Franca Gucciardi

Franca has over eleven years of professional experience in community development and education.  This encompasses finding innovative ways of nurturing and investing in talented young people through scholarships and awards.  Her experience comes from the non-profit and charitable sector.  Since 2004 Franca has held the position of Executive Director and CEO with the Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation. Previously she designed and implemented the Millennium Excellence Awards program of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation.

She also has over 15 years of volunteer experience including current affiliations with Volunteer Canada, the Public Policy Forum Young Leaders Award and Yonge Street Mission.

Franca holds a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from Carleton University, where she was awarded a graduate scholarship. She also has a BA Degree in Political Science from the University of Waterloo and was awarded with the title of Loran Scholar for distinguished academic achievement. Since finishing her studies Franca has delivered many publications and presentations on the role of merit scholarship programs in Canada.