Meet the AARO Board
AARO OFFICERS
Doris Speer, President
Frank Priest, VP Operations
Fred Einbinder, VP Advocacy
Pam Combastet, Secretary
Douglas MacKinney, Treasurer
Marilyn Yakowitz, Assistant Treasurer
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 with the Groupe d’Economie Mondiale de Sciences Po in Paris. He worked primarily on macroeconomic policy issues, serving in various capacities including Secretary to the Group of 10 and editor of OECD Economic Outlook. In 2001 he became Deputy Director for OECD work on Science, Technology and Industry policy, overseeing analysis of enterprise issues, notably regarding SMEs. He is now semi-retired, writes occasionally about globalization and financial market issues, likes to travel, still skis when he can and lives with his wife in Paris. For AARO, Paul participates in work on banking; and advocacy relating to wider public policy issues, notably tax, which affect access to the financial system.
Pamela Combastet
PAMELA COMBASTET was born in New York and raised near Paris. After getting her Bac and spending a year at Sciences Po, she moved to Washington, DC to attend the Foreign Service School at Georgetown U. She worked in the development departments at several New York City museums. In 2004, Pam moved back to Paris. She serves on the Board of the American Aid Society and is the AARO secretary.
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, and AARO Citizenship Committee Chairman. A lawyer and former diplomat, she is a 35-year resident of Paris and has three dual-national children.
Andy Coyne
ANDY COYNE from Hilton Head Island, SC, is an attorney working for the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, specializing in project development and finance. Andy has previously lived abroad in Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina and France. For AARO, Andy is involved in lobbying and tax issues.
Charles Crouch
CHARLES CROUCH is a registered professional engineer with a BS in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and a masters in management from Purdue University. Growing up in North Carolina, he has lived throughout the U.S. as well as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia and France. He has worked as a manufacturing manager for Morton Salt, a business manager for Apple, and with several startups in Belgium. Recently he has taught postgraduate courses in e-commerce and digital marketing at Boston University, the University of Tasmania and the Chisholm Institute.
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 American Civilization. She went on to earn a CAPES and become a teacher of American English with the French Education Nationale. In 2010, Kristi created the Anglophone Section at the Lycée Français in Johannesburg, South Africa. Two years later, it became the first American Section of the International Option of the French Baccalaureate (OIB) in Africa. Kristi has been a volunteer at AARO for 30 years involved in Citizenship and Voting. She is Chair of the Membership Committee.
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 Emirates with a special focus in Abu Dhabi and she guides innovative technology firms to expand internationally. Mrs. Mistry has a master’s degree in Art and Art Psychotherapy from California State University at Sacramento and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Industrial Crafts and Teacher Education at San Francisco State University. She currently serves as AARO’s Washington DC liaison.
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 he managed a worldwide team of over 220 lawyers. He is presently an Associate Professor at the American University of Paris and a senior lecturer at the ESSEC business school. He has degrees from Bradley University (IL) (BA), the University of Illinois (JD) , and HEC (Paris-Exec MBA). His research and publications focus on issues arising out of the extraterritorial application of U.S. law which dovetails with his work as VP Advocacy since 2016.
Ross Feingold
ROSS FEINGOLD is a business development director at SafePro Group, a consultancy that advises clients on security risk throughout the world. Mr Feingold previously served as the Asia chairman of Republicans Abroad and has volunteered in the expatriate community for close to 20 years. Admitted to practice law in New York State and Washington, DC, Mr. Feingold was previously an in-house counsel at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan. Mr Feingold has lived in Asia for over twenty years. Mr. Feingold has served as AARO's nominating committee chair and assists AARO with communications and has attended several Overseas Americans Week in Washington DC.
James Kigin
JAMES KIGIN has been in Paris for more than 30 years. James is co-chair of the AARO Outreach/Membership committee. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Saint John’s University in Minnesota and a DEA from the Sorbonne. His professional career has been anchored in the education and language training field and he is a recognized expert in e-Learning. James participates in several different international organizations and is an avid networker. He loves the arts and particularly photography.
Douglas MacKinney
DOUGLAS MACKINNEY, a native of Virginia, but living in France for 30 years, started his professional life as an engineer after getting a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Virginia. But finding that engineering was not his thing, he used an MBA to switch to a treasury career. He started at Seagram in New York then moved to Paris and continued his career at Thomson which later became Technicolor, rising to his current position as SVP Treasury. He is the incumbent AARO treasurer.
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 Fontainebleau, France. She has worked as an Executive in the Healthcare industry for over 30 years, for both U.S. and European multi-national companies. Most recently, Ann has been employed in the In Vitro Diagnostics industry as a Vice President and General Manager with Bio-Rad Laboratories, with worldwide P&L responsibility for large business segments, and then as an Independent Consultant focused on strategy and M&A in the IVD industry. Ann has lived in Europe since the 1980s and has worked in France, Switzerland, and the UK. She resides with her husband in Paris, holds U.S. and French citizenship, and enjoys traveling around the world, as well as French culture and cuisine.
Patrick Morrissey
PATRICK MORRISSEY is a member of the American community in France since 1997 and is currently a business unit head at a U.S.-based international bank. Prior to moving to France, Patrick served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from HEC Paris. Patrick lives in Paris with his wife Anne and his children Alexandre (18) and Hannah (16). Patrick focuses on veterans outreach and is a member of the AARO Banking committee.
Frank Priest
FRANK PRIEST is a Franco-American dual national living in Paris who has over thirty (30) years of professional experience in management consulting and auditing, fulfilling progressively more responsible positions with firms in the USA and France as Internal Auditor, Management Consultant, and head of a CPA firm audit department. Frank has also served as Treasurer for the American Club of Paris. He is the incumbent AARO vice president for operations.
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 Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and a DEA from the University of Paris 1. She is a graduate of the Trium Executive MBA program (an alliance of NYU Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and HEC School of Management) and completed a PhD with the University of Westminster (London). She is an attorney who has worked for international law firms and companies. She recently served as the sole international member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee to the IRS.
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, responsible for the Group's worldwide M&A activity. She started her career in New York at Shearman & Sterling, representing clients in M&A and corporate finance. Doris is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and earned an Executive MBA from HEC. She currently teaches M&A and international contracts for the Hautes Etudes Appliquées du Droit and the Association Française des Juristes d’Entreprise. Prior to the law, Doris was a professional percussionist and she continues to be active in music and dance. For AARO, Doris has worked on the Advocacy Committee and the health insurance program.
Marilyn Yakowitz
MARILYN YAKOWITZ Over several decades at OECD, Marilyn led emerging market country and regional programs, managed one of the largest programs of work and budget, created regulatory reform, headed sustainable development, and consulted on foreign direct investment. She is president of a 501 (c) (3) charity. In the U.S., she held positions at the Wharton School, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Smithsonian. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, GWU, University of Maryland and Yale, she holds a PhD, MBA, MPhil and BA. She is the incumbent AARO assistant treasurer.