David Francis

David Francis is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
As vice president of global growth strategy and government affairs at Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment, Francis advises leagues, rights holders, and governments on
the policy and market dynamics shaping the global sports economy. Before joining Jetr Global, Francis spent fourteen years at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), leading government relations and foreign affairs across seven Olympic and Paralympic Games, from Sochi and PyeongChang, to Tokyo and Beijing during the pandemic, to Paris 2024.

A former Paul, Weiss attorney, Francis has served as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on the geopolitical developments shaping global sports, and he was the first USOPC official embedded within a host-country US embassy, serving as a direct liaison between the diplomatic corps, host governments, and organizing committees. Francis’s work has been featured in the Sports Business Journal and on Bloomberg Weekend.