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CHAIRMAN

M. Stephen Blank, Ph.D.
Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University

Stephen Blank is the Director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University. He recently retired as a professor of international business and management at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. Previously, he served as director of the Lubin Center for International Business Development and founded the Pan American Partnership for Business Education, an alliance of four North American business schools.
Blank is currently the President of the Mid-Atlantic Committee of New York City and a member of the Executive of the North-American Committee and the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Higher Education in North America. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2002, Stephen Blank was awarded l'Ordre National du Quebec.

DIRECTORS

Françoise Faverjon-Fortin
Vice-President, Infrastructure and Environment,
Export Development Canada (EDC)  

Ms. Françoise Faverjon-Fortin joined Export Development Canada in 1990. Ms. Françoise Faverjon-Fortin is Vice-President, Infrastructure and Environment for EDC. 
Prevously, Ms. Faverjon-Fortin worked at the Conference Board of Canada and the World Trade Center Association in New York. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (Université du Québec à Montréal) and sits on the International Relations Council of Montreal. She holds an MBA in International Finance from the State University of New York.
EDC provides trade finance and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets. Founded in 1944, EDC is a Crown Corporation that operates as a commercial financial institution.

Dr. Robert A. Pastor, Ph.D.
Vice-president of International Affairs
Profesor and Director of the Center for North American Studies,
American University

Robert A. Pastor is Vice-president of International Affairs as well as Professor and Director of the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington, DC. Dr. Pastor was Fellow and Founding Director of the Carter Center’s Latin American and Caribbean Program (1985-98) and was National Security Advisor for Latin American Affairs (1977-81). He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University and is author of 14 books, including Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New. Dr. Pastor chairs the North American Forum on Integration.

Dr. David Felsen, D.Phil.
Program Director, International Studies Division, Marshall Goldsmith School of Management
Alliant International University, San Diego

Dr. David Felsen is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the International Studies Division of the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant International University in San Diego. He holds a Doctorate (D.Phil.) in Politics from Oxford University in the UK and Masters and Bachelors degrees from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy (EGAP) at Tecnologico de Monterrey – Campus Estado de Mexico and before that he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Felsen writes on European and Latin American issues, and has recently co-authored a documentary and reference text on immigration.

Lic. Julieta Yañez Vega
Director of the International Studies Program and the Political Science and Public Administration Program at the Universidad de Monterrey

Julieta Yañez Vega is the International Studies and Political Science Program Director at the Universidad de Monterrey. She has been working as Faculty since 1997 teaching courses such as World Politics, Diplomacy, Model United Nations and International Negotiations. She has a Masters Degree in Humanities and a Diploma in International Relations. She is often invited to comment oninternational and Mexican politicsinradio programs.

Mme Christine Fréchette
President and founder of NAFI

Christine Fréchette has founded and directed NAFI since April 2002. With a Master’s degree in International Relations, she has previously worked for the National Assembly, particularly as a counsellor for the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA), which has established a network of legislative assemblies of the Americas. Later, she coordinated the creation of an inter-American network on linguistic diversity.
She is a member of the Board of the International Studies Centre of the Université de Montréal (CERIUM) and of the government Council on the Status of Women (CSF).

SECRETARY

Mme Vicky Trépanier
Lawyer, Associate Counsel, Graymont Limited

Vicky Trépanier is Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the North American Forum on Integration. She currently acts as associate counsel for Graymont Limited, a mining company which head office is located in British Columbia. She was previously practicing business law with the firm BCF, LLP for the last five years. She also holds a B.A. majoring in translation.
Ms. Trépanier was member of the Commission d’étude sur les services de santé et les services sociaux (the Clair Commission) and a Board member of the Commission des normes du travail. She also served as Vice-President of the Fonds étudiant solidarité travail du Québec and member of the Comité de travail sur l'intégration des jeunes à la fonction publique québécoise.