Americans in Alsace Board of Directors

In 2018, Rebecca met a charming French man while waiting for an island ferry in Thailand and within 3 months, left her life in Los Angeles to move to the beautiful Alsace with her dog, Alabama. In 2020 they welcomed a daughter, Loretta, to their Franco-American family.

With a 20+ year career in public relations and marketing working with brands like Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Jaguar, Land Rover, Yahoo, and more, she brings a wealth of marketing knowledge to Alsace.

After arriving in France and meeting the AIA board, Rebecca jumped at the opportunity to get involved with the marketing efforts then took on the role of President in 2020. 

Claire grew up in Durham, North Carolina and fostered her love of travel with a degree in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) that included her first experiences living abroad in Argentina and Paraguay. After undergrad, Claire joined a public health research firm in the Research Triangle Park, where she worked as a researcher and proposal manager.

While working and completing a Master of Public Health at UNC, Claire found a way to squeeze in a trip back to South America to hike through Patagonia. And she’s really glad she did! At a bar in Chile post-hike, she met a Frenchman named Sébastien. After traveling together in the United States and Asia, Claire joined Sébastien in the south of France. They moved to Strasbourg together in January of 2018. In her free time, Claire enjoys exploring Alsace, hiking, shaking up new cocktails, caring for her many houseplants, practicing yoga, and playing with her American cat and Romanian rescue dog.

Alyssa has been living in Alsace since 2019. She grew up in the Bay Area of Northern California. She then continued to the University of California San Diego, where she studied Biochemistry for her Bachelor's degree. She began working in clinical operations in the biotechnology industry in San Diego after obtaining her degree, where she met the French man of her dreams. Her time in Alsace turned into a more permanent stay, as these two lovebirds decided they wanted to continue to grow themselves and their careers together.

Alyssa continues to work in Clinical Operations remotely for an American company. In her free time, she enjoys hiking all along Alsace and visiting new cities, as well as seeing the American, Canadian, and French friends made through this organization.

A Cleveland native, Laura attended Kent State University where she studied nutrition and dietetics.  She later relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where she practiced as a dietitian and lactation consultant working in community health. 

Laura speaks fluent Spanish and has spent a good amount of time travelling and volunteering with public health initiatives throughout Latin America.  

She is married to a Frenchman who was born and raised in Alsace and in the summer of 2012, Laura moved to Strasbourg to be closer to her husband’s family. She is the mother of three young children.

Bénédicte is a franco-american, born and raised in Strasbourg. She graduated from ESCP Europe and holds an MBA from Drexel University. She worked for SC Johnson for 20 years in Marketing, Sales and General Management. Her career took her to Germany, Madrid, the US (Wisconsin and Arkansas), Italy and Switzerland – great opportunities to learn the art of adapting to new places.

She settled back “home” in 2010 to care for her mother, a founding member of AIA. She now has a Coaching Practice called Bright Odyssey, specializing in Team Transformation. In her spare time, she enjoys nature, discovering new places, singing in choirs or “spa-ing”.