Board Members 2025-26

annette@francophoneschool.org

Annette Dennett is the daughter of an educator father from Ivory Coast and a business graduate mother from France. Since graduating with her Masters in Developmental Psychology, with a focus in at-risk education, she has worked advocating for equal opportunity to solid education; something so simple, yet unfortunately, so challenging. A director for an educational community based non-profit in San Francisco and the East Bay, her organization, PACT, Inc. has placed nearly 65,000 students in college since 1963; the majority coming from under-served low income families. Although her work involves primarily high school, motherhood has offered the opportunity to become involved at the primary level. Her 5 children, along with a few nieces and nephews, have either graduated, or are currently enrolled at Francophone. Serving on the board offers opportunities to advocate for more families who may not otherwise have the opportunity to take advantage of bilingual education; a probable correlate to higher academic success. She is honored to have the opportunity to be part of a grassroots effort promoting Francophone education in the Bay!

herve@francophoneschool.org

Hervé Bruckert is a financial management professional with 25 years of experience in healthcare, biotech/pharma and higher education. For the last 10 years Hervé worked at UC Berkeley as a Divisional Finance Lead and an Associate Director in the central budget office. Hervé holds a Mechanical Engineering Degree from ENSAIS in france and an EMBA from the University of San Francisco. Hervé is also a financial consultant for a Biotech start up and has served on the board of the charter school for over 5 years. Hervé enjoys spending time with his family as well as kitesurfing and growing trees from seeds.

bigal@francophoneschool.org

He’s Big Al, and he loves his momma. A tax and business advisor as well as an investor, he began his career in the financial services industry in 2002. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in Finance, and has completed doctoral coursework in Tulsa, New York City, Cape Town, Shanghai, and São Paulo. Big Al’s professional journey started in insurance in Alabama, moved into mortgages in Georgia, and later expanded to accounting, taxes, and business valuations in California. An entrepreneur since 2002, he has also taught undergraduate and graduate finance courses for nine years in and around San Diego. He and his wife have two beautiful daughters who attend Francophone Charter School, where he has been an active volunteer since 2022. He’s happy to be here, grateful to be alive, and always gives thanks—God is great!

rscheel@francophoneschool.org

Rebecca Scheel has spent the last 15 years at the crossroads of business, policy, and innovation. From the OECD in Paris to running an accelerator in the Nordics and now to Silicon Valley, and even co-founding her own startup, she’s built a career on connecting ideas with opportunities. Today at Innovation Norway, she helps global tech companies and born globals tap into Norwegian ecosystems, with a special focus on tech and sustainability. Armed with an Executive MBA, and MA in International Politics, Rebecca is passionate about turning big visions into real-world impact. At FCSC, she has played many volunteer roles because she deeply loves the school community and vision. She is mom to a 3rd grader and now enters her 2nd year on Francophone’s board and could not be more enthusiastic about our school’s future and impact.

nnajjarian@francophoneschool.org

Nichan’s professional path started in statistics, where he worked across many European countries before moving into the SaaS technology industry in the Bay Area. Today, he focuses on Data and AI, bringing a global perspective and a passion for innovation to his work.
Francophone culture has always been a core part of who he is, alongside his Armenian, Italian, Turkish, and Arabic lingustic roots. The multilingual, multicultural foundation is something he carries with pride and strives to pass on to his family.
Nichan is proud to serve on the Board of Directors at Francophone because the mission deeply resonates with him. Nichan has two daughters, one in 2nd grade and another will join soon. He is thrilled to be part of a community that values bilingual education and embraces the richness of diverse backgrounds.

slowenthal-savy@francophoneschool.org

Stephanie began her career in education as an after-school instructor, then spent six years teaching elementary and middle school in Colorado and California. While teaching, she earned an M.Ed focused on language acquisition and multilingual learner instruction.

Since 2018, Stephanie has worked at the district level to expand her impact beyond the classroom. She now leads financial planning and support for a large charter network in the Bay Area, with a focus on ensuring equitable resource allocation across our network of schools. In 2023, she earned a Master’s of Management Studies, focusing on K-12 education policy and management through the Broad Program.

Stephanie is proud to serve on the board of FCSO, with whom she shares a deep personal belief in the power of bilingual education. Raised in a bilingual household herself (French and English), she is thrilled that FCSO offers this dual-language program to Oakland families.