Leadership
Aurélien Lechevallier completed his studies at HEC Paris, Sciences Po Paris and the National School of Administration (ENA). In 2004, he joined the French Foreign Ministry, serving as Chargé de Mission under the Director for International Cooperation and Development.
In 2007, he was posted to Washington, first as an Exchange Diplomat at the U.S. State Department, and then as First Secretary at the Embassy of France from 2008 to 2010.
Subsequently, he held several positions at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry:
– Second Counselor, Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, and Director of the French Institute in Beirut (2011-2013),
– Diplomatic Adviser to the President’s Special Envoy for the Protection of the Planet, seconded to the Office of the President of France (2013-2014),
– Diplomatic Adviser on International Relations, seconded to the city government of Paris (2014-2016),
– Chargé de Mission, Center for Analysis, Forecasting and Strategy (CAPS) (2017).
In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Diplomatic Adviser to the President of France, seconded to the Office of the President of France (2017-2019). From 2019 to 2022, Aurélien Lechevallier served as Ambassador of France to South Africa.From 2022 to 2024, he held the position of Director General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education and International Development at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and G7/G20 Sous-Sherpa. From 2024 to 2026, he served as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
In 2026, he assumed his current position as Ambassador of France to the United States.
Aurélien Lechevallier has two children and speaks English and Spanish.
Mohamed Bouabdallah is a seasoned diplomat who has held significant leadership roles advocating for French culture on the global stage. Prior to his appointment as Cultural Counselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine, he served as Cultural Counselor of France in Cairo and Director of the French Institute in Egypt (2016-2019), and Head of the Political Affairs Department at the United Nations Directorate of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of the Security Council (2019-2023).
An alumnus of Paris Dauphine University, Sciences Po Paris, and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), Mohamed Bouabdallah has worked in several European institutions, including the Delegation of the European Union in Belgrade and the European Parliament. He further served as political advisor to the president of Essonne, a regional authority in the Paris region, and as an adjunct professor at Sciences Po Paris and ENA. In his free time, Mohamed Bouabdallah has been active in social work, contemporary art, and theater. A basketball fanatic, he also practices distance running and desert hiking.
A former student at Sciences Po Paris, holder of “agrégation” in social sciences and now an inspector for the French Ministry of Education, Stéphane Foin has been working in the French cultural network abroad for twenty years. He has directed Alliances Françaises in Mexico and India, then served as cultural counselor in Indonesia and Colombia, and as deputy cultural counselor in the United Kingdom. He was deputy director general of France Education International for six years in France. He joined Villa Albertine in New York in September 2025.