Francie Latour

Francie Latour (she/her) joined BU D&I as Director of Educational Programming Initiatives in summer 2022. This new role is designed to expand the reach, depth, and integration of BU D&I efforts across the University. In addition to leading campus-wide initiatives, her role includes developing responsive programming and training for stakeholder groups and teams within the institution, with an eye towards building organizational capacity, engagement, and solidarity across socialdifferences. 

Francie identifies as a Black, Haitian-American, cisgender, straight woman. She brings her experience as a facilitator and social justice educator whose work explores issues of culture, power, identity, and belonging. A sensitive navigator of difficult conversations, Francie brings a deep commitment to centering equity-deserving communities and designing high-impact programs on topics such as racial literacy, intersectionality frameworks, identity-based harm, stereotype threat, white supremacy culture, operationalizing racial equity in organizations, and legacies of race and gender exclusion in STEM.

Francie’s DEI training began in 2012 at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she coordinated the Broad’s Diversity Initiative for Scientific Research. There, she was instrumental in supporting students from historically excluded groups in STEM, wrapping them in an affirming, intentional environment through programs focused on self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Francie also worked closely with the students’ predominantly white and Asian scientific mentors, providing one-on-one coaching to support cross-racial mentor/mentee relationships. These experiences informed her graduate work at Lesley University, where she earned her M.A. in Intercultural Relations studying the connection between institutional climate, sense of belonging, and academic outcomes among Black women in elite doctoral STEM programs. 

Francie is a single mother of three teenagers; they live in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood, near the Arnold Arboretum. When she’s not doing DEI work, you can find her cooking up workshops for museums and libraries that celebrate radical Black joy with kids. 

You can reach Francie by email: flatour@bu.edu