Bruno Gerves 
Chair

An active member of Alliance Française Vancouver since 2013, Bruno was born, raised and educated in Bordeaux. A telecommunications engineer, he worked for France Télécom in Paris before becoming Executive Director of the Vocational Training Centre of the Angers Chamber of Commerce. Based in Vancouver since 2005, he opened two liquor shops before setting up his own business as a liquor industry expert nearly 12 years ago. He works mainly in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Richard Brown
Vice-Chairman

Returned to Canada following retirement as an investment banker in 2019 after two decades covering Asian markets from Hong Kong, most recently as Senior Banker for Brookfield Financial. His former career included McKinsey & Company, Citibank, and Bank of New York Mellon. He graduated in engineering from Imperial College, University of London, and earned an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. Fascinated one summer by the Côte d’Azur at the age of 12. Now, he spends part of each year in France to immerse in the culture .

Daniel Wang
Treasurer

Daniel Wang is originally from Mauritius. He arrived in Canada in 1997, having completed his post-secondary studies in England and the United States. He currently owns his own financial advisory and insurance agency, with the goal of financially protecting his clients and their loved ones. Daniel is president of his co-ownership and treasurer of the Fondation des francophones de la Colombie Britannique. He was also President of the Vancouver Francophone Chamber of Commerce from 2015 to 2020. He is very involved in the francophone community, where he uses his professional experience to help entrepreneurs in the region.

Cosme Fondy
Director

Originally from Benin, Cosme did his higher education in Benin and France, respectively. Currently a doctoral student in education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Cosme is interested in learning French in a minority setting. He also works as a document management clerk at the French School Board of British Columbia since 2018. By choosing to join the Alliance Française Vancouver, Cosme's vision is to contribute to the promotion of francophone culture, cooperation and a synergy of action between the Alliance Française and the Francophone associations of British Columbia in order to improve their visibility.

Gisele Danis
Director

As a Calgary native deeply connected to the promotion of French-speaking culture, I come from a family that has actively supported bilingual schools and the establishment of a French-speaking Catholic Church in Calgary. Following in their footsteps, I have volunteered extensively in support of various French events and festivals. My previous role as a board member at Alliance Française in Calgary, along with my past board experience of the Canadian French Economic Development and Tourism Bureau of Alberta (CDEA), demonstrates my commitment to the French community.

Christene Best
Director

The French language has been an important part of my life since the age of ten. My family moved to Quebec City for a year specifically to learn French. Throughout my schooling, I always took French classes. I continued them as an adult, most recently at AF Vancouver. Although my courses took place several years ago, I am still in contact with former classmates and teachers. I had a wonderful experience at AF and intend to enrol again in a few years' time.

Sonia Robert
Director

Originally from Montreal, Sonia transferred to Vancouver with Xerox Canada in 1991. Sonia’s tenure at Xerox spanned over thirty years. She possesses extensive experience in business development, employee management, operations, and project management. She is a recipient of multiple awards as an outstanding achiever in sales and customer satisfaction. Over the last nineteen years, Sonia has devoted her time volunteering for non-profit organizations. She was President of The Trottin Trottinette parent’s association French pre-school and Andre Piolat.

Vincent Cauwet
Director

Vincent, originally from Paris, made Vancouver his home in 2006. Armed with an IT engineering degree, he delved headfirst into the tech industry, wearing different hats in software engineering, project and product management. Currently, he holds the position of Chief of Operations at Eventbase Technology. A company that delivers mobile apps for some of the world's largest events, like the Olympics, SXSW, CES, and Dreamforce. 

Lily Qiongli Wu
Director

Of Chinese origin, I lived in France and worked for a decade for Auchan in France and in China in the product and branding section. As soon as I arrived in Vancouver in 2017, I have been an active volunteer of the PAC (Parent Advisory Councils) at Cousteau, the French International School. For three years I actively helped in a lot of projects: crowd founding, organization of major events in the school like the charity fair, Christmas, Chinese New Year’s Eve, and I was also managing and distributing the hot lunches. I would like to continue to maintain the strong connection between China, France and Canada thanks to my professional expertise and my multicultural experiences.