Omar Franco

Omar Franco is currently a federal lobbyist in Becker & Poliakoff’s Government Law & Lobbying Practice and is the Managing Director of the Washington D.C. office.  Omar serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Government Relations Professionals  (AGRP) where he completed the Lobbying Certificate Program (LCP).

Omar began federal lobbying in 1999 when he became Director of Governmental Relations for the University of Miami’s School of Medicine.  In 2001, University of Miami President Donna Shalala promoted him to Assistant Vice President of Governmental Relations where he represented the university at both the federal and state levels of government and primarily worked on appropriations and health care issues.

In 2003, Omar was named Chief of Staff for Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). Omar held this position for over four years, managing the Congressman’s Washington D.C. and district operations and closely counseling the Congressman in his areas of expertise which include federal appropriations, health care,  transportation, higher education and issues dealing with Hispanics and the state of Florida.  During his tenure, Omar was granted Top Secret security clearance by the U.S. Department of defense and assisted in founding the Congressional Hispanic Conference and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.

In 2007, Omar joined Petrizzo Strategic Group where he was the lead government relations consultant for the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, Stratus Pharmaceuticals, Pacer Health, FalconTrust Air, Florida Gulf Coast University, Secure Wrap, Medica HealthCare Plans, and the municipalities of Hialeah, Miami Lakes and North Bay Village.  He also worked on federal issues for CNL Financial Group, Vulcan, Inc., Charter Communications and Frontier Communications, among others.

Omar founded Franco Government Relations in 2010 where he represented the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, and the Town of Miami Lakes and continues representing the municipalities of Hialeah, North Bay Village and Hialeah Gardens.

Omar began his government service in 1993 as the District Legislative Assistant for Florida State Representatives Art Simon (Democrat) and Annie Betancourt (Democrat) and then Florida State Senator Mario Diaz-Balart (Republican).   He also worked as a Field Office Director for the Florida Medical Association before joining the University of Miami.

Omar works with many Hispanic organizations that promote diversity and look to offer a voice to Hispanics in Washington and the country.  Omar serves as President of the Hispanic Lobbyist Association (HLA) and on the Corporate Advisory Board of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI).  In addition, he is the federal lobbyist for the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino. He was recently awarded a U.S. Speaker and Specialist grant by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs to participate in a program on the 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections and the U.S. Electoral Process in Chile and Paraguay. Because of his work on numerous Hispanic issues, he was recently named by Latino magazine as a Power Player for 2013.

Omar was born and raised in Miami, FL and graduated with an A.A. in Business Administration from Miami-Dade College. He earned a B.A. in English Literature and Business from Florida State University and did post-graduate work in Political Science at Florida International University. He currently lives in Oakton, VA with his wife, Audrie, and their twins, Andrew and Alyssa.