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Team

Alexandra Dorca Executive Director

^{Alexandra joined AFSeattle in 2014, when she started teaching
specialized French classes with a special focus on contemporary society and culture, media, and cinema. She became AFSeattle's executive
director in September 2018. Her previous work experience includes teaching, applied research, program management, and consulting in
nonprofit, public, and private settings in the USA, Canada, and various European countries. She holds a BA in French language and
literature from the West University of Timisoara, Romania, as well as an MA and a PhD in cultural anthropology from Laval University,
Canada.}

Diane Le Lay Program Manager, Communications

^{Originally from Paris, Diane moved to Seattle after living in San
Francisco, Berlin, and Geneva. She has worked in film production, film festivals, and cultural events, specializing in planning and
programming for independent nonprofits as well as international art organizations. Her professional experience includes the coordination
and management of film shoots, film screenings, workshops, and festivals in Europe and the USA. Diane got her BA in film production in
San Francisco, CA.}

Anaïs Rossano Social Media Content Creator

^{Born in Normandy and raised in the suburbs of Paris, Anaïs moved to San Francisco in 2011, and
then to Montreal, Canada where she obtained her BA in Political Science from McGill University. She graduated with a master’s degree in
International Relations from INALCO, Paris in 2017. She was an intern at the Consulate of France in Chicago, as well as a Marketing &
Cultural Program intern at AFSeattle for a year. She currently lives in Chicago.}

Instructors

Preston Albertine Instructor

^{Preston earned his MA in French studies from the University of Washington in 2016 and his BAs in
French and business in 2013. He has spent significant time in Paris, Nantes, Romans-sur-Isère, and Amiens. Preston joined AFSeattle in
2018, and also works as a tour guide in the Seattle area.}

Florence Bangue-Tandet Instructor & Cultural Immersion Programs

^{A French native from Lille, Florence holds a bachelor’s degree in education sciences from the
University of Toulouse II and a master’s degree in teaching English and French as a second language from Seattle Pacific University. She
joined AFSeattle in 2010 and has been teaching at Seattle Pacific University since 2011.}

Janice Brown Instructor

^{Janice has a BA in French and Italian from the University of Leeds, UK, and an MA in translation
from French and Italian into English from the University of Westminster, London. She taught languages in London colleges for many years,
mainly French and Italian but also some Spanish and English as a Foreign Language. She has taught at the Alliance since 2015.}

Pauline Chateau Admissions Coordinator & Instructor

^{Pauline was born and raised in Normandy. She received her master’s degree in French in 2017 from
the University of Artois, and she has a BA in art history (2012) and an MA in management of performing arts (2014). She began teaching
French in 2014 in Oklahoma City and joined AFSeattle in 2018.}

Giuseppa De Luca Instructor

^{Born in Italy, Giuseppa has been teaching French since college while
earning her FLE certificates from Bordeaux, Grenoble, and Marseille. She holds a PhD in French language and literature from the University
of Palermo. In 2009, she moved to the USA and has worked for several local schools and
universities including Seattle University and Tacoma Community College. She joined AFSeattle in 2021.}

Isabelle Gouni Instructor

^{Isabelle received a master's in engineering from Ecole des Hautes Etudes d’Ingénieur and one in
chemistry from the University of Lille. After moving to the USA, she specialized in teaching French as a foreign language in the Bay Area
and in Seattle. She joined AFSeattle’s team in 2018.}

Aurélia Graf-Bosko Instructor

^{Born near Fribourg, in Switzerland, Aurélia holds an MA in Francophonie,
multilingualism, and intercultural mediation from the University of Rennes 2. She taught French to adults and youth in New Zealand,
Kyrgyzstan, Korea, France, Switzerland, and the USA.}

Andréa Guillemot Instructor

^{Born and raised near Dijon, Andréa holds a BA in English language, literature, and culture,
as well as an MA in teaching French as a foreign language from the University of Burgundy.} ^{She
joined AFSeattle in 2021.}

Danielle Jouët-Pastré Instructor

^{With a French and Italian background, Danielle was born and grew up in Brazil. She holds an MA in
French studies followed by a PhD in Francophone literature from State University of NY– Albany, after which she taught foreign languages
for many years at public and private universities.}

Michelle Kendall Instructor

^{Michelle Kendall has taught French for over ten years to students of all ages. She specializes in
the communicative approach to language teaching. She holds a PhD in French from UC-Santa Barbara.}

Camille Lainé-Poly Instructor

^{Born and raised in a small town near Paris, Camille graduated in Law and Economics and worked in
the telecommunications industry in France. She moved to the USA in 2017. She then decided to convert to instruction and is following an
advanced program in teaching French as a foreign language.}

Alina Ptak Instructor

^{Alina holds an MA in French from Paris-Sorbonne University and a second MA in French-Spanish
studies from the Complutense University of Madrid. She has taught both English and French and also worked in translation and
interpreting.}

Aimie Shaw School Coordinator & Instructor

^{Originally from Canada’s east coast, Aimie holds a PhD in contemporary French literature from
McGill University and spent the next few years teaching French at various universities throughout Canada and the USA. She has been a French
instructor at AFSeattle since 2011, and she also teaches at the University of Washington.}

Lusiné Shoukourian Instructor

^{Lusiné began studying French in a bilingual French-Armenian school. She completed her MA in
linguistics at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier and has been teaching French and Italian for over fifteen years. She is also a literary
translator, having translated authors like Marguerite Yourcenar, Umberto Eco, and Italo Calvino into Armenian.}

Marii Stratter Instructor

^{Marii holds a BA in French philology from Tallinn University. Originally from Estonia,
she lived in Toulouse for four years and spent a year in the FLE department at the Toulouse II University. A traveler at heart, Marii
relocated to Los Angeles in 2012, where she taught FLE at the Alliance Française. In 2015 she moved to Idaho to enjoy a slower pace of
life.}

Board of Directors

Robert Baldino President

^{A long-time member and supporter of the Alliance Française de Seattle, Robert served on the
board of directors as treasurer and more recently president. After obtaining an MBA in international business from Pace University in
New York, he worked as financial analyst and financial director for GE Healthcare, Microsoft, and Amazon. He joined AFSeattle in 2011.}

Lauren Ransford Vice President

^{Lauren is an American immigration attorney based in Seattle, with previous experience in
transactional real estate law, in-house corporate law, and criminal defense in the states of Washington and California. Before she
received her JD degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Lauren got a BA in French at California State University. She first joined
AFSeattle in 2014, when she took advanced French classes. A passionate francophone, she is also a member of the French American Chamber
of Commerce.}

Thierry Rautureau Vice President

^{Award-winning chef, owner of Loulay Kitchen & Bar and Luc restaurants in Seattle,
Thierry Rautureau is a long-standing member of AFSeattle. He apprenticed in France and at the age of twenty moved to the United States,
where he worked in Chicago and Los Angeles before moving to Seattle.}

Raj Mathew Treasurer

^{Raj holds an MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He is director of
finance at Amazon. Raj grew up in Kuwait, then spent a few years in India, where he was a member of the Alliance Française of Bombay. He
has been living in Seattle for twelve years and considers himself a Seattleite. He is a proud father of two, his oldest having been
attending classes at AFSeattle since 2018. In 2019, Raj served on the advisory board of his neighborhood public school Parent Teacher
Association.}

Olivier Fontana Secretary

^{Holder of a master’s in engineering from ESIEE Paris and an MBA from
Erasmus University, Netherlands, Olivier's professional experience includes various positions from head of business development and
marketing for Philips France to director of product strategy and marketing at Microsoft and Zipwhip. Nowadays, he is VP of Marketing at
Neal Analytics. Founding member and president of Seattle’s Union des Français de l’Étranger—a worldwide French-speaking expatriate
nonprofit organization—Olivier joined AFSeattle in 2017.}

Barbara Greiner Member

^{Barbara holds a master’s in American education history from Panthéon-Sorbonne,
Paris I, and is a certified history and geography teacher of the French Ministry of Education. She has worked for more than
twenty years in bilingual schools in Palo Alto and, more recently, Seattle. Since 2017, she is the Head of the French Immersion School of
Washington.}