Betty is the Founder and President of FitNation Ventures, Inc., a boutique consulting practice specializing in youth fitness programs and related investments. As its first venture, FitNation launched Reimagine Play, a Boston-based start-up providing bootcamp fitness classes and healthy eating programs to school-age children and teens.
Betty has over 17 years of experience advising health clubs, life sciences and technology companies in the areas of operations, legal, compliance, risk management, and human resources. Most recently, she was the EVP, General Counsel for Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY, which was sold to Equinox Fitness in 2014. There, Betty built the company’s legal department and risk management function and advised the C-suite and Board of Directors on all major business initiatives, development, and mergers and acquisitions.
From 1998-2006, Betty was an associate in the Business Law Department at Lock Lord LLP, formerly Palmer & Dodge LLP, where she represented public and private companies, as well as angel and venture capital investors in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and general corporate matters. Prior to that, she worked at the New York County District Attorney’s Office where she coordinated all aspects of a citywide misdemeanor arrest program that saved the City of New York millions in overtime costs. Betty is also involved with a number of non-profit and civic leadership positions. She was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Dieticians and Nutritionists, and serves as an advisory member of the Boston Women’s Commission under Mayor Martin Walsh. She is also a member of Bentley University’s School of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council and of Wheelock College’s President’s Council. She is the Co-founder of the Latina Circle, a non-profit social venture focused on developing Latina executive and political leaders. She previously served on the Boards of YWCA Boston, ALPFA Boston and Association of Corporate Counsel – Northeast Chapter.
Betty is the recipient of a number of awards including: ALPFA Boston’s Excellence in the Community Award (2014); IBA’s Jorge Hernandez Leadership Award in the corporate category (2013); Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly “Top Woman in the Law” Award (2012) and “In-House Leader in the Law” (2010); and Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys’ Latino Leadership Award (2011). El Planeta Newspaper also named Betty one of the 100 most influential Latinos in 2012. She has been featured in Hispanic Executive Magazine and the Boston Business Journal.
Betty obtained her JD and MBA from Northeastern University, and her BA in History from Bard College. Betty is a Pipeline Angels 2015 Fellow, a network of women angel investors providing investment and intellectual capital for women entrepreneurs. She was also selected in September 2015 to participate in Babson College’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab, a yearlong residency program for women entrepreneurs. She is fluent in Spanish and resides in Boston’s South End with her husband and two daughters. Her full background can be found at www.bettyfrancisco.com.
On March 4th, Betty will be a panelist at Blue Cross Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA)’s “Racial Diversity in Today’s Workplace”, a forum discussion featuring diversity and inclusion thought leaders from various industries throughout Massachusetts who will share their unique challenges and strategies for navigating career development as a racially diverse person. To register, click here.
