, Francis directs the
Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action
(TIGRA) which works to develop a model of global
organizing based on the experiences of immigrants in the
United States.