French-American Foundation

The '''French-American Foundation''' is a privately funded, [[non-governmental organization]] established to promote bilateral relations between [[France]] and the [[United States]] on [[France–United States relations|topics]] of importance to the two countries, with a focus on contact between upcoming leaders from each country. It employs a variety of initiatives that include multi-year policy programs, conferences on issues of French-American interest, and leadership and professional exchanges of decision-makers from France and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Kevin |date=2023-07-07 |title=French-American Foundation Names Edward Wallace as its Chair |url=https://www.citybiz.co/article/437712/french-american-foundation-names-edward-wallace-as-its-chair/ |access-date=2026-01-28 |website=citybiz |language=en-US}}</ref>

Founded in 1976, the Foundation is an operating organization that relies on outside financial support to carry out its mission and does not provide grants. It is an independent, non-partisan, nonprofit organization.<ref>{{Citation | last = Mohr | first = Alexander | title = The German Political Foundations As Actors in Democracy Assistance | place = Boca Raton, Florida | publisher = Universal-Publishers | series = Political Science | year = 2010 | page = 145 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Huot-Marchand |first=Amalia |date=2025-06-24 |title=French-American Foundation unveils 2025 ‘Young Leaders’ |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5362010-french-american-foundation-205-young-leaders/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250909064043/https://thehill.com/policy/international/5362010-french-american-foundation-205-young-leaders/ |archive-date=2025-09-09 |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=The Hill |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yash Roy, Eden Teshome |date=2024-06-27 |title=French-American Foundation announces 2024 ‘Young Leaders’ |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/4743375-french-american-foundation-announces-2024-young-leaders/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628023437/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/4743375-french-american-foundation-announces-2024-young-leaders/ |archive-date=2024-06-28 |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=The Hill |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History == The idea was born in 1973 between Ambassador [[James G. Lowenstein]], [[James Chace]], editor-in-chief of ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', both members of the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], an independent think tank, and [[Nicholas Wahl]], a specialist of post-war France at [[Princeton University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://frenchamerican.org/about/mission/|title=Mission|website=French-American Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-04|archive-date=2019-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105200854/https://frenchamerican.org/about/mission/|url-status=live}}</ref> In order to counter an [[anti-French sentiment]] within the [[State Department]], the [[Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]] and the press, as well as [[anti-Americanism]] among the French elite, the three men grew the desire to create a structure dedicated to friendship between the US and its oldest ally, and outside government control, unlike the existing exchange programs led by the State Department since 1941.<ref name=charles>{{cite news|url=http://revuecharles.fr/young-leaders-lenfance-des-chefs/|title=Young Leaders, l'enfance des chefs|language=fr|newspaper=Charles|issue=12|date=January 2014|accessdate=2015-10-29|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031201/http://revuecharles.fr/young-leaders-lenfance-des-chefs/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Young Leaders == The Young Leaders program is the flagship program of the French-American Foundation.<ref name="ylus">{{cite web|url=https://frenchamerican.org/young-leaders/the-program/|title=Young Leaders|publisher=French-American Foundation|accessdate=2019-01-04|archive-date=2019-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104213501/http://frenchamerican.org/young-leaders/the-program/|url-status=live}}</ref> The program was created in 1981, under the sponsorship of [[Princeton University|Princeton]] French-American economist Ezra Suleiman who remained its president until 2000.<ref name=figaro>{{cite news|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/mon-figaro/2014/10/09/10001-20141009ARTFIG00425-le-petit-club-de-l-elite-transatlantique.php|language=fr|title=Le petit club de l'élite transatlantique|trans-title=The small club of the transatlantic elite|newspaper=[[Le Figaro]]|first=Sophie|last=de Ravinel|date=10 October 2014|accessdate=2015-10-29|archive-date=2015-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119070857/http://www.lefigaro.fr/mon-figaro/2014/10/09/10001-20141009ARTFIG00425-le-petit-club-de-l-elite-transatlantique.php|url-status=live}}</ref> It was initially intended as a response to observations that the close working relationships between French and American leaders in the post-war period were waning as new, younger leaders rose with little exposure to their transatlantic counterparts. 38 years later, it still plays a key role in the creation of transatlantic bonds, with more than 500 leaders in government, business, media, military, culture and the non-profit sector having taken part.<ref name=ylus/>

Every year, juries in France and the United States select a small group (around twenty) of French and Americans between 30 and 40, that are destined to hold a leadership position in their field and to play an important role in a globalized world.<ref name=figaro/> The selected Young Leaders then participate in two five-day seminars, alternatively in the U.S. and France, with the opportunity to discuss issues of common concern and, more importantly, get to know each other and create durable bonds.<ref name=inter>{{cite news|url=http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-lenquete-loncle-sam-un-ami-tres-influent|title=L'oncle Sam : un ami très influent|trans-title=Uncle Sam, a very influential friend|language=fr|newspaper=[[France Inter]]|date=9 October 2015|accessdate=2015-10-28|archive-date=2015-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010161735/http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-lenquete-loncle-sam-un-ami-tres-influent|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|language=fr|url=http://french-american.org/actions/echanges/young-leaders/|title=Young Leaders|publisher=French-American Foundation|accessdate=2015-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031111305/http://french-american.org/actions/echanges/young-leaders/|archive-date=2015-10-31|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/392973-french-american-foundation-announces-2018-young-leaders|title=French-American Foundation announces 2018 'Young Leaders'|last=Mali|first=Meghashyam|date=2018-06-19|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|language=en|access-date=2019-01-04|archive-date=2019-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105043523/https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/392973-french-american-foundation-announces-2018-young-leaders|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Notable alumni === Young Leaders alumni include prominent Americans such as:<ref name="French-American Foundation">{{Cite web|url=https://frenchamerican.org/young-leaders/the-program/|title=The Program|website=French-American Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-04|archive-date=2019-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104213501/http://frenchamerican.org/young-leaders/the-program/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/news-other-foreign-policy/339550-french-american-foundation-announces-2017|title=French-American Foundation announces 2017 'Young Leaders'|last=Lejeune|first=Tristan|date=2017-06-27|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|language=en|access-date=2019-01-04|archive-date=2019-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105043550/https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/news-other-foreign-policy/339550-french-american-foundation-announces-2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=French-American Foundation unveils 2025 ‘Young Leaders’|date=June 24, 2025| website=The Hill|url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5362010-french-american-foundation-205-young-leaders/}}</ref>

* Former President [[Bill Clinton]] * Former presidential candidate [[Hillary Clinton]] * Executive [[Dina Powell]] * Los Angeles Mayor [[Eric Garcetti]] * Senator [[Evan Bayh]] * Senator [[Bill Bradley]] * Entrepreneur [[Auren Hoffman]] * General [[Wesley Clark]] * Former [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Joshua Bolten]] * Former [[World Bank]] president [[Robert Zoellick]] * Filmmaker [[Charles Ferguson (filmmaker)|Charles Ferguson]] * [[Frank Herringer]], [[Transamerica Corporation]] * [[John Thain]], [[CIT Group]] * Journalist [[Gwen Ifill]]<ref name="French-American Foundation"/> * Artist [[Kabir Sehgal]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Earlier Classes - 2019 |url=https://frenchamerican.org/young-leaders/earlier-classes/2019/ |website=French-American Foundation |access-date=January 20, 2026}}</ref> * Former Massachusetts Attorney General [[James Shannon (Massachusetts politician)|James Shannon]] * Former [[United States Department of Homeland Security|DHS]] Assistant Secretary [[Jeohn Favors]]

French honorees include:<ref name="French-American Foundation"/>

* President [[Emmanuel Macron]] * Former Prime Minister [[Édouard Philippe]] * Former President [[François Hollande]] * Astronaut [[Thomas Pesquet]] * [[Pierre Moscovici]] * [[Arnaud Montebourg]] * [[Najat Vallaud-Belkacem]] * [[Fleur Pellerin]]<ref name="inter" /> * Former Prime Minister [[Alain Juppé]] * [[Henri de Castries]], [[AXA]] * [[Alexandre de Juniac]], [[Air France-KLM]] * [[Michel Combes]], [[Alcatel-Lucent]] * [[Frédéric Lemoine]], [[Wendel (group)|Wendel]] * [[Anne Lauvergeon]], former chairperson & CEO of [[AREVA]] * [[Michel Bon]], former CEO of [[France Télécom]]<ref name="ylus" />

== Annual Gala ==

The Annual Gala is the principal fundraising event of the French-American Foundation. Each year at the Gala, the Foundation presents its Benjamin Franklin Award to two individuals who have made significant contributions to the French-American relationship. The Comte de Vergennes Award is presented to longtime supporters of the French-American Foundation.

Past honorees include: [[Anne Lauvergeon]], [[Patricia Russo]], Ambassador [[Anne Cox Chambers]], [[Henri de Castries]], [[John A. Thain]], Hon. [[C. Douglas Dillon]], Hon. [[Walter J. P. Curley]], [[Médecins Sans Frontières]], [[Bernard Arnault]], [[Michel David-Weill]], the [[Forbes family]], [[Maurice Lévy (Publicis)|Maurice Lévy]], and [[Frederick W. Smith]].

== The Translation Prize ==

The FAF awards annually the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize.<ref>{{cite web | title=Translation Prize | website=French-American Foundation | date=5 November 2024 | url=https://frenchamerican.org/initiatives/translation-prize/ | access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref> The prize has been awarded since 1986. Since 2003, there have been two awards, one fiction, and one nonfiction. The prizes are not limited to contemporary works; [[Lydia Davis]] won in 2004 for her translation of [[Marcel Proust]]'s ''[[Swann's Way]]''. [[Arthur Goldhammer]] won in 2005 for his translation of [[Alexis de Tocqueville]]'s ''[[Democracy in America]]''.

==See also== * [[France–United States relations]]

== References == <references/>

==External links== * {{Official website}}

[[Category:French-American Foundation| ]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1976]] [[Category:France–United States relations]]