Board Members

Paola Tettamanzi Buckley has taught foreign languages at Southern Methodist University since 2003. She is presently associate area chair and adviser for the department of French and Francophone Studies. She also designed and directs the SMU-in-France summer program, a five week faculty lead immersion program in Paris. She currently teaches Business French and initiated and oversees the internship program for French majors and minors who wish to apply their language skills in a professional setting. Paola graduated from Georgetown University with a BA and from New York University with an MA and studied second language acquisition at the University of Maryland College Park. Paola worked at United Nations headquarters in New York and also was accredited as both a French and Italian interpreter by the State Department in Washington; she has served as an interpreter at both the White House and the Pentagon. She is the current Acting President of the Alliance Française de Dallas.

She's enthusiastic about joining the board of directors due to her deep appreciation for French language and culture. She is motivated to contribute via a formal role in order to continue my lifelong mission to promote cross-cultural understanding, both in personal and business settings. With a 13-year background in business development and nearly 20 years in cultural partnerships, she is confident in her ability to make meaningful contributions to the Alliance Française's strategic initiatives. The AF has made a significant impact in her life. She received her DALF C2 in 2009, which opened doors for professional opportunities. She led an international sales team at a SaaS company, establishing a Montreal office and overseeing the entire francophone business. I also worked as a Senior Commercial Officer for Global Affairs Canada, and as an assistant attaché to the political officer in Morocco with the U.S. State Department. She is excited about the prospect of collaborating with like-minded individuals to strengthen the Alliance Française's impact and support its invaluable cultural and educational endeavors in the Dallas community.

Nicolas Bourdelot is a French national who has been living in Dallas since 2004 and who has been working for Toyota since 2017 as Sr. Financial Planning & Analysis Manager for their digital initiatives. As part of obtaining his Master in Computer Science, he moved from Paris to Dallas in 2004 working for Airbus Helicopters where he had a progressive experience across the IT function, then got promoted to the Finance team after graduating his MBA in 2011 from the University of Dallas. He is eager to bring his experience to the board of l'Alliance Française to increase its influence in the DFW metroplex. He is the current Treasurer of the AFD.

Jamie Schultz is an executive leader with strong ties to the French language and culture. He is married to a French national, and their children speak both French and English. He initially started learning French in order to communicate better with his wife's large extended family, but he soon discovered a lot of joy in the language for its own sake. He continues to study French through Alliance Française. He has personally benefited from the organization, and he believes strongly in its mission. Jamie has been an operating executive at a privately-owned company in Dallas for over a decade. He was CEO from 2020 through October of 2023, when he transitioned to his current role as an executive board member and advisor. His areas of expertise include strategy, operations, financial planning and analysis, technological change, and organizational culture. He hopes to be able to put these skills to use in service of Alliance Française de Dallas.

Sabine Kerael is a French national working at Essilor of America as Senior Director of Financial Planning & Analysis. Originally from the French Riviera, she attended the Neoma Business school in Reims and started her finance career in France. She moved to Dallas in 2005 and has been involved with the Alliance Française of Dallas since 2015.

Gretchen Fernandez was born in Boston and raised in Portland Oregon. She received a Masters from Smith School for Social Work. She met her husband while on internship here In 1995 then returned in 1997 to Richardson. Gretchen has a private psychotherapy practice for 10 years. Two sons, Ben and Joey are both full time students here. Juan, her husband is a systems analyst and a Francophile as well. She first visited France at age 16 and has enjoyed promoting French language, ideas, and culture ever since. Gretchen is delighted and honored to join AF Dallas, and serve on the Board.

De'Edra S. Williams is the former Senior Vice President (SVP) of Customer Success for CompTIA. As a Customer Success Leader, she is responsible for helping customers achieve their desired business outcomes, and ensures that companies maximize revenue growth. Ms. Williams holds an MBA from the University of Texas – Dallas. She is a Women in Customer Success Power Up mentor and Women of Customer Success Podcast speaker.

Ms. Williams is on the Executive Board for UTD and Chair for UTD's EPPS advisory council and the board of New Friends, New Life. She was formerly on the Board of Directors and Board Chair - Elect and Racial Equity Committee Chair for Big Thought. She is on the Board of Directors, former Governance Committee Chair for Reading Partners North Texas. She is a Francophile and has previously volunteered for the French American Chamber of Commerce and worked for their Beaujolais festival's silent auction.

Joumana Arraj teaches French at the Episcopal School of Dallas. She is also on the Diversity and Global Education teams. She has earned a B.A. at the American University of Beirut, a Maîtrise at the Saint Joseph University and a DEA at Paris I - La Sorbonne, Paris where she lived for ten years. She is married to Henri and has two children.

Carmen Ana Reyes was born in Puerto Rico where she studied until she graduated from high school. Then, she did her undergraduate degree in Boston College, Mass. and a master’s degree in Middlebury College, Vt. In 1981, she moved to Paris, France for a year to finish her master’s degree. Then, she traveled to Italy for a summer to study Italian where she met her future husband. She lived in Italy for almost 30 years working as an Insurance agent and a Financial Consultant for 16 years. She transferred to Dallas in 2012 to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren and started working at Ericsson in the International Division of Accounts Receivable because of being multilingual. In 2014, she became a Realtor joining Avangard Real Estate Services, Inc. and now she is currently working in EXP Realty. In 2014, she became a member of the Alliance Française in Dallas. She joined as a member the Board of Directors in 2015 and was President of the Board from 2018 to 2022.

Antoine Aulanier is a French national who grew up in Paris and Brittany. He has recently acquired American citizenship after moving to Dallas in 2020. He is married to Dana, a native Texan, and has three young daughters.

He started his career at Société Générale’s Inspection Générale, and has spent the last twelve years at Bain & Company advising his clients on growth strategy, adjacency strategy, M&A and operational improvement. He is looking forward to leveraging his private sector experience to support the Alliance Française growth in North Texas.

French citizen, who has been living in Dallas since 2004. She did her MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2009/2010, and has been working for financial services company Standard and Poor’s Ratings since 2011. She is currently a Director and lead analyst covering business services, publication and education companies.

She has been a member of the AFD over the past 15 years, and her two children have benefited from the offerings of the Alliance in the past.

She also volunteered at the AFD as a book group leader for a couple of years before the pandemic.

She truly believes in the mission of teaching the French language in DFW. The AF’ missions to foster cultural exchanges between francophones and Texans to promote French culture in Texas are dear to her heart.

Antony Francis is the owner and President of the independent consulting firm, Lakehill Partners. He is a Business Leader and Entrepreneur with 25+ years in general management and business strategy and operations, with experience in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He is a Member of the Advisory Council at UNT Denton's Jim McNutt Institute for supply chain; a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (UK) and a Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport. He is a Board Member of HOBI International, Inc. and Member of the World Affairs Council. He is Bilingual English/French.