Francia E. Harrington

Francia Harrington is a philanthropy professional, known in the business community and nonprofit sector as a leader, collaborator and mentor in civic engagement, corporate responsibility, strategic partnerships and diversity. Ms. Harrington’s career has included leadership positions in banking, healthcare, media, foundation and nonprofit management. Ms. Harrington is a senior advisor at Open Door Advisors Philanthropy to non-profit clients in strategic planning, fundraising, leadership coaching and organizational design. Currently she provides consulting services to non-profit clients in areas of arts and culture, education, social service, STEM, economic and workforce development while also leveraging experience in affordable housing, financial literacy, and public-private partnerships. Concurrently, Ms. Harrington is an advisor and partner with the Margot and Tom Pritzker Family Foundation and its strategic investment in the Community Food Navigator project, where she serves as Co-Founder and Advisory Board Member. Ms. Harrington previously led the work in Civic Engagement, Strategic Partnerships and Executive Leadership as a Senior Vice President at Fifth Third Bank. She initiated strategies to build brand, develop relationships and increase market presence, including the Fifth Third Family Pavilion at Navy Pier. At Better Media, she joined as President and Chief Strategy Officer to bring new focus and business disciplines to an entrepreneurial organization. She strengthened the digital platform, SEO metrics and introduced new customer relationship technology while clarifying business practices with legal, accounting, advisors and industry vendors. Ms. Harrington served as the President and Chief Development Officer at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She served on the Executive Management Committee, led the fundraising team in sharpening strategies and execution. Ms. Harrington contributed to the campaign strategy to fund the new research center in partnership with Northwestern Medicine. Ms. Harrington had a distinguished career at JPMorgan Chase and held positions of increasing responsibility at its legacy institutions. At JPMorgan Chase, she was Director of Civic Affairs in the Midwest Chairman’s Office. She led philanthropy in Chicago for JPMC and Bank One’s charitable giving. At Bank One, she served in a national leadership role in Private Client Services. She led wealth management strategy for event marketing, sponsorships and advisory support for clients’ philanthropy. Ms. Harrington led the Management Services Division for First Chicago NBD and earlier, the First National Bank of Chicago. Her responsibilities were enterprise wide, supporting all geographies and all lines of business. This included managing contracts, vendor oversight and bank staff providing Corporate Services for Meeting and Event Management, Travel, Dining, Audio Visual, Graphic Arts, Libraries and Corporate Archives. She was honored with the bank’s Diversity Award. Ms. Harrington’s board leadership includes Family Focus – Executive Committee, Chicago Public Library Foundation, Ingenuity Inc. – Executive Committee and Founding Board Chair, and the Chicago High School for the Arts. She is also a member of the Economic Club, Executives’ Club, Council on Global Affairs (past), International Women’s Forum, and Woman’s Athletic Club. Ms. Harrington serves on the Leadership Advisory Councils of UChicago Graham School Leadership & Society Initiative and the Loyola University, Quinlan School of Business, Baumhart Center. Ms. Harrington holds committee leadership roles at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago History Museum and the Driehaus Museum. She previously served on the World Business Chicago Sister Cities Committee and collaborated with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. She served on a planning role for public-private partnerships, including Museum Campus, Millennium Park, the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago and the 2016 Chicago Olympic bid. Ms. Harrington has been recognized by Ingenuity Inc. as Founding Board Chair. She was honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) with the Professional Grantor Award. She was named one of the “Top 11 Female Philanthropists in Chicago”. The Junior League of Chicago honored her as Past President with the Founders Award, Outstanding Service Award and Sustainer of the Year Award. Ms. Harrington has been a guest speaker for the Chicago Council on Planned Giving, Chicago Women in Philanthropy, Chicago Women in Development, Chicago Association of Fundraising Professionals, Women on Call, Northwestern University Kellogg School Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program, North Park University Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management, Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy’s Women’s Philanthropy Institute and the DePaul University Driehaus School of Business Honors Finance Curricula. Ms. Harrington holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Irvine, Merage School