Dr. Carol Weyland Conner
Founder
Dr. Carol Weyland Conner founded the Following Francis nonprofit organization and created each of its programs. She was impelled by a deep love for America’s cities and their residents and concern for the profound challenges affecting children and families.
After earning her doctorate in clinical psychology, Dr. Conner taught adolescent psychology at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. For thirty years, she maintained a private counseling practice in Washington, DC, and the San Francisco Bay Area. She also volunteered as a counselor with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in San Francisco.
In this most materially blessed nation on Earth, no one should want for food, clothing, shelter, or other basic necessities of life.
- Dr. Carol Weyland Conner
Throughout her career, Dr. Conner pursued opportunities to uplift those around her impacted by poverty, alienation, and neglect, and dedicated herself to continue this work – especially with children growing up in poverty. Dr. Conner conceived Following Francis’s programs as ways to bring people “from the margins to the mainstream”.
Dr. Conner also founded the White Pony Express, a Bay Area program that delivers donated food, clothing, shoes, toys, books, and other necessities to neighborhoods in need. Dr. Conner has received several awards honoring her work, most recently AARP California’s prestigious Andrus Award for outstanding community service.
