Réunion Annuelle 2015 Vendredi 12 juin 2015 de 19h00 20h00 Good Shepherd Center – Salle 204, Good Shepherd Center .

Ordre du jour de l’Assemblée Générale General Annual Meeting

June 12th

, 2015 19h00 Accueil des membres avec café, thé et biscuits. Welcome with coffee, tea and crackers. 19h10 Mot de bienvenue. Introduction.

Peggy Ganong, Présidente du Conseil d’Administration. 19h15 Présentation des membres du conseil d’Administration.

Présentation des candidats pour le Conseil d’Administration. Dépouillement des votes. Introduction of board members and prospective reelected board members. Counting of votes, results. 19h20 Présentation du Bilan Financier 2014. 2014 Financial Results.

Robert Baldino Trésorier. 19h30 Présentation de l’école 2014 et vision pour 2015-2016. School presentation and vision for 2015-2016

Marie-Ange Wood, Directrice Générale. 19h45 Bilan des évènements passés et à venir.

Review of 2014 events and events to come in 2015. Marketing strategic plan for 2015 - 2016.

Andréa Taylor-Brochet, Cultural Communications Manager 19h55 Questions ouvertes de l’Assemblée. Question time. 20h00 Fermeture de l’Assemblée Générale 2015. Close of the 2015 AGM. Peggy Ganong.

« La culture n’est pas seulement un divertissement, c’est aussi un avertissement pour montrer

que l’autre existe. »

« Soyez

conscients que vos deux missions

premières - la diffusion de notre

langue et le rayonnement de

notre culture - ne sont pas

dissociables d'une troisième, qui

est la contribution

au rapprochement

des peuples.»

- M. Laurent Fabius, Ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Développement international Ouverture du 36

ème colloque international de la Fondation Alliance Française,

janvier 2015

Laurent Fabius et Jérôme Clément, Président de la Fondation Alliance Française

Message from the intern It is with great pleasure that I have become a member of the Alliance

Française de Seattle team since April for my final internship. As a cross-cultural

studies’ major, my motivation was to discover the work of an organization that

is part of a big network, and how goals are achieved at a local level. Languages

have always been a very important part of my life, as are exchanging, learning

and getting to know foreign cultures. After nearly two months in Seattle, I have come to realize

that this passion is also one that binds all the members of the Alliance, and that a sincere sense

of community has thereby emerged.

I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity and to benefit from Marie-Ange Wood and

Andrea Taylor-Brochet’s helpful supervision and open-mindedness, but also from the warm

atmosphere warranted by all teachers, volunteers and members, and look forward to all of next

quarter’s projects and activities.

Lola MAIRE

Treasurer’s Report

Message from the President of the Board The Alliance Française de Seattle has changed dramatically since I joined it

as a teacher of French, shortly after returning to my native Pacific

Northwest following two decades of living and working in France. From

offering a traditional and fairly scholastic curriculum for learners of all ages, we have responded

to changing attitudes toward learning – both language learning and learning in general – by

revamping our curriculum as well as our pedagogic tools and environment. We have installed

smart boards in our classrooms to promote a more interactive learning process, upgraded our

classroom furniture, and added television screens for audiovisual work. In the area of curriculum,

we now offer students the opportunity to learn French or improve their level while engaging in

specific activities that range from classic dance and yoga to film and literature.

Our French cultural offering has never been more eclectic, creative and appealing: wine tastings;

book signings; an evening of dance at Meany Hall featuring The Lyon Opera Ballet, one of the

world's leading contemporary companies; regular performances by our own French choir; and

our active participation in virtually every event staged locally to promote French culture in all its

variety. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we have become a key partner for

showcasing French talent and creativity in the Seattle area, thanks in part to the strong links we

have forged with the French Consulate of San Francisco.

You can count on us to continue to offer our members and the local community new

opportunities to experience francophone culture.

On behalf of the Alliance, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our students and

members; without their enthusiasm and loyalty, we would not exist. The same goes for our

volunteers, who play a crucial support role at our events, in the office, and during exam sessions.

We also appreciate the hard work and youthful insight of our interns, Léa Basso-Bondini, who left

at the end of April 2015, and Lola Maire, who will be staying with us through September 2015.

And the generosity of our sponsors and donors is what allows us to fulfill our dual mission of

teaching the French language and promoting francophone culture. Our board members deserve

sincere thanks for their willingness to share their precious time and offer guidance. In turn, the

board would like to thank Marie-Ange Wood, our Executive Director, for leading this organization

into the 21st century, and Andréa Taylor-Brochet, our Communications and Development

Manager, who was promoted to this role in September 2014. Last – but certainly not least – I

want to express my gratitude to our talented teachers. Go to our website and check out their

bios. I guarantee you will be impressed by their accomplishments and by the diversity – both

cultural and geographic – of our current team.

Comme d’habitude, au nom de l’Alliance Française de Seattle, je vous remercie de votre soutien et

de votre fidélité !

Margaret GANONG Présidente du conseil d’administration de l’Alliance Française de Seattle

Message from the Executive Director

Bonjour,

I am pleased to tell you that the Alliance Française de Seattle is in

good health and has made real progress in a number of areas

despite facing a significant challenge in 2014.

For the first time in recent years, we saw a fall in the number of

students, as did many other Alliance Française chapters in the US.

We also noticed a change in the kind of courses students are looking for, with many requesting

shorter programs. Fortunately, we moved quickly to address this change. And we succeeded!

Although we ended 2014 with just under a thousand students, our lowest number since 2011,

our winter quarter was exceptional, with registrations at a record high!

One of the ways in which we responded to the new needs and preferences of language learners

was to install smart boards in every class, allowing our teachers to create a much more

interactive environment. In addition to introducing shorter courses for learners of French, we

expanded our offering to include new workshops that allow students to prepare efficiently for

the DELF/DALF examinations offered by the French government. As a result, our exam center is

stronger than ever and we now attract students from many different states, not to mention

Canada and Japan!

We also successfully launched yoga in French and an introduction to wine tasting. In October, we

were asked by the French Consulate of San Francisco to host the “Ordre des Arts et de Lettres”

award ceremony honoring Speight Jenkins, who served as General Director of the Seattle Opera

from 1983 to 2014. The current French Consul, Pauline Carmona, joined us in Seattle to present

the award.

As indicated earlier, we got off to a good start in 2015. In April, as is the case every year, we

honored the best high school students of French in Puget Sound at a gathering that included their

parents, teachers, and special guests. In June, we will be celebrating the summer with “Find the

French,” a fun blind winetasting event co-hosted with FACS (French American Cultural Society).

Stéphane Ré, the Cultural Attaché of the French Consulate in San Francisco and Sophie Suberville,

the Society’s Executive Director will both be present. For the rest of 2015, I will continue to

pursue more partnerships in our community and find ways to broaden our expertise in teaching

French and promoting francophone culture.

I look forward to seeing you in a class or at a future event.

Vive l’Alliance Française de Seattle!

Bien cordialement,

Marie-Ange Wood

Executive Director

Message from the Communications & Development Manager Bonjour,

It is an honor for me to formally join our dedicated team of staff

and teachers as the Communications & Development Manager as

well as the Language Coordinator. Many cultural events have

contributed to sustaining our mission to promote Francophone

culture throughout the greater Seattle area this last year and will

continue to enrich our community in the coming months.

The New Year 2015 was off to a good start, in great part thanks to our traditional Christmas

fundraising Dinner chez Kaspar held in December 2014. The turnout exceeded our expectations

and our silent auction boosted the overall profit.

Our exposure has found its strength in a range of artistic venues. Last winter we established a

relationship with the organizers of the Northwest Film Forum with shorts presented in French to

a younger audience. We also renewed our partnership with the SIFF notably during the Opening

Night, with impactful Alliance Française advertising. SAM joined our list of non-profit corporate

members while promoting their Classic French Film Noir series; other distributors have solicited

our help in promoting their French language films with free tickets. Our stand at Seattle French

Fest provided an ideal opportunity to garner interest in our language programs, cultural activities

and in our membership. We enjoyed organizing once again a VIP reception at UW Meany Hall

following the Lyon Opera Ballet performance. Sponsorship at the annual “Run about the World”

organized in May 2015 by A.C.E. (Associates in Cultural Exchange) gave us equal exposure. Our

Choir is active, adding their musical talent to events such as the French Fest, the Garden Party

and at the upcoming Christmas Market. Our book sale takes place three times during the year,

generating revenue towards purchases for the Médiathèque.

The Alliance Française e-newsletter has gotten a facelift thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of

our interns Léa Basso Bondini and Lola Maire. We aim towards strong, impactful and succinct

messages to effectively reach our readership of about 2,500. Our goals for the upcoming year are

focused on sustaining year-round interest through effective networking, social media and

advertising strategies and on maintaining a space for open dialogue between members, partners,

students, teachers, volunteers and staff. My gratitude extends to all.

Andrea Taylor-Brochet

Communications Manager