Francesca Menes, is the Deputy Organizing Director at Local Progress Impact Lab and Local Progress which works collectively to advance a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of government. Francesca is a political educator, legislative and policy strategist, entrepreneur and former television host committed to creating spaces to educate, inform and engage our people on the issues that are important in their daily lives; helping them to understand the personal is political and democratizing knowledge. She is the daughter of working-class Haitian immigrants raised in Miami’s Little Haiti community and mother of Joie.
For over 15 years, Francesca has led coalition building, legislative, policy and advocacy campaigns with undocumented families, immigrants, refugees, students, Black and communities of color with a focus on policy-making process. In these spaces, she successfully led organizing efforts to draft, introduce and pass local, state, federal resolutions, policies and laws on the issues of education, immigration, housing, wage protections and job security. In 2021, Francesca was the catalyst for the litigation challenging HB 1, sounding the alarm about the criminalization of protest and the efforts to control local police budgets. Other key issues for advocacy: preemption/abusive state interference and local democracy/governance.

Francesca graduated from Florida International University, earning her BA in Political Science and Women’s Studies with a minor in Philosophy and a certificate in National Security Studies and her Master’s in Public Administration, with a certificate in Community Development.

Francesca has appeared on and has been quoted in many national and Florida-based media outlets and publications, HLN, CNN en Español, USA Today, Politico, New York Times, Miami New Times, INFLUENCE Magazine, CBS Channel 4, NBC Channel 6, ABC Channel 10, Island TV, WLRN, Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel, PolitiFact Florida, Florida Politics, NPR, The Boston Globe, Tampa Bay Times, CNN and Los Angeles Times.