American by birth but francophile of heart, I am thrilled to be leading the Alliance Française du Maine in its mission to promote the French language in Maine. French has been always been an important part of my life. I studied it during the majority of my schooling, with long stays in Poitiers and Strasbourg during and after college. After completing my graduate work at Columbia University in the field of International Economic Policy, I returned to France and worked for 5 years in Paris for an American bank, in an office across from the beautiful Madeleine. It was a special time in my life and cemented my love of la langue française. Based in Maine since 2004, I am married to an American who also has a great love for French culture, and we have a daughter who is fluent in French. The cultural and linguistic benefits to my family are one of the reasons that I joined the Board of Directors of the Alliance in the first place. Professionally, I left finance a few years ago, and I’m now building a seaweed company called Ocean’s Balance. My circle of life is complete when seaweed and the French language cross paths, which happens more than you might might think, since the coasts of Maine, Canada and Brittany are each blessed with an abundance of algues.
Lisa Scali
