Biography

Melanie French
Director, Academic Year in America

Melanie French is director of Academic Year in America (AYA), a position she has held since 2001. French originally joined AYA as a program manager in 1982, helping the program grow from 125 students to more than 700 in five years. She has more than 20 years of international cultural exchange experience.

French manages an office staff of 18 and a field staff of approximately 400 local coordinators who work with her and others to identify appropriate host families across the United States. Her responsibilities include management of day-to-day activities of the organization, which brings in approximately 1,000 high school students from around the world annually to live with American host families and attend local high schools.

Prior to becoming director of AYA, French worked for Au Pair in America as a senior regional program manager, where she worked extensively with field staff to support and assist au pairs while they were in the U.S. and directly managed a team of regional program managers.

In addition, French also serves as executive director of the American Institute For Foreign Study Foundation, overseeing all operations, working with the board of trustees and conducting fundraising for the 501(c)(3) non-profit sponsor organization of AYA.

French was an exchange student herself in high school and considers her participation in the program a life changing experience. She chose to conduct two internships with student exchange organizations in college, spending six months in Santiago, Chile, and six months in Washington, D.C. Her family has hosted several au pairs and an AYA student.

French, a Stamford, Conn. resident, earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the School for International Training in 1981. In her spare time, she enjoys riding horses and spending time with her husband and three children.