Francis Pickering is the Executive Director of the Western Connecticut Council of Government’s (WestCOG) which represents the region to partners, including state and federal agencies. His work has been recognized with CCAPA’s Innovative Plan of the Year in 2013, and NADO’s Innovation Award in 2014, and CACT’s Friend of Public Transportation in 2019. Francis holds an M.A. in Environmental Management from the Free University of Berlin (Germany) in addition to a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. in Geography from the University of Connecticut.