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Meet our Board Members

AARO OFFICERS

Doris Speer, President
Frank Priest, VP Operations
Fred Einbinder, VP Advocacy
Pam Combastet, Secretary
Douglas MacKinney, Treasurer
Marilyn Yakowitz, Assistant Treasurer

Rebecca Allaigre

Rebecca Allaigre

Rebecca Allaigre is an American who has lived in France since 2002 and built her career in philanthropy connecting communities across the Atlantic. She is Director of Philanthropy at SKEMA Business…

Paul Atkinson

Paul Atkinson

Paul Atkinson held a number of positions at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for most of the period between 1981 and 2005, after which he affiliated for several years…

Pamela Combastet

Pamela Combastet

Pamela Combastet was born in New York and raised mostly near Paris. After getting her French baccalaureate and spending a year at Sciences Po Paris, she moved to Washington, DC to attend the School…

Elliot Bramham

Elliot Bramham

Elliot Bramham was raised on the French Riviera and spent most of his life outside the United States before becoming a financial planner. He holds a law degree from France and a postgraduate degree…

Kathleen de Carbuccia

Kathleen de Carbuccia

Kathleen de Carbuccia is a founding member and former president of AARO, a board member of the American Aid Society and the Association of American Women in Europe. She is chair of the AARO…

Andy Coyne

Andy Coyne

Andy Coyne, from Hilton Head Island, SC, is a lawyer working for the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and is currently based in Dhahran, where his practice is focused on corporate venture…

Charles Crouch

Charles Crouch

Charles Crouch is a registered professional engineer with a BS in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s in management from Purdue University. Growing up in North…

Kristi Carroll Lorin

Kristi Carroll Lorin

Kristi Carroll Lorin was born and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but completed her education at the Université de Paris X with a master’s degree in American Literature and a Doctoral Thesis in…

Kathleen Davey Mistry

Kathleen Davey Mistry

Kathleen Davey Mistry is the founder and CEO of Mistry Advisors LLC based in the Washington, D.C., U.S.A. area and in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The geographic focus of the work is the United Arab…

Fred Einbinder

Fred Einbinder

Fred Einbinder, a Chicago born and bred lawyer resident in France since 1979, served as in-house legal counsel for major French infrastructure companies culminating as General Counsel of Alstom where…

Ross Feingold

Ross Feingold

Ross Feingold is the head of the experts group at Caerus Consulting, which provides geopolitical analysis and consulting services to help organizations navigate global markets and regulatory…

Allison Grant Lounes

Allison Grant Lounes

Allison Grant Lounes is a consultant and owner of Your Franceformation SASU who has been helping clients create their dream life in France since 2014. She is the author of Foolproof French Visas and…

James Kigin

James Kigin

James Kigin has been in Paris for more than 40 years. James is a member of the AARO Outreach/Membership committee. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Saint John’s University in Minnesota and a DEA (first…

Douglas MacKinney

Douglas MacKinney

Douglas Mackinney, a native of Virginia, but living in France for more than 30 years, started his professional life as an engineer after getting a mechanical engineering degree from the University of…

Ann Madden

Ann Madden

Ann Madden was born in Washington, DC, and raised in the Philadelphia area. Ann holds degrees from Lehigh University and University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from INSEAD Business School in…

Frank Priest

Frank Priest

Frank Priest is a Franco-American dual national living in Paris who has over forty (40) years of professional experience in management, consulting, and auditing, fulfilling progressively more…

Aaron Singer

Aaron Singer

Aaron Singer was born and raised in Southern California. He earned a master’s degree in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of California, Riverside, and a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the…

Laura Snyder

Laura Snyder

Laura Snyder was born and raised in Central Illinois. She moved to Paris in 1995 and has lived in France since, save for two years (2007-9) in the UK. She holds a BA and JD from the University of…

Doris Speer

Doris Speer

Doris Speer, born near Detroit, Michigan, has been working in France since 2004. Doris was with the Alstom Group for 17 years, culminating as Deputy General Counsel, Business Transactions,…

Marilyn Yakowitz

Marilyn Yakowitz

Marilyn Yakowitz Over several decades at OECD, Marilyn led emerging market country and regional programs for South America, the Baltics, Africa and the Middle East and managed the Global Relations…

Gary Zuercher

Gary Zuercher

Gary Zuercher is a native of Wooster, Ohio, where he attended high school and college at The Ohio State University. He has simultaneously combined a highly successful business career with a…