Celebrating 50 Years of
Alliance Française

Christina Selander Bouzouina

Executive Director

Christina (she/her) was born in Minneapolis and moved to Europe after college. After living in London and Montpellier, she spent nearly 9 years in Marseille, working as an English teacher and program coordinator in lycées and universities as well as several private institutions. Upon her return to Minnesota in 2007, she joined the Alliance Française de Minneapolis/St. Paul where she became the executive director in 2008. Christina was appointed Honorary Consul of France in Minnesota in 2014, was named Chevalier de l’Ordre de Palmes Académiques in 2015, and was named Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite in 2024.

Alix Lewis-Sadrant

Hubert and Hortense Joly Education Director of the Alliance Française of Mpls/St Paul

Alix (she/her) is the Education Director at AFMSP. She manages educational programs and staff. She is from NE Minneapolis and returned close to home after living in France for about a decade. She lived in Nantes, which is definitely worth a visit! She has a BA from St Olaf College with a major in French and History and an MA from the Institute of French Studies at New York University. She also completed a degree in FLE (Français Langue Etrangère). She enjoys spending time with her family, running and biking and she also loves the visual arts.

Garance Valentin-Koepp

Cultural Programming Coordinator

Garance is from a little town near Provins, about 2 hours SE of Paris. She stayed in this region until she got her bachelors in History and English. Then she moved to Montpellier to get a Masters in Museums studies. She met a lot of international students during her time in Southern France, and loved sharing French culture with them and learning about their culture! She is a history nerd who also loves singing, hiking, arts, learning about everything and nothing, and who can quote both Astérix Mission Cléopâtre and Brooklyn 99 by heart.

Rachel Joyeux

Development Director

Rachel Joyeux (she/her) is a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where she began learning French as part of an elementary magnet school language program. In her role as Development Director, she manages the Annual Fund and Capacity-Building Campaign, grant writing and sponsorships, and organizes all fundraisers, including the Annual Gala. Rachel has a Ph.D. in French from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she specialized in Medieval French and Italian literature and researched in Montpellier, Paris, and Venice. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and son (and two cats).

Juni holtgrewe

Youth Programs Coordinator

Juni (she/her) is from Minneapolis and has a B.A. in French and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota. For her junior year at UMN, she studied abroad in Montpellier, France, where she lived with a host family. Upon her return, she conducted a French Linguistics research project on the Southern French accent for her senior thesis. She first joined the AF team as a Cultural Programs Intern, and then continued on as the Youth Programs Coordinator. She enjoys introducing the youth to French and French culture, and hopes to inspire in them the same passion that she had as a young French student in Minnesota!

Brenna Mosser

Office Manager

Brenna Mosser (she/her) is a dancer. She studied dance for three years in London and then three years in France. She currently dances with ARENA Dances and Threads Dance Project, as well as running her own company, Brenna Mosser Dance Works. Brenna loves working at the Alliance! In her role she oversees AF’s gift shop La Boutique and especially its French Corner Bookstore. Outside of dancing and French, Brenna enjoys spending her free time on prairie restoration projects, reading sci-fi novels, and camping.

Damien Sadrant

Education and Technology Advisor/Instructor

Bonjour from Damien! He has taught French at the Alliance since 2011. He comes from Vendée, on the French Atlantic coast, and now lives in Columbia Heights. He studied history and literature in Nantes. In a previous life he was a sailing instructor in Western France. When he’s not teaching, Damien plays guitar, cooks (he is a trained crêpier!) and he loves to fish and garden. He has a passion for language and culture, and absolutely loves grammar :D A bientôt!

Karine Cantin

Adult Education Coordinator/Instructor

Karine hails from Vendée, situated in the northwest part of France. After studying at the Université de Nantes, Karine came to Minnesota to teach French. She started with the Alliance Française in 1992 and has continued to be a key component of our teaching staff ever since. Her love of language and her desire to foster an appreciation and understanding of French culture is apparent in each of her classes.

Jenna thorsett

Administrative Coordinator

Jenna serves as Administrative Coordinator, overseeing the front desk and an array of everyday operations at the Alliance. After years freelancing and working with arts and antiracism nonprofits, Jenna studied in Minneapolis and Montpellier and graduated as an English major. She worked as an English teaching assistant in several rural schools in Centre-Val de Loire, then did graduate work in French literature in Vermont and in Paris. She enjoys her bicycle, browsing the stacks at Wilson library, and occasionally publishes her writing.

Valérie tRemelat

Cultural Programs Assistant

Valérie Hélène Tremelat is a creative person born to a French father and a French teacher mother. She majored in French at UW-Madison and studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence. The area around Mont Sainte-Victoire is where her family is from and is the part of France closest to her heart. With a background in graphic design and previous career in legal and adult education, she is excited to create cultural programs that bring France a little closer to us in Minnesota!

Mbayang Kasse

Part-Time Receptionist

JON LIPP

Part-Time Receptionist

Jon Lipp (he/him) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated from Saint Louis Park High School. During college, he studied in Montpellier, France and attended Université Paul Valéry. Later, he attended the Professional French Masters Program at the University of Wisconsin Madison, and interned at a marketing research company in Reims. He has travelled extensively in France and Switzerland and can't wait to retire to the South of France. In his spare time, Jon enjoys baseball, football and hanging out with friends at home.

Ella Kooyer

Part-Time Receptionist

Ella (she/her) is originally from the small town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, but moved upriver to Minneapolis where she studied at the University of Minnesota. While fulfilling a language requirement for her dance degree, she discovered her love for the French language and (fueled by her love for the Disney film Ratatouille) decided to add a major in French as well. She had a wonderful time studying abroad in Montpellier, France. She loves tarantulas, cooking vegetarian food, studying French Medieval Literature, and knitting. Her favorite French word is 'coucou !'

Catherine Leach

Part-Time Receptionist

MERIEM ALAOUI

Instructor

Meriem was born and raised in Morocco, where she did all her schooling in the French system. She loves the French language and Francophone cultures, and has taught French to preschoolers and college students. She holds a certificate in teaching French as a foreign language (FLE). After moving to the Twin Cities in 2011, she started as a volunteer before joining the AFMSP teaching team. She is passionate about keeping her roots alive, volunteering, and learning.

SARAH ANTHONY

Instructor

Sarah grew up in New Brunswick (Canada) and is of Mauritian and French descent. She has a PhD in French literature from the University of Toronto and has been teaching this fascinating language since 2001. She recently moved to St Paul from Montreal, where she was working at the French Language Centre at McGill University. She loves to share a good meal and laughter with family and friends, travel, dance and, of course, teach French !

Sarah giddens

Instructor

Sarah is from MN where she fell in love with French language in her middle school class. She continued her studies at Washington University, where she studied French, Chinese and the Humanities. She followed the call of her love of French to pursue a teaching license and Masters in Education at the U of M, specializing in Second Language Education. After four years teaching high school French, Sarah is excited to continue to grow her teaching skills with the Alliance. When not teaching, Sarah enjoys spending time with her daughter and husband, discovering new books, spending time outdoors, and swing dancing!

Abdel Hamouchi

Instructor

Abdel is originally from Morocco, where he taught English as a foreign language for many years. He joined the Alliance Française team in April 2018, and feels fortunate to work as the host of Alliance Française’s Ciné Club as well as a part of a wonderful team of teachers. He is passionate about education, creative writing and cinema.

Marie-Jeanne Hargitt

Instructor

Marie-Jeanne was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. After receiving a degree in Elementary Education, she moved to Bogata, Colombia, where she taught French in a Swiss school. She arrived in Minneapolis in 1982 and has taught at AFMSP since 1983. Throughout the years, teaching French to children continues to be one of her many passions, as is evidenced by her work as a founder of the Normandale French Immersion Elementary School, and by her dedication to enriching the children’s programming at AFMSP.

victoria NELSON-MARTIN

Instructor

Victoria grew up in Toulon, France, where she would visit la Corse every school break; meaning she speaks with a mix of Southern French accents! Victoria went to university in Lyon & Ohio, where she earned her undergraduate diploma. She went back to studying in Lyon, where she received her Masters degree. Victoria is passionate about teaching French to all, she creates and teaches classes for kids and adults!

Sandra Vendé Nelson

Instructor

Sandra Vendé Nelson is originally from the Bordeaux region and has been a French teacher for about twenty years. She moved to Minnesota from Southern France in 2001 and has been part of the Alliance Française community for a decade, teaching adults and children. In her free time, Sandra loves to travel, hike, read and write.

Mabel Paredes-Nichtová

Instructor

Mabel was born and raised in the northernmost province in Argentina. In 2010 she moved with her family to Belgium, where she studied French, led a conversation group at a nursing home and volunteered for American Field Service (AFS). In her desire to continue sharing her love for the French language and culture, particularly Belgian culture, she found AFMSP. 

Alain Perez

Instructor

Bonjour de Alain ! Originally from Cuba, Alain arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 25th, 2014. Having learned French at the Alliance Francaise in Havana, Cuba, he knew that he wanted to become a French teacher to share his passion for French culture and language. Alain is very happy to be part of the team of teachers of the Minneapolis Alliance.

Francine Roche

Instructor

Francine Roche is from Montréal, Québec. Teaching the French language and francophone cultures has always been very close to her heart. She spent more than 20 years working with children and was a Montessori school director and also worked with French immersion programs here in the Twin Cities. She joined the Alliance Française in January 2011 and has loved every minute of it. She loves music and sings professionally in the Twin Cities.

DELPHINE SHERWOOD

Instructor

Delphine is a French-American transplant, in MN since 2019, originally from N California and SW France (le Bearn and le pays Basque). She has attended international schools her whole life, including 4 years in Paris, where she obtained her International Baccalaureate. She currently lives in downtown Minneapolis with her three small dogs and works for the Center for Victims of Torture, managing their program in Uganda. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her dogs, reading, shopping and traveling. 

Audrey marchand

Youth Instructor

Audrey (she/her) was born in St. Louis Park, MN but lived 16 years in France. She completed her Baccalauréat in Cessy, France while also passing her A-Levels through the British School of Geneva, Switzerland. She still visits France frequently as her father and sister live near the French-Swiss border. In her free time, she enjoys travelling, photography and the outdoors.

Patricia Teefy

Instructor

Patricia Teefy is originally from Minneapolis, but has lived in France and California. She has been teaching French language and literature for over twenty-five years from middle school to college students and adults. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing pickleball, hiking, gardening, travel, and reading.

Claire chamberlin

Instructor

Born in Minneapolis, Claire Chamberlin (she/elle) earned her bachelor’s degree in French and Global Studies from Lawrence University in 2023 and joined the Alliance Française in 2024. So far, she has lived in a Francophone country while studying in Dakar, Senegal and during her year of teaching English in Montélimar, France. She loves working with students who, like her, are neurodivergent. In her free time, she writes, reads, and teaches herself more languages.