Francisco Bencosme

Guest Author

Francisco Bencosme (@bencosmef) joined Open Society Foundations in 2020 as the Senior Policy Advisor for Asia and Latin America. Previously, he served as the Asia Pacific Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International USA where he testified multiple times before Congress and provided expert media commentary on multiple issues including East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia human rights issues. In 2018, Francisco was named one of The Hill’s Top 2018 Lobbyist for their campaign on Myanmar Rohingya issues. Before joining AIUSA, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for five years, where he assisted Democratic Senators on issues related to East Asia/Pacific, South Asia, and State Department/USAID oversight. Francisco also served as the President of the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association and as a board member of the Foreign Affairs Congressional Staff Association. Francisco is also a Truman Security Fellow, a Penn-Kemble Fellow, and an International Career Advancement Program alum. Francisco received his Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a graduate certificate from the USAF Air University, and his B.A. from Wake Forest University.