eddie francis - Biography

Eddie Francis is a brand strategy consultant, speaker, and award-winning broadcaster. He hosts “I Wanna Work There!,” one of Hannon Hill’s best higher education podcasts of 2024, and “For Our Edification,” a personal leadership podcast. Eddie is also a frequent contributor to WBOK radio in New Orleans, and he is an adjunct instructor for Southern New Hampshire University.

Driven by his deep belief in ethical leadership, Eddie enlightens audiences with talks about the leader-follower relationship, followership, and employer branding. He has spoken for such organizations as the American Marketing Association, College and University Public Relations and Association Professionals, the Urban League of Louisiana, Hannon Hill, and the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association. Eddie has been quoted and featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, The Times-Picayune, Inside Higher Ed and Careers in Government in addition to “The Higher Ed Marketer,” “Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO,” “Higher Voltage,” and more.

Eddie’s career launched in radio where he produced the wildly popular “C.J. & Company'' morning show on WQUE, New Orleans’ top hip hop and R&B radio station. He later co-produced and contributed to the award-winning “Sunday Journal with Hal Clark” on the market’s top old school R&B radio station, WYLD. Eddie went on to host “The HBCU Lifestyle Podcast,” one of Podbean’s top 10 education podcasts, and he contributed to “The HBCU Nation Radio Show” on SiriusXM.

Eddie stepped into higher education marketing and communications as the director of public relations at Southern University at New Orleans where he crafted the university’s brand and spearheaded the public relations campaign to defeat a state legislative bill that threatened the institution’s future. Eddie moved on to Paul Quinn College where he helped spark an enrollment increase of nearly 80 percent. At Dillard University, he led the “Write Your Legacy” brand evolution campaign, increased the institutional media voices by 125 percent, expanded the university’s licensed merchandise offerings, and led the institution’s website rebuild.

In a career pivot, he entered talent acquisition where he worked with more than 300 hiring managers and recruited from the entry to executive levels. Eddie recruited for such brands as Quest Diagnostics, Staples, Lowe’s, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Tyco SimplexGrinnell. He also recruited for Cielo, an HRO Baker’s Dozen award-winning global recruitment firm.

Among Eddie’s honors and recognition are New Orleans Magazine’s “30 People to Watch,” the Press Club of New Orleans’ Excellence in Broadcasting Best Radio Entertainment Feature Award, and two nominations for the AMA Foundation’s Higher Education Marketer of the Year.

A native of New Orleans, Eddie earned his master’s degree in strategic leadership from Tennessee State University where he researched the effects of narcissistic leadership on followership, and he earned his bachelor’s in mass communication from Loyola University New Orleans. He is a member of the American Marketing Association where he served on the planning committee for the Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, the International Leadership Association, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Eddie is the proud husband of Dr. Halima Leak Francis and the proud father of Stevie.