Florent Maillet, President

Florent Maillet is a travel and hospitality industry entrepreneur. He currently operates the specialty travel company Carpe Diem in France / Chocolatine that he founded in 1996 to provide customized, premium tours in France for high-end clientele. 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.

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.

Ulrike Gross

Ulrike Gross is a multi-lingual marketing manager with extensive international experience.  She managed external customer communications for Consors France, one of the leading European brokers in personal investing and online trading.  Throughout her career, she has held professional positions in the financial industry with companies in Munich, Germany, Barcelona, Spain, and Paris, France.  Ulrike is currently with Expedia, the largest online travel agency in the world.  She earned B.A. degrees in German Language as well as French Literature and Linguistics at the Université Paul Valery in Montpellier, France.

Frederic Vimieux

Frederic Vimieux is an accomplished international and domestic corporate and tax attorney, currently serving as the lead International Legal Counsel for Univar, Inc., a wholesale distributor of industrial and agricultural chemicals.  Frederic’s previous experience includes managing the formation of multiple international subsidiary and satellite offices for Qpass, the Seattle-based premier Internet transactions company.  During his tenure with local firm Preston Gates Ellis LLP, he was a contract attorney on Microsoft Corporation’s litigation team for major anti-trust and other litigation.  Frederic received his Masters of Law in Taxation from the University of Washington Law School, his Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law, and his Maîtrise en Droit des Affaires from the University of Picardie Law School in Amiens, France.

Kariuki G. Nderu

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.

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.