Francisco Bencosme

Guest Author

Francisco Bencosme (he, him, his) (Bluesky – LinkedIn – X) was formerly the China Policy Lead for the United States Agency for International Development. In this role he was the principal advisor for the USAID Administrator on issues relating to the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan.

Prior to joining USAID, Francisco was the Deputy to the Special Presidential Envoy for Compact of Free Association negotiations, helping conclude three 20-year Compact of Free Association agreements with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau in the Pacific Islands. Concurrently, he was the Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Dan Kritenbrink, advising on strategic planning, speechwriting, democracy and human rights and other cross-cutting issues.

Before joining the Biden/Harris Administration, he was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Open Society Foundations covering Asia and Latin America. Earlier at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), Francisco led the program on U.S. human rights policy and advocacy on the Asia Pacific.

Before joining AIUSA, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 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 Council on Foreign Relations Term Member, Truman Security Fellow, a Penn-Kemble Fellow, and an International Career Advancement Program alum.

Francisco has testified before Congress and has provided media commentary for multiple outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. In 2018, Francisco was named one of The Hill’s Top 2018 Lobbyists for a campaign on Myanmar Rohingya issues.

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.