Frank Sharry

As a college senior, Frank became a student activist, joining efforts to push universities to divest from apartheid South Africa. After graduating—and feeling disenchanted with the United States—he moved to Southeast Asia to teach at an international school in Singapore. While there, he was hired by an NGO supporting the U.S. Refugee Program, helping Vietnamese refugees in Indonesian refugee camps resettle in America.

Interviewing families—including former political prisoners, religious refugees, and persecuted minorities—reshaped his perspective. He had left America while Vietnamese “boat people” risked everything to reach it. His disillusionment gave way to a conviction that the United States, at its best, is a nation that strengthens itself by welcoming immigrants and refugees.

He returned home and spent four decades advancing that ideal. Early in his career, he helped resettle refugees nationwide, advocated for Central American asylum-seekers in Massachusetts, and co-founded the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. In 1990, he bought his first suit, moved to Washington, D.C., and served as Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, a left-right coalition advancing immigration reform efforts in Congress.

He played a key role in developing the McCain-Kennedy bill, a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that integrated strong enforcement, a generous path to citizenship, and expanded legal immigration. Versions passed on a bipartisan basis in the Senate in 2006 and 2013, but both were blocked by House Republicans.

From 2008 to 2022, Frank led America’s Voice, which he founded as the communications hub of the immigration reform movement. He built rapid-response operations, guided public opinion research, and advised policymakers, advocates, and media voices, and served as a leading spokesperson for immigration reforms.

In 2023, he joined the Biden-Harris campaign policy team, advising Kamala Harris in the home stretch on immigration and border issues. In 2025, he worked with British Future, a London-based think tank, where he continues to serve as an Associate Fellow. He is active in both the United States and Europe on immigration policy and politics and serves as a Senior Fellow at Third Way.

Frank is the proud father of two adult daughters, lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, the artist Eve Stockton, and their bossy dog, Nala.