Omar Franco

Overview

Omar Franco heads Becker’s Federal Lobbying Practice in Washington, D.C. He currently represents a wide variety of clients including Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, higher education institutions, trade associations, non-profit organizations, and municipal governments. A recognized leader in the field, Franco was named a “Top Lobbyist” by the National Institute of Lobbying & Ethics (NILE) in 2024 and 2020 and has been featured as a “Hired Gun” on The Hill’s annual list of Top Lobbyists since 2018.

Omar began federal lobbying in 1999 when he became Director of Governmental Relations for the University of Miami’s School of Medicine. In 2001, University of Miami President Donna Shalala promoted him to Assistant Vice President of Governmental Relations, where he represented the university at both the federal and state levels of government and primarily worked on appropriations and health care issues.

In 2003, Omar was named Chief of Staff for Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). Omar held this position for over four years, managing the Congressman’s Washington D.C., and district operations and closely counseling the Congressman in his areas of expertise which include federal appropriations, health care, transportation, higher education and issues dealing with Hispanics and the state of Florida. During his tenure, Omar was granted Top Secret security clearance by the U.S. Department of Defense and assisted in founding the Congressional Hispanic Conference and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.

In 2007, Omar joined Petrizzo Strategic Group where he was the lead government relations consultant for a tribal government, a pharmaceutical company, a state university, health care plans, and the several municipalities. He also worked on federal issues for CNL Financial Group, Vulcan Inc., Charter Communications and Frontier Communications, among others.

Omar founded Franco Government Relations in 2010 where he represented a tribal government, a state university and several municipalities, including the City of Hialeah which he continues to represent to this day.

Omar began his government service in 1993 as the District Legislative Assistant for Florida State Representatives Art Simon (Democrat) and Annie Betancourt (Democrat) and then Florida State Senator Mario Diaz-Balart (Republican). He also worked as a Field Office Director for the Florida Medical Association before joining the University of Miami.