Philanthropist Franci Neely says her mantra in life has always been to “make every day better for someone other than herself.” It’s a selfless way to live, and through the Franci Neely Foundation, the retired business attorney has generously given back to more than 100 nonprofit organizations, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Moody Center for the Arts, and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. She also helped found the Houston Cinema Arts Society.
Traveling the world to such far-flung locales as Hong Kong, Fiji, Spain, and Cuba, Neely says she’s had the opportunity to meet people from so many different cultures and backgrounds. She says it’s given her a global perspective on giving back and through her travels to more than 180 countries, she confesses that she’s discovered people have far more in common than many of us realize. She’s currently in the midst of completing her goal of visiting every country in the world.