Board of Directors
Florent Maillet, President
 Florent Maillet is a travel and hospitality industry entrepreneur. He currently operates the specialty travel company Chocolatine that he founded in 2002. Florent has experience as an Account Executive for the Montepellier (France) office of RSCG, one of France's largest international advertising agencies. A French native who has been an active leader in Seattle's French community for the past 13 years, Florent earned B.A. degrees in Sociology and Business: International Marketing from the University of Tours in Tours, France.
Linda Youngs, Vice-President
 Linda Youngs is a real estate attorney at Hanson Baker in Bellevue. She has a long standing interest in France and French culture. She majored in French at Wellesley College and taught French at the university and high school levels before becoming a lawyer. She has four grandaughters, all of whom are French citizens.
Tom Ansart, Secretary
 Tom left state government in 1997 after 20 years as a public administrator, human resources manager and health policy director to run a restaurant and dinner theatre where he produced over 40 plays in Seattle (and made millions of sandwiches!) until he closed Liberty Deli in 2004. His company, Steeplechase Productions, continues to organize an annual festival of plays in French language. Tom has degrees in mathematics, psychology, and public administration. He spent four years as an engineering officer on a nuclear submarine. He is currently studying French and drama at the University of Washington.
Kariuki G. Nderu, Treasurer
 Kariuki G. Nderu is a licensed CPA, and was educated in India (University of Nagpur), Washington DC (Howard University) and Virginia (Marymount University). He continues to provide high-quality accounting, reporting, compliance and consulting services to a wide array of clients principally in the government and not-for-profit sector. Kariuki's area of expertise is strategic planning for versatile accounting systems where management actively uses the accounting systems for both decision making and as a monitoring tool. Currently, Kariuki is an internal auditor for a large school district.
Marie-Noëlle Thyrion
 Long-time Alliance Française member, Marie-Noëlle Thyrion is a multi-lingual - International Sales executive, with over 13 years of corporate experience in the local high tech industry. She manages channels of distribution located in Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and the Middle East. Throughout her career, she has held professional positions in the service and manufacturing industries exclusively attending international business. She currently is the Director of International Sales for ProCyte Corporation, a PhotoMedex company (a public held company).
A Belgian native, she grew up in the French speaking part of Belgium, but studied English as a second language (at the end of 12) Dutch, German and Spanish. She moved to Seattle in 1993 and subsequently earned a B.S. Degree from the University of Washington with a focus in international business. Marie-Noëlle holds a keen interest in the Alliance Française events and has been very involved in development of the French language program for Francophone children.
André Golard
 André Golard is French-speaking Belgian, educated both in Belgium and the United States. He has both an MBA and a PhD (biology). He has been active in various groups helping plan events, and meet-ups. His business experience will be of benefit to the Alliance not only in managing its financial affairs, but also in assisting with fundraising. He is interested in contributing to the Francophone community of the Seattle area and is looking forward to joining the Board.
Elana Chan
 Elana Chan has a B.A. degree from Simon Fraser University in Communications and Publishing. She has lived in Montreal where she studied French. Before her relocation from Vancouver, Elana was actively involved in local communities in fundraising, event planning, and board development. Elana has worked for non-profit organizations and has participated in board training, meeting planning and strategic planning. She has served on boards and chaired committees of organizations, including the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of Greater Vancouver, a regional agency that offers settlement services and promotes community development. Currently she is a volunteer at the Seattle Architecture Foundation, where she writes and leads architecture walking tours. Elana continues to develop her skills in technical communication, ballroom dancing, and of course, the French language.
Cynthia Rose
 Cynthia Rose is a journalist, author and broadcaster who for some years has worked between London and Seattle, principally for BBC World. She has spent the majority of her life in Europe. After graduation from Newnham College, Cambridge, Cynthia established the Hollins Abroad-London program for America's Hollins College (now Hollins University), serving two years as its Director. She went on present and produce for BBC radio, BBC TV and MTV Europe. US boards on which she has served include Seattle's first Artspace Project Advisory Board and SAM's Contemporary Arts Council. She is a member of the National Union of Journalists and Reporters sans frontières; her own company is MuchaCreative.
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