Barbara Hackman Franklin is President and Chief Executive Officer of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, a private international consulting firm headquartered in Washington, DC. She is an advocate for and adviser to American companies doing business in international markets, notably China, and is an expert on corporate governance, auditing, and financial reporting practices.






Fresh out of Harvard Business School and prior to joining the White House staff in 1971, Franklin worked at the Singer Company as manager of environmental analysis and at First National City Bank (now Citibank) as assistant vice president. She created and headed the Bank’s first government relations department. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Franklin graduated with distinction from the Pennsylvania State University and was one of the first women graduates of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Among her many honors, awards, and honorary degrees, she has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State and the Alumni Achievement Award from Harvard Business School. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Financial Executives International Hall of Fame in 2015. She is married to Wallace Barnes, retired chairman and CEO of Barnes Group, Inc. They reside in Washington, DC and Bristol, CT.


