Chief Executive Officer
KCF Ventures
San Francisco, California
Elected 2000 (Charter Trustee)
A.B. Dartmouth College
M.B.A. Harvard University
Karen C. Francis was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at advertising and marketing agency Publicis & Hal Riney, based in San Francisco. Currently Ms. Francis is CEO of KCF Ventures, consulting to private equity, luxury real estate, and technology companies. Previously, Ms. Francis was Vice President of Ford Motor Company responsible for global e-business strategies, customer relationship management, and export operations. Ms. Francis also held several positions at General Motors, including General Manager of the Oldsmobile division. Her accomplishments at General Motors led her to being named the "Top Newsmaker of 1999" by Automotive News and a 1998 "Woman to Watch" by Advertising Age. Prior to joining General Motors, Ms. Francis served as Vice President of Marketing at Berol Corporation and was a consultant at Bain & Company. She began her career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. While at Dartmouth, Ms. Francis was founding president of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. As an alumna, she has been active as a class president and reunion chair. Ms. Francis' civic involvement includes board involvement with The Commonwealth Club of N. CA, Harvard Business School Club of N. CA, The American Heart Association and Executive Women's Golf Association. She has been named one of the most Influential Women in San Francisco by the SF Business Times in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Ms. Francis chairs the Student Affairs Committee and sits on the Finance Committee of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees.
