Philanthropist and retired lawyer Franci Neely is honored to chair Rice University’s James Baker III Institute for Public Policy’s upcoming gala on Oct. 26, 2023. “We’re going to have secretaries of state galore, Secretary Henry Kissinger, and Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Secretary James Baker, of course, who lives in Houston…

I have been on a mission to visit every country in the world and I don’t mean just casually posing by landmarks — I mean really diving in, meeting the locals, and getting the whole sensory cultural experience each place has to offer. I recently started keeping track of my…

As Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy gears up for its 30th-anniversary celebration on Oct. 26, gala co-chair and benefactor Franci Neely is eagerly counting down to the event, which will host former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, James A. …

I have been affiliated with the Baker Institute for Public Policy for many years. I feel it’s an organization that’s doing vital work as a nonpartisan think tank for innovative solutions to remedy some of the planet’s most pressing problems from climate change to health care to the economy. I’m…

Smiles across the miles: Franci Neely stands — camera at hand — with new friends in Foumban, Cameroon. Like peanut butter and jelly, traveling and snapping photos will always go together — something Franci Neely lives by. The tireless world traveler has a penchant for capturing each exquisite journey one…

If travel has taught me anything, it’s that unforeseen circumstances are bound to happen from time to time and it’s how we react to those situations that can make all the difference. …

World traveler Franci Neely has a new website that showcases stunning photography from her global excursions. Houston-based retired lawyer and philanthropist Franci Neely is a seasoned traveler. She’s on a quest to visit every country on the planet and has created a to curate her travels. Her photos weave a…

Franci Neely is a retired lawyer and Houston-based philanthropist. She’s also an accomplished world traveler currently in pursuit of visiting every country. “I do it because I love to explore other cultures, other areas of the world, ways of living, and history,” she says. “I’m very curious about that.” Experiencing…

Remember when Cher, playing the lovestruck Loretta in Moonstruck, wept at her first opera? It was Puccini’s La Bohème, and I can relate. I did not attend my first opera until I was in my 30s. While it’s something I was never exposed to as a child, it’s something I…