Board Members

Martha Nichols-Pecceu
A Louisville native, Martha holds a Ph.D. in French Studies from Duke and has taught French language and culture in universities from Florida to Texas and Rhode Island. She has led student trips around the Francophone world, in Africa, the Antilles and Polynesia. She is also a grant writer/administrator, promoting excellence for small non-profits in the arts and education. Serving the Alliance Française de Louisville since 2014, she has been a teacher, recruiter, marketer, office manager, Director of School, and now President of the Alliance Française de Louisville’s Board. Her goal is to maximize the presence of AFL in the community with linkages to partner institutions and French-connected businesses.

Rafael Fernandez-Botran
Rafeal Fernandez-Botran
Rafael was born and raised in Guatemala City, where he obtained a B.S. degree in Biological Chemistry from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. He started taking French classes at the Alliance Française de Guatemala but shortly after moved to the U.S., where he received a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Kansas Medical Center. Since 1992, he has been faculty member at the University of Louisville Medical School and has frequently participated in teaching conferences to several universities in his native Guatemala. Besides research and teaching, Rafael’s other passions are languages (especially French), reading (in French, English and Spanish), classical music and cooking. Rafael joined the AFL board in 2018 and became Vice-president in 2022.

Jan BOD AFL
Jan Gonder

Carole Wolak
Carole Wolak
Carole is a retired English and ESL teacher who has been enjoying classes and activities at AFL for several years.

Mandela Gapala
Mandela Gapala
Mandela Gapala is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo but is now a U.S. Citizen. He earned a BA in Foreign Languages and International Studies with a minor in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from Bellarmine University. He is the Employment Services Manager at Kentucky Refugee Ministries (KRM). In this position, he coordinates local employers to help them understand the special needs of Refugees and Immigrants in the workforce and advocates for advanced job opportunities. Besides his full-time position at KRM, Mr. Mandela is a community volunteer.

Anne Harlan
Anne Harlan
Anne worked as an orthoepist for many years and is now retired. She has been a board member since 2018 and was secretary for several years. As a member of the Events Committee, she welcomes any suggestions for activities for AFL.

James Natsis
James Natsis
James J. Natsis is a current faculty member at West Virginia State University. He is a former Peace Corp volunteer who served for two years in Chad, Sub-Saharan Africa, conducted his doctoral research in North Africa, and traveled the length of South America for 7½ months overland by backpack. He holds a BA degree in French, an MA in International Affairs—African Studies, and the Ph.D. in International Education from Ohio University. He has published a monograph, journal and special interest articles, a number of op-eds, and presented papers at many regional and national conferences. He has directed grant projects in Benin, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and the Czech Republic, and served as external evaluator to a project in the Ivory Coast.
Natsis currently co-hosts the French-language podcast “Récits francophones au Coeur de L’Amérique.” He is fluent in French, and speaks Spanish and several other languages. He married the former Kenya Hurt and they have two sons, Ashton and Aidan. Both of his sons speak French.

Julien Marechaux
Julien Marechaux
Julien is a French citizen who was born in Lyon but grew up in St Germain en Laye, the city where Louis XIV was born, about 20 min away from Versailles in the Parisian region.
When Julien was in middle school, he and his family moved to Madrid, Spain for 5 years. They then moved back to France where Julien finished high school and attended university. After graduating with his undergraduate degree, he moved to Edinburgh Scotland where he met his wife (who is from Lexington, KY). Together, they lived for a little bit in Rouen, Normandy where she took French classes at l’Alliance Francaise while Julien was getting his Masters in Management and Marketing.
They moved to Kentucky in 2014, where Julie received his MBA in Accounting and started a financial career. They have 3 boys that are Franco-American and are trying to raise them with both cultures. Julien is a huge sports fan (always ready to talk about football (soccer), rugby or any other sport) and he frequently returns to France. When stateside, Julien loves sharing French culture with others.

Ronda Reed
Ronda Reed
Ronda was born and raised in Louisville. After graduating from Bellarmine with an accounting degree, she went on to become a CPA working for KPMG. Once she met her husband, they began relocating and travelling around the US and Europe with their two children. This travel sparked Ronda’s interest in learning the French language. She and her husband moved back to Louisville and now Ronda enjoys taking French classes, biking in France, and promoting the French culture. She is honored to be a new AF Louisville board member.

Matt Straub
Matt Straub
Originally from Louisville, KY, Matt brings a diverse business background and international perspective to the AFL. Matt’s affinity for France and international business started at the age of 14 when he traveled to France with his high school French club. This prompted Matt to study French for 9 years, including five months at the Université de Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France.
Matt earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, with minors in French and Economics from the University of Kentucky, and an MBA from the University of Louisville. He started his career at Brown Forman Corporation where he spent 15 years working in Finance, five years in Corporate Strategy, and five years in Sales Operations. Matt spent 15 years of this time focusing on International Business, including four years living overseas in the Czech Republic and England. He later relocated to Florida for five years, before returning to Louisville.
After leaving Brown-Forman, he has leveraged his broad business background over the past seven years to do Merger & Acquisition work focused in the dental industry, and works along-side his wife in managing their family business “European Splendor,” which imports and sells European furniture, home accessories & gifts. Happily married to Susan for 25+ years, Matt is an outdoor enthusiast, loves traveling, cycling, fine dining, and time with family & friends.

Galina Vayerman
Galina Vayerman
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Milira Tillman
Milira Tillman

Andy Wolak
Andy Wolak
Staff

Madeline MacKersie
Madeline MacKersie
Madeline MacKersie is the office manager at AFL. She has a long-standing passion for the French Language. Growing up, her mother spoke French with her and she introduced Madeline to many invaluable experiences within the language and culture. Madeline loves languages; she speaks English, French, Spanish, and her latest venture is Arabic. Madeline’s mother was a part of the Alliance Française de Dijon-Bourgogne and she is so excited to carry that passion here with AFL!