Lee Francis started work at Virginia LCV as its communications manager in early March 2015 and was promoted to his current post in the fall of 2018. Previously, he worked as editor of the (Hanover) Herald-Progress, a weekly newspaper based in Ashland. His tenure there followed a three-year stint in the Northern Neck of Virginia, where he served as managing editor of three weekly newspapers: the Westmoreland News, Northumberland Echo and Northern Neck News.
Lee graduated in 2006 from James Madison University with a bachelor’s of arts in English. In the spring of 2014, he completed a graduate degree in multimedia journalism through Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture.
Lee grew up in rural Nelson County, nestled in Virginia’s majestic Blue Ridge mountains, where conservation and environmental stewardship have always been near and dear causes.