One Acadiana President and CEO Jason El Koub has been selected for a prestigious leadership honor by the French-American Foundation.
Each year, the foundation, which has worked for 36 years out of offices in New York and Paris to build strong ties between France and the U.S., selects highly accomplished individuals under the age of 40 from business, government, journalism, academia and culture who reflect the future of the two nations.
The Young Leaders then participate in two multi-day events — one in France and one in the U.S. — to meet with local and national leaders, explore the cultures of both nations and exchange ideas on social, economic, and political issues critical to trans-Atlantic relations. Established in 1981, Young Leaders is now the flagship program of the French-American Foundation.
U.S. alums include President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Sens. Evan Bayh and Bill Bradley, Gen. Wesley Clark, former Gov. Bobby Jindal, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, former White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, former World Bank President Robert Zoellick, journalist Gwen Ifill, Oscar-winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson, and business leaders Frank Herringer (Transamerica Corporation) and John Thain (CIT Group).
French alums include President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (2012 and 2011, respectively), President François Hollande, former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, former Higher Education Minister Valérie Pécresse, Henri de Castries (former Chair & CEO, AXA), Alexandre de Juniac (former Chair & CEO, Air France-KLM), Anne Lauvergeon (Chair and CEO, AREVA), and Michel Bon (former CEO, France Télécom).
The 2017 new class of American Young Leaders:
1. Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner for International Affairs, New York City Mayor’s Office
2. Nicolas Bernadi, Partner, La Boulangerie de San Francisco and Founder, Sitari Ventures
3. James G. Brooks, Jr., Founder and CEO, GlassView
4. Frank Demaille, President and CEO, ENGIE North America
5. Jason El Koubi, President and CEO, One Acadiana
6. Kathryn Finney, Managing Director and Founder, Digitalundivided
7. Maya Kalieva Henry, Senior Vice President, PIMCO
8. Olivier Kamanda, Director, Code.gov and Presidential Innovation Fellow
9. Anne-Claire Legendre, Consul General of France in New York, Consulate General of France
10. Michael Morales, White House Fellow, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, and Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force
11. Adrien Treuille, Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
The foundation will convene its 2016 and 2017 classes — a group of more than 40 — in San Francisco for its Young Leaders annual meeting Oct. 18-21.
El Koubi tells ABiz the second event, which will be in France, has not yet been scheduled.