Team

Francie Genz

Co-Founder & CEO

Francie Genz is co-founder of Formation and a nationally recognized leader in regional economic and workforce development. For more than a decade, she has worked with leaders in over 50 communities and more than a dozen states to strengthen regional capacity for cross-sector collaboration, bringing business, government, education, and nonprofit partners together to grow industries and expand opportunity.

Francie Genz – Co-Founder & CEO

She is known for developing and scaling the Next Generation Sector Partnership model, now active in more than 100 regions across 20 states. The model has become a go-to approach for activating business leaders as true partners in building stronger, more inclusive economies. Francie has trained and coached dozens of cross-sector teams to launch and sustain high-impact partnerships in industries from healthcare to AI as well as developed a national community of practice and toolkit based on field-tested strategies. She has also advised community college systems, workforce boards, and state agencies on talent development strategies, from career pathway system-building to work-based learning, helping build durable talent systems that connect more people to opportunity. A master facilitator, Francie brings a deep belief in the power of people and relationships to transform systems.

Francie is a Future of Work and Innovation Economy Fellow at New America. She holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband and two sons.

Ryan Donahue

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Ryan Donahue is co-founder of Formation and a leading expert on regional economic development strategy. A consultant for over 10 years, Ryan has partnered with more than 50 influential organizations in over 25 regions nationwide – including economic development partnerships, city and state agencies, philanthropies, community organizations, and CEO leadership groups.

Ryan Donahue – Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Ryan is recognized for his ability to help diverse coalitions develop a shared understanding of how the economy works and how it should work. He crafts strategies that make regional economies more innovative and inclusive, and designs the organizations and systems that enable regions to pursue ambitious goals. His work has helped regions design and implement initiatives to grow emerging industries, advance racial equity through new investments and partnerships, and link climate and energy policy with economic strategy.

Beyond his work with individual regions, Ryan is dedicated to shaping the field of economic development. As a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro, he has written widely about economic trends and how regions are contending with them, created frameworks used by practitioners nationwide, and led learning networks such as the New Industrial Policy Implementers Network and the Regional Inclusive Growth Network.

Ryan holds a degree in International Political Economy from the University of Puget Sound and lives with his wife and two children in Tacoma, Washington, where he is often running or cycling through the city or in the mountains nearby.

Jackie Butler, Operations Director

Jackie Butler is a public-sector leader and strategist with more than 15 years of experience in economic development policy and programming in the El Paso region. Over the course of her career, she has worked on workforce development, bi-national collaboration, and organizational operations—helping design and implement strategies that support regional growth and long-term economic resilience. She is known for bringing clarity to complex environments and strengthening the operational systems that underpin strong organizations.

She currently serves as an elected County Commissioner, where she brings a policy and systems lens to governance, infrastructure investment, and community development. While her day-to-day work centers on public service and local impact, her broader career in economic development continues to inform how she approaches long-term planning and regional growth.

Raised in an underserved community in El Paso, Jackie brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her work. She is deeply committed to building equitable, resilient systems that expand opportunity and strengthen regions over time.

Patricia Meyer, Next Gen Director

Patricia is a seasoned leader in post-secondary education and workforce development with nearly two decades of experience advancing innovative, industry-driven talent solutions. She is recognized nationally for her deep expertise in the Next Gen Sector Partnership model, where she has served as both a hands-on convener and a trusted coach to partnerships across multiple industries and regions.

Patricia has directly convened sector partnerships in healthcare and technology and has coached teams working in industries ranging from construction to transportation and logistics. She understands the model from the inside out—both as a doer, building partnerships at the ground level, and as a coach, guiding leaders to adapt and sustain the model in their own regions.

Her career began as director of a nonprofit, post-secondary occupational school focused on construction and building trades apprenticeships and professional development. She then served in community colleges, overseeing occupational training and education programs in healthcare, tech, and hospitality. In Connecticut, she has served as a Grant Director for the Good Jobs Challenge Program, supporting 2 sector partnerships with the Next Gen model. Today, Patricia draws on these experiences to convene and support regional sector partnerships across the country.

Patricia has a B.A. in Communication from Central Connecticut State University and M.S. in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Erin Sparks, Affiliated Consultant

Erin Sparks works at the intersection of economic development and workforce development, with a focus on regional ecosystem building and industry-led partnerships. She works with communities aiming to bolster economic growth through innovation-oriented policies and helps national, state, and regional clients engage industry, understand trends and opportunities, and build partnerships. Recent projects include working with regions to launch Next Gen sector partnerships in life sciences, healthcare, tech, and manufacturing; supporting regional efforts to expand career awareness, training, and wrap around support; helping regions engage large defense contractors in community development efforts; advising states on manufacturing and workforce policies; and helping regions build recovery-to-work ecosystems that connect people in recovery to jobs. Prior to launching her consultancy, Erin was senior policy adviser for manufacturing to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, where she helped to coordinate major initiatives including the Manufacturing USA network of institutes, Manufacturing Day, and the Investing in Manufacturing and Communities Partnership. Erin was previously a senior policy analyst at the National Governors Association, where she worked closely with governors’ top economic advisers to produce actionable recommendations on innovation, entrepreneurship, and advanced manufacturing.

Greer Brigham, Associate

Greer is a researcher, writer, and consultant whose work focuses on inclusive growth and the green economy. He has consulted on projects for MIT’s Industrial Performance Center, P33 Chicago, the Cleveland Foundation, and the City of Seattle, among others. He is also writing a book about inequality through the lens of one of the United States’ most unequal places, and has had his writing published in The Hill and Scalawag Magazine. He is a New Yorker and honors graduate of Brown University (’20), where he studied political science and economics.