September 24, 2020

The French-American Foundation hosted its inaugural Young Leaders Cafe on Thursday, September 24 at 1:00pm ET over Zoom. The new initiative brought together participants and alumni of the Young Leaders program to learn more about one another and examine topical issues in transatlantic affairs. The first discussion was led by Olivier Kamanda, Young Leader ’17 and Product Manager at Facebook, and Alexander Slater, Young Leader ’16 and Deputy Managing Director of the US-India Business Council.

Olivier Kamanda: Olivier Kamanda is a Product Manager at Facebook and the founder of Tribonian, an end-to-end SaaS contract management platform. He is the former Director of Learning and Impact Strategy at the Knight Foundation. In 2016, Olivier served as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, where he was the product lead for Code.gov, America’s platform for sharing and improving government software. He is the founder of Ideal Impact, a civic-tech company that measures the emotional impact of news by giving readers an opportunity to volunteer, donate, advocate and support causes in real time.

Alexander Slater: Alexander Slater’s professional expertise covers the areas of international affairs, law, government and politics. He currently serves as Deputy Managing Director of the U.S.-India Business Council, a membership organization of Fortune 500 and NIFTY 50 companies that seeks to strengthen Indo-American trade and investment. Prior to the USIBC, Alexander held senior roles at the World Bank Group, where he was Senior Financial Officer at the World Bank’s Office of the Treasury and advisor to World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, specializing in strategy, communications and policy, with a focus on development finance, conflict, fragility, and gender equality.

Young Leaders Program