Virginie Ganivet
Executive Director
Virginie, a French native, moved to the US in 2000 with her husband and her three boys. Virginie has been the Executive Director of the FACC since July 2004 and the Executive Director of CORA (Colorado Rhone-Alpes Economic Development Partnership) since its launch in January 2009. With FACC, her responsibilities are to manage and develop membership and programs and to grow the presence of the French American Business community in Colorado. With CORA, her mission is to facilitate and develop cross-border business collaborations and investment between Colorado and the Rhone-Alpes region. Before transferring to the U.S., Virginie worked for 10 years in the field of high-tech product marketing and marketing as Marketing and Communications Manager for Arche Group Siemens, and prior to that as Product Manager for Cabletron Systems. She holds a degree in Mathematics and Physics and graduated from the Computer Sciences, Electronics and Engineering School of Paris.

Katie Mendel
Assistant Director & Event Coordinator
Originally from Illinois, Katie has been living in Colorado since 1992.  She has been married since 1994 and has a 10-year old daughter, Colette. She joined the FACC in August 2010. Previous occupations include working for a non-profit organization and a chamber of commerce.  Katie is responsible for planning and marketing all FACC events as well as maintaining the FACC & CORA websites and providing support to both Virginie & Sara as needed. Katie was a dual major in French & International Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is excited to be putting all her studies and experience to work at the FACC.

Sara Squires
Membership & Silent Auction Coordinator
Sara has spent the majority of her professional career working in the non-profit sector. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1998 with a degree in French, Secondary Education and moved to Paris, France to study and work for an international consulting company. After moving back to Colorado, Sara worked for the Alliance Française de Denver as the Office Manager and Assistant Director for over 5 years. She took some time off to start a family and is now back in the field part-time. Her primary responsibilities with the FACC include managing the membership base and organizing the bi-annual fundraising silent auctions.

Bob Snyder, FACC President
Partner (retired) with Ernst & Young LLP. Experience included 8 years in France. Served in New York as National Director, International Inbound Investor Services for Ernst & Young in the U.S. Founder and President for 10 years, French-American Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia. Served in a leadership role in numerous professional and civic organizations. 

Benoit Guin, FACC Vice President
Principal, Amelie Company
Benoît is one of the founding members of the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He has 21 years of international agency experience in marketing and advertising services, starting his career in the most prestigious advertising agencies in Paris including Eurocom and DMB&B. In 2002, he founded Amélie Company, offering advertising and marketing services to French businesses as well as US companies.  

Renee Okubo, FACC Secretary
Native from the Massif Central region, Renee Okubo has been a FACC board member for 5 years. She has served as Director of International sales and marketing for over 11 years for a locally based medical device organization. During her tenure she travelled extensively worldwide to establish and manage their distribution network. She has served as a consultant for European and local organizations to help them evaluate and introduce their devices globally. She currently teaches skiing in Vail on a part time basis.

Deborah Kelly, FACC Treasurer
Vice President, Commercial Banking, Bank of the West

Mrs. Kelly brings 25 years of experience dealing with small and middle market businesses in Colorado. Her banking responsibilities have been wide ranging and include credit administration, branch management and sales management. Her current position with Bank of the West is senior relationship management of a middle market portfolio of commercial bank customers with both credit and non-credit needs. Bank of the West is a wholly-owned by BNP Paribas, one of the strongest banking organizations in the world.

Susan Brushaber
Attorney at law, Law Office of Susan J. Brushaber
Admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and Colorado, Susan Brushaber advises foreign and domestic clients on a wide range of legal issues, primarily in the area of Intellectual Property Law. She also advises clients on general corporate and commercial matters, especially in connection with the formation and management of foreign subsidiaries, strategic relationships, outsourcing and product distribution, procurement and supply.

Susan Fisher
Law Clerk , US District Court
Admitted to practice in Colorado in 2001, Susan works for the US District Court as a law clerk for Judge Walker D. Miller. Previously she was a civil litigator at Fairfield & Woods dealing mainly with copyright and trademark infringement. In addition to serving as a board member for FACC, she is also on the board of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts and the Arvada Sunrise Rotary Club. 

Sabine Hillenmeyer
President - US West Aggregates, Lafarge
Sabine is the President of the Western US Aggregates for Lafarge. She has 17 years of experience with the company including work in Strategy, Business development, and also as the Marketing and Sales Director in Cement and A&C.
 

Laura Jackson
Senior Director, Strategic Planning & Research, Denver International Airport
Ms. Jackson currently oversees research and market intelligence for Denver International Airport. Prior to her current position, she served as the Director of Marketing and Air Service Development for Detroit Metropolitan Airport. She began her career in the Denver Mayor’s Office as an International Trade Specialist assisting companies with their international business efforts. In addition, Ms. Jackson is owner of an aviation consulting and research firm.  

Albin Madurel
General Manager, Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill
Originally from the Picardie region of France, Albin has been living in Colorado since 1999. He is currently the General Manager of the Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill and was previously the Group Regional Director of Food and Beverage for Warwick Hotels. He has over thirteen years experience in the hotel and restaurant industry. He also makes industry related speaker presentations and sits on the Board of a DMCVB committee to promote the Denver restaurant scene. 

Alain Paolini
Principal, Statera 
Alain, a French native, has been living in the US since 1997. He is a business professional with close to 20 years of experience in business consulting, sales effectiveness and workforce transformation programs for European and US companies. Alain has mostly worked in the Telecommunications, Electronics/High Tech and Media industries. He is currently a Principal with Statera, a regional Business and Technology Consulting firm based in Denver. 

Regis Pourchet
Geographic Vice President, Sogeti USA
Regis Pourchet, a French native, has been living in Colorado since 2000. He began his IT career in France as a consultant for CapGemini 15 years ago. He transferred to Sogeti USA, a subsidy of CapGemini in 2000. He’s currently the Geographic Vice President, handling the Colorado and Wyoming operations. Regis has mostly worked in the Manufacturing and High Tech industries providing IT consulting services to Fortune 500 companies in France and US. 

Jeff Richards
Honorary Consul of France
Attorney, Anstine, Hill, Richards & Simpson 
Jeff is the Honorary Consul of France in Colorado. Prior to settling in Denver, Jeff studied and worked in France. He has been active in the French Community in Colorado since the 1980s and is past president of the Alliance Française de Denver. Jeff began his legal career in Washington, D.C. and is currently a partner with the law firm of Anstine, Hill, Richards & Simpson, where he specializes in commercial, business and insurance litigation for both French and American cllients. 

Edith Samouillet
President, Turning points
Edith Samouillet is the President and founder of Turning points, LLC. Her speciality areas are Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, and Team building, which she offers in both in English and French. Her interest in the French American Chamber of Commerce is not only because she is a French citizen, but because of her international background and the fact that she comes from the Rhône-Alpes region where she still has a significant business network. For the majority of her international career, she has been based in Lyon.  

Antoine Toffa
Founder & CEO, VideoBloom
Antoine Toffa is the CEO and Founder of VideoBloom, a leader in full-service, turnkey online video advertising and distribution solutions. Prior to VideoBloom, Antoine was Founder and CEO of Trip.com, for which the Interactive Travel Report named him “Man of the Year in the Travel Industry”. Previous to his entrepreneurial endeavours, Antoine worked with the telecommunications company US West, Time Warner’s Interactive Group as well as with Matra-Communications on the French Minitel. 

Susan Engeman
Former FACC President

Honorary Consul of France Emeritus

Frieda Sanidas Leason