Eddie Francis

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 he is a frequent contributor to WBOK radio in New Orleans. Eddie is also an adjunct instructor for Southern New Hampshire University.

Eddie's marketing and communications career began in public relations. As the PR director at Southern University at New Orleans, 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. Later, 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 Dillard’s website rebuild.

In a career pivot, Eddie entered talent acquisition where his appreciation for leadership, employer branding and personal branding grew. 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. Eddie’s career launched in radio where he was on-air talent and a producer for New Orleans' top-rated radio stations. 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. 

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, (one of) 25 Twitter Pages Diverse Students Should Follow, and two nominations for the AMA Foundation’s Higher Education Marketer of the Year. Eddie has been quoted and featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, The Times-Picayune, The Huffington Post, Inside Higher Ed and Careers in Government in addition to “The Higher Ed Marketer,” “Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO,” “Higher Ed Demand Gen,” "Higher Voltage," and more.

A native of New Orleans, Eddie earned his Master of Professional Studies in strategic leadership from Tennessee State University and his Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from Loyola University New Orleans. Eddie 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. He is the proud husband of Dr. Halima Leak Francis and the proud father of Stevie.