Steve Francis
LL.M., Ph.D., CAP®
Steve Francis dedicates his expertise in business, trust and estate planning law, philosophy, and planned giving to advancing Kingdom causes.
For nine years, Steve has worked as senior philanthropic planning advisor for The Salvation Army in northern Michigan. In this role, he has worked with individuals and families in developing and implementing philanthropic plans to reach their charitable giving, estate planning, and personal wealth management goals. During this time, Steve has made regular appearances on regional radio programs, at professional organization events, and service club meetings as an authority on the legal, spiritual, and philosophical aspects of legacy planning. He has also donated his time in advising regional non-profits on issues of human resources, current development and planned giving.
In addition to his work for The Salvation Army, Steve has served for ten years as a pro bono allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom and has been inducted into its attorney Honor Corps for outstanding service. The ADF is a non-profit legal advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all Americans can freely live out their faith, with a focus on religious liberty, protecting life, and defending the family.
Steve received his B.S. degree from Michigan State University and, while working to build a successful family business and national marketing network, earned a Juris Doctor degree at night from Wayne State University. After a sale of the business to an employee ownership group, he earned his LL.M. in environmental law and Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Utah, minoring in public administration. While teaching constitutional law for many years at both the U of Utah and Grand Valley State University, Steve received a certification in trust and estate planning from the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Steve is one of just 1000 professionals nationwide to have earned the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) professional designation from The American College of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.