Steven C. Francis (born October 8, 1954) is an American politician and businessman. He served in the

Nevada State Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distric ...

for five years and twice ran unsuccessfully for

Mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

. He is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He is co-founder of AMN Healthcare.

Personal life

Francis was born in 1954 in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. He attended the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1978. He has lived in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

with his wife, Gayle, since 1987.

Government experience

Steve Francis was elected to a seat in the

in 1982. At only 28, he was one of the youngest assemblypersons ever. His colleagues elected him majority leader in 1985, which he held until 1987. During his tenure, he authored successful legislation to outlaw the sale and use of armor-piercing "cop-killer" bullets in the state. He also introduced legislation to reform the state's mental health system and stablish a state commission on mental health. He sponsored a bill to strengthen tenants' rights against unfair landlord practices. After moving to San Diego, Francis unsuccessfully ran for mayor in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Business entrepreneurship

In 1985, he and Gayle, a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

, founded AMN Healthcare, a nurse staffing business. In 1987 after completing his legislative service in Nevada, they relocated AMN Healthcare to San Diego. As AMN Healthcare grew in its early years, Steven and Gayle oversaw the company's development. From 1990 to 2005, Francis served as AMN's chief executive officer and he became chairman of the board in 2005. He retired from the board of directors in 2008. During the 22 years of AMN's history, the company transitioned from a private enterprise to a national public company with over 2,000 corporate employees, with over 8,000 nurse and allied healthcare professionals providing staffing services to over 2,000 healthcare facility clients. Today, AMN (NYSE:AMN) is the nation's largest healthcare staffing firm and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Francis also founded the

San Diego Institute for Policy Research The National University System Institute for Policy Research, established in 2006 as the San Diego Institute for Policy Research (SDI), formulates and promotes high quality economics, policy, and public opinion research. It aims to improve the ef ...

(which now resides at

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

), a non-partisan organization that generates economic and policy research for the San Diego region. Francis served as chairman of the board of Medical Solutions, Inc., a national healthcare staffing company from 2012 to 2015. Francis is currently executive chairman of the board of AHS Staffing. In addition, Francis is president of Francis Enterprises, LLC., a healthcare staffing advisory firm.

Community leadership

Francis is a long-serving board member of Father Joe's Villages (chairman 2005–2015), which provides transitional housing for low-income families, rehabilitative services for the homeless, and residential and educational services for homeless teens. He has served in the past as the chairman of the San Diego Chapter of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

as well as vice chairman of the local YMCA. In addition, he has served as a director for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.

Awards and honors

Francis has been honored as a Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association/San Diego Father's Day Council, as Patriot of the Year by the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

San Diego-Imperial Council and as Corporate Director of the Year by the Corporate Directors Forum.

References

External links

National UniversityAMN Healthcare WebsiteMedical Solutions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Steve Living people 1954 births Nevada Republicans Businesspeople from Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni Medical outsourcing