Officers and Board of Directors
Staff
Domitille Marchal Lemoine, Executive Director
Domitille Marchal Lemoine is the first Executive Director of the organization, appointed to advance international philanthropy, support American donors in making secure and effective cross-border gifts, and help charitable nonprofits achieve their mission. As a multi-skilled communications professional, Domitille has gained a comprehensive experience in advising organizations around the globe. A graduate from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), she holds a Master’s degree in International Business from Université Paris Dauphine. She started her career as a communications specialist in the private sector, and first entered the nonprofit world advising various foundations in London, UK. She worked for seven years as a consultant for nonprofits in the United States, shaping their messages and strategies to advance initiatives on education, human rights, protecting young people and scientific research.
barbora Tvrdik, Communications and Development Associate
Barbora Tvrdik is a self-proclaimed Francophile and former educator. Through years of volunteering with numerous non-profit organizations, she discovered a passion for connecting people to critical resources, and understands the deep value that comes from personally connecting with a good cause. A multilingual speaker, Barbora has lived and worked in France, including a year in Bordeaux. She holds a Master’s degree in French Studies from New York University and a bilingual French and English degree in International Education, Training, and Management from the Université de Bordeaux. At Friends of Foundation de France, she serves as the Communication and Development Associate, and works to amplify the reach of deserving charities and help American residents find their cause.
Board of Directors
Axelle Davezac spent the first part of her career as Chief Financial Officer at various large industrial groups. She then decided to join the philanthropy sector as managing director of the ARC Foundation for Cancer Research. She was previously treasurer of Comité de la Charte, board director of IDAF and Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire de Strasbourg and served two terms as Vice-President of France Générosités (union of the charity organizations in France), the most recent ending in 2019. Axelle joined Fondation de France in 2016. She currently sits on the board of directors of the French Foundation Center, Fondation Suez and the Board of Alliance Publishing Trust, and she is Vice President of the Management committee of the European Foundation Center (EFC).
Victoria Bjorklund is a Retired Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, an international law firm based in New York, where she founded and led the Exempt Organizations Group. She taught the Law of Nonprofits at Harvard Law School for nine years. In 1989, Victoria helped found Doctors Without Borders USA and today chairs its Board of Advisors. She chairs the Robin Hood COVID-19 Relief Committee, which has rapidly granted over $70 million to more than 575 community-based organizations aiding NYC’s needy, and previously chaired Robin Hood’s Superstorm Sandy and 9/11 relief efforts. She is also a director of Friends of Fondation de France, Robin Hood Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and she co-chairs the Planned Giving Advisory Committee at Princeton University.
Miles Hankin, has been a television news producer, communications consultant, and international peace and security NGO manager and advisor. He has produced public affairs television programming for the Council on Foreign Relations, public television, and NBC and ABC news.
Originally trained as an anesthesiologist, Francis Charhon devoted his professional career to developing and transforming philanthropy in French territories. Francis started his career as President and Managing Director of Médecins Sans Frontières, a position he held for 15 years before undertaking the same responsibilities for Fondation de France for 25 years. He was also president of the European Foundation Center and now serves as member of the board. He created the French Foundation Center, where he served as chairman for 15 years.
Christopher Harris is a member of the international Management Team of PSJP (Philanthropy for Social Justice & Peace). He worked for a decade as the Senior Program Officer on Philanthropy at the Ford Foundation. Prior to that, he was a Senior Consultant to the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF) in Oslo and the Bernard van Leer Foundation in The Hague. He currently serves on the boards of several foundations and nonprofits.
Suzanne Siskel is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Asia Foundation based in San Francisco. She formerly worked in leadership positions for over two decades at the Ford Foundation’s Indonesia, Philippines and New York offices. She currently serves on a number of nonprofit and philanthropic boards. Suzanne is an anthropologist with degrees from Harvard and The Johns Hopkins University.
Director of Development at Fondation de France, Frédéric Théret oversees the international strategy of the organization as well as the marketing and territorial footprint on a national scale. After a career in the commercial sector, he worked with Institut Pasteur and Action Against Hunger before joining Fondation de France.
Frédéric Théret regularly takes part in professional conferences; he was notably a member of the Board of Directors of France Générosités, administrator and Treasurer of the French Center for Funds and Foundations, administrator of the European Center for Foundations, now Philea. He teaches a course on philanthropy at the SciencesPo Paris School of Public Affairs, a management course at ESSEC as part of the French Fundraising Certificate, and talks at CELSA and Paris-Dauphine University.