Alexander Francés is the Director of Innovation and Technology at Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP). In this role, Alex will be leading MBEP's efforts to make technological innovation a key driver in the region's economy and. Most importantly, he is looking to help create opportunities for technology to serve as catalysts for more local jobs and as tools to help create a more ecologically safe tri-county region.

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Alex has had a broad career that has garnered him invaluable experience in stakeholder engagement, political organizing, and U.S. foreign policy. Prior to joining MBEP, Alex served as a senior advisor within the U.S. State Department's Office of Commercial and Business Affairs, where he led the office's Latin America and Caribbean portfolio and played a key role in the office's domestic partner outreach. While at the State Department, Alex worked with state and local governments, private sector, non-profit, and labor union partners across to country to identify opportunities where their inputs could be used to help shape a more inclusive and informed U.S. foreign policy. Prior to joining the State Department, Alex also held similar responsibilities at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the country's development finance institution, where he was appointed the Special Assistant to the CEO.

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Alex is a California native who grew up in Palmdale, CA. He is the proud son of two Salvadoran immigrants, and learned from an early age about both the struggles and triumphs of being from an immigrant household. Their example is what has driven him to dedicate his career to helping others actualize their dreams through community power, mutual cooperation, and hard work. Alex was awarded his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as his master's degree in International Affairs from George Washington Univeristy.

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Outside of his professional pursuits, Alex enjoys boxing and creating art, both through physical and digital mediums. He considers history to be his first great intellectual love and can also be found voraciously absorbing information from as many books, podcasts, and videos that he can on subjects from all around the world.