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Staff

Otilia Baraboi Executive Director

^{Otilia joined the Alliance Française de Seattle in June 2022. She has
over ten years of experience in managing a successful cultural and educational nonprofit organization in Seattle, as well as over
eighteen years of experience in teaching French and developing curricula for French language, literature, and culture. Otilia holds an MA
and a PhD in French Studies from the University of Washington, and a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) in French Literature from the
University of Geneva. Her priorities to pursue excellence in French-language teaching and Francophone events, to create sustainable,
community-building programs and partnerships, as well as her ability to develop a nonprofit’s brand identity in accordance with its
mission and values, are strong and relevant skills that she brings into her new role at the Alliance Française de Seattle.}

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.}

Aimie Shaw School Coordinator
& Instructor

^{Originally from Canada’s east coast, Aimie holds a BEd in FLE from
Lakeahead University (2006) and a PhD in contemporary French literature from McGill University (2014). She spent the next few years
teaching French language and literature at various universities throughout Canada and the USA. She has been a French instructor at
AFSeattle since 2011. In January 2022, she was appointed school coordinator.}

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. From January 2019 to December 2021, she also worked as AFSeattle's educational
coordinator. In January 2022, she was appointed admissions coordinator.}

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 MA 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

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.}

Marisol Benevides Hinckel Instructor

^{After graduating in Social Science in Brazil, Marisol went to University of Rouen in Normandy
to become a teacher. She taught French to college and Master students, professionals, tourists, teenagers, and children.
Learning through situations and real-life contexts is her teaching method. She worked for the Alliance Française in Brazil teaching and
coordinating a small group of teachers. She currently lives in the Seattle area, after residing in Brazil, France and Austria.}

Kélian Brosse Instructor

^{Based in Savoie, France, Kélian holds a bachelor’s degree in Literature and Foreign and Regional
Civilizations, with a specialization in English, from the University of Savoie Mont-Blanc. He is currently working on his master’s in
teaching French as a Foreign Language (FLE) and joined AFSeattle as a FLE intern in May 2022.}

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.}

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.}

Julianna Johnson Instructor

^{Julianna holds a BA in French from California State University, Chico and an MA in International
Communication from the University of Strasbourg. She lived in France for 4 years teaching English, going to school and working. She moved to
Seattle in 2021 and also works at the University of Washington.}

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.}

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}

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.}

Sebastian Zgirski Instructor

^{Sebastian developed a passion for learning French while exploring his French heritage in
college, and ended up getting an additional BA in French along with his BA in Anthropology. During this time he also spent summers
studying French in France and Québec. After graduating from Western Washington University, Sebastian spent a year in France teaching
English in French high schools, before returning home to the Seattle area and joining the AFSeattle.}

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.}