France-Atlanta 2013 is co-presented by the Consulate General of France in Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology:
a) Co-presenters: 
The Consulate General of France in Atlanta:
Established in 1989, the Consulate General of France in Atlanta is the French diplomatic outpost to the South-eastern United States, serving the six states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The role of the consulate is to serve the interests of France and the French people as well as to build bridges with the region where it is located. If cooperation between France and the Southeastern United States already exist, Pascal Le Deunff, Consul General wants to further develop them. For more information : www.consulfrance-atlanta.org.
Georgia Tech – CIBERs :
Centers for International Business Education and Research were created in 1988. CIBERs organize a variety of activities to advance the study and teaching of international business and to support applied research on United States competitiveness in the global marketplace. For more information: http://ciberweb.msu.edu/.
Georgia Tech – Lorraine:
Georgia Tech-Lorraine (GTL) was established as Georgia Tech’s first international campus in 1990 in Metz, France. A highly innovative institution offering year-round undergraduate, Masters and PhD programs, GTL is also home to a strong sponsored research program in key technological areas. Students can gain valuable research experience and graduate education in the Unité Mixte Internationale (UMI), an international joint laboratory between Georgia Tech and the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). In today’s global economy, Georgia Tech-Lorraine plays a determining role in fulfilling one of the goals of the Institute as stated in its strategic plan: "Georgia Tech must prepare our students for lifelong engagement within an international setting. A Georgia Tech education must import a greater awareness and appreciation of broader differences in language, culture, and custom". For more information: www.georgiatech-metz.fr.
b) French partners:
Arkadin Collaboration Services:
Arkadin Collaboration Services is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing Collaboration Service Providers. They are delivering successful collaboration experiences that facilitate and energize teamwork. As a pure collaboration provider, they are focused on delivering quality audio, web and video conferencing and Unified Communications solutions that address the needs of small and medium businesses as well as large enterprises. For more information: http://www.arkadin.com/.
L’Arsenal:
“L’Arsenal” of Metz is a preserved patrimonial of exception, it is composed of two performance halls that are internationally recognized for the quality of their sound and their programming. Reinvented by the renowned architect Ricardo Bofill in 1989 on the basis of an old military building, l’Arsenal is close to the Governor’s Palace where was held the famous dinner of Metz. In 2013-2014 l’Arsenal celebrates its 25th birthday. For more information: http://www.arsenal-metz.fr/.
Centre National de la recherche scientifique:
National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) is a government-funded research organization, under the administrative authority of France’s Ministry of Research whose mission is to produce and disseminate knowledge to the service of society. As the largest fundamental research organization in Europe, the CNRS carries out research in all fields of knowledge. Encouraging collaboration between specialists from different disciplines, in particular with the university, thus opening up new fields of enquiry to meet social and economic needs, it has developed interdisciplinary programs which bring together various CNRS departments as well as other research institutions and industry. For more information: www.cnrs.fr/.
The City of Toulouse:
Toulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne. It is one of the bases of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNES’s Toulouse Space Centre (CST), the largest space centre in Europe. In March 2008, Pierre Cohen was elected Mayor. For more information: http://www.toulouse.fr (in French only).
Etablissement Français du Sang:
French Blood Establishment (EFS) is the unique civil operator for transfusion in France. Blood transfusion, an EFS monopoly since 2000, includes blood donation, plasma donation and platelets donation. EFS is the guarantor of transfusion chain security, from donor to recipient. It contributes to the treatment of more than 1 million patients every year. With its 152 permanent collection sites and 40,000 mobile sites, EFS is present on the whole territory.
For more information: www.dondusang.net (in French only).
FACE, French American Cultural Exchange:
FACE is dedicated to nurturing French-American relations through innovative international projects in the arts, education, and cultural exchange. Housed in the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York, and overseen by a Board of Trustees, FACE serves an extensive network of patrons through its film-based programs and provides support to various initiatives through its partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. For more information : http://www.facecouncil.org/.
Grand Toulouse:
Grand Toulouse is the federation of 37 cities around Toulouse. As of 2012, there are more than 707,000 inhhabitants living in Grand Toulouse. This grouping of communes is growing annually. Today, it acts directly for its residents by developing everyday projets in economic development, housing or environment and bigger projects in transportation, town planning or public health (Oncopole).
For more information: www.grandtoulouse.org (in French only).
Inserm:
Founded in 1964, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) is a public scientific and technological institute which operates under the joint authority of the French Ministry of Health and French Ministry of Research. As the only French public research institute to focus entirely on human health, in 2008 Inserm took on the responsibility for the strategic, scientific and operational coordination of biomedical research. The Institute’s official mission includes Scientific monitoring and expertise. Inserm plays a leading role in creating the European Research Area and boosts its standing abroad through close partnerships (teams and partner laboratories abroad). For more information: www.inserm.fr/.
Metz:
Metz is the capital and the prefecture of both the Lorraine region and the Moselle department. The city is the economic heart of the Lorraine region and is also the home for a broad range of cultural, intellectual and social interests. For more information: http://metz.fr/ (in French only).
Metz Metropole:
Metz Metropole is an organization working to develop the area encompassing the city of Metz and its surroundings. They are dedicaded to expand the metropole artistic enthusiasm and great cultural mixing, lifestyle and cuisine. For more information: http://www.metzmetropole.fr/ (in French only).
Toulouse Oncopole:
The Oncopole of Toulouse brings together public and private research, academic organizations, industry including pharmaceutical leaders and SMEs, medical and clinical expertise. These actors are committed to working together to achieve a single goal: more effectively fight cancer.
The mission of the Oncopole of Toulouse is to pool resources for common projects, to encourage synergies between different fields and technologies, to nurture partnerships between public and private research, and to encourage transfers and exchanges between fundamental research and patient care, thereby driving therapeutic innovation and improving the quality of treatment.
For more information: www.oncopole-toulouse.com.
Prelude:
Prelude is an association which brings together the two best cultural entities of Lorraine : “Orchestre National de Lorraine” and ”l’Arsenal”. Prelude aims to promote talents of its territory beyond borders with a premier with ’’Un Aller-Retour pour Atlanta’’.
Toulouse University Medical Center:
Toulouse University Medical Center (CHU de Toulouse), ranked fourth largest in France, is organized into 15 clinical centers. Focusing on healthcare, prevention, education, and research, it has distinguished itself for nearly 15 years, topping the charts made by the national press. Besides clinical and pre-clinical research, as an institution strongly committed to the future, it is also open to innovation both in terms of organization and technological innovation, collaborating with medical practitioners and university research teams from Inserm and CNRS, among others, and which include cancer and geriatrics research projects. On an international level, Toulouse University Medical Center opens to foreign health institutions in the framework of expertise and partnership agreements. For more information: www.chu-toulouse.fr/ (in French only).
Paul Sabatier University:
Since its creation in 1969, UPS has been expanding its offer of multidisciplinary education in the fields of science, health, engineering, technology and sports, developing one of the most important scientific research clusters in France. Based in Toulouse, the European space and aeronautics capital, UPS is a renowned European university with a global outlook. As one of the top research establishments in France, UPS is active in public research at the highest level, working with excellence clusters and creating numerous partnerships with major scientific bodies. Recognized across Europe and all over the world, UPS research laboratories function in a scientific research context that works both with the core disciplines, and transversal scientific applications, sharing the results of their work to increase productivity in core research and encourage knowledge transfer.
For more information: www.univ-tlse3.fr.
Stromalab:
In order to increase our knowledge of complex tissue/organ regeneration, the Stromalab proposes to understand and decipher how stroma cells and more particularly Mesenchymal Stem cells (MSC), one of the most known adult stem cells, participate in tissue homeostasis and promote repair/regeneration processes. Bone marrow as the best-known tissue and paradigm will be investigated and compared to adipose tissue. This will lead Stromalab to identify and characterize the different stem or stromal cell subsets present in the stroma; to investigate whether these tissues can serve as physiological reservoirs of adult stem cells for “repair” or regeneration; to investigate their therapeutic uses in regenerative medicine.
For more information: www.stromalab.fr.
Toulouse Tech Transfert:
Toulouse Tech Transfer (TTT) is one of five new French SATT (Société d’Accélération de Transfert de Technologie), or Technology Transfer Acceleration Company. The primary mission of TTT is to create economical value from research projects realized in regional laboratories. TTT will facilitate the translation of research discoveries into social or industrial applications by helping with technical maturation (development of proof of concept, proof of feasibility, prototypes and trials), juridical maturation (protection of results) and economical maturation (identification of target-market).
For more information: www.toulouse-tech-transfer.com (in French only).
Vespieren:
Verspieren is the first family-owned insurance dealer on the French market. The Verspieren group provides its customers with insurance in France and abroad.
For more information: http://www.verspieren.com.
c) American partners:
BronzeLens:
The BronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta, Georgia is a non-profit organization, founded in 2009, that is dedicated to bringing national and worldwide attention to Atlanta as a center for film and film production for people of color. The mission of the BronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta, Georgia is two-fold: to promote Atlanta as the new film mecca for people of color; and to showcase films and provide networking opportunities that will develop the next generation of filmmakers. For more information: www.bronzelensfilmfestival.com/.
The Carter Center
The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 70 countries. Led by the Carters and an independent board of trustees, the Center’s staff wage peace, fight disease, and build hope by both engaging with those at the highest levels of government and working side by side with poor and often forgotten people. For more information: www.cartercenter.org..
Center for Collaborative and International Arts
The Center for Collaborative and International Arts (CENCIA) is a research center in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University. It brings together creative writers, visual artists, composers, musicians, filmmakers, and scholars engaged in arts-related research with scholars in disciplines across the academy. CENCIA’s primary mission of enriching campus and community life through engagement in the arts is changing the nature of research on campus by placing emphasis on connecting arts research to the public they serve. For more information, visit: www.arts.gsu.edu/cencia.
City of Atlanta
The City of Atlanta, under the leadership of Mayor Kasim Reed, is the county seat of Fulton County and the location of the seat of government of the state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta’s population is 420,003, and the 5,268,860 people in the Atlanta metropolitan area make it the third largest in the Southern United States. Atlanta is considered to be a top business city, containing world headquarters for many major corporations and is a primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States—via highway, railroad, and air. Home to several universities and colleges, Atlanta offers a plethora of cultural, intellectual, economic, and social outlets. For more information: www.atlantaga.gov.
CORE Performance Company
CORE (formerly Several Dancers Core) is a professional dance organization that creates, performs, and presents contemporary dance, and is dedicated to opening channels of communication and education between artists and the community. CORE was founded in 1980 and is led by artistic director Sue Schroeder, a choreographer and arts leader with more than 30 years of experience in dance. The organization is dual-homed, with operations in both Houston and Atlanta. For more information, visit: www.coredance.org.
Emory University:
Emory University, a top 20 research university located in Atlanta, Georgia, is an inquiry-driven, ethically engaged and diverse community whose members work collaboratively for positive transformation in the world through courageous leadership in teaching, research, scholarship, health care and social action. The university is recognized internationally for its outstanding liberal arts college, superb professional schools and one of the Southeast’s leading health care systems. For more information: www.emory.edu.
The High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art, founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. With more than 12,000 works of art in its permanent collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American and decorative art; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the only major museum in North America to have a curatorial department specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art. The High’s media arts department produces acclaimed annual film series and festivals of foreign, independent and classic cinema. In November 2005, the High opened three new buildings by architect Renzo Piano that more than doubled the Museum’s size, creating a vibrant “village for the arts” at the Woodruff Arts Center in midtown Atlanta. For more information about the High, please visit: www.High.org.
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) provides opportunities for refugees to thrive in America. Each year, thousands of refugees are invited by the U.S. government to seek safety and freedom. Forced to flee conflict or persecution, many have survived for years against incredible odds. They step off the plane with next to nothing but their dignity, hope and determination. In Atlanta and many other regional offices across the country, the IRC helps them rebuild their lives. For more information: www.rescue.org/.
Invest Atlanta
Invest Atlanta is the official economic development authority for the City of Atlanta. Chaired by the Mayor of Atlanta, and governed by a board of directors, Invest Atlanta’s programs and initiatives focus on developing and fostering public/private partnerships to create jobs, grow the economy, revitalize neighborhoods, attract investment, spur innovation, and encourage entrepreneurship. For more information: http://www.investatlanta.com/.
The Peace Corps
The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship. Today’s Peace Corps is more vital than ever, working in emerging and essential areas such as information technology and business development, and contributing to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Peace Corps Volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities. For more information, please visit: www.peacecorps.gov/ .
Refugee Family Services
Refugee Family Services is a dynamic, community-based organization that has grown and adapted to meet the changing needs of the metro Atlanta refugee community for more than 20 years. Begun as a local branch of the Save the Children network, RFS now serves more than 2,000 women and children each year. Today, their 48 staff members speak more than 20 languages. In 2010, 500 volunteers donated more than 8,500 hours to our work. For more information, visit : www.refugeefamilyservices.org
The Rialto Center
The Rialto Center for the Arts is Georgia State University’s performing-arts venue located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. The venue presents the best of national and international dance and music, with the mission to inspire, educate, and entertain diverse audiences by presenting innovative and exceptional arts programming and cultivating community partnerships. www.rialtocenter.org.
RRISA
RRISA is a non-profit agency that welcomes refugees, asylees, and victims of human trafficking, helping them along the path to self-sufficiency in their new home. With the help of the community, they act as a bridge between local resources and refugees worldwide. Currently the majority of our clients are coming from Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan, and the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In addition to meeting the immediate needs of shelter, food, clothing, and medical care, they also offer long-term services in the following areas: resettlement, employment, education and youth, immigration, savings match. For more information, visit: www.rrisa.org.
Saint Joseph’s Translational Research Institute
Saint Joseph’s Translational Research Institute will be the leading catalyst of clinical solutions through targeted translational research and collaborations. The Saint Joseph’s Translational Research Institute’s mission is to translate scientific discoveries into modern therapeutics for patient care. We believe the true application of translational research can be achieved by integrating research strategy, clinical collaboration, training, and education. Through the enthusiasm, and efforts of our team and our collaborators worldwide, our goal is to improve the quality of life for all patients. For more information: http://www.sjtri.org
SCAD
Founded in 1978, The Savannah College of Art and Design exists to prepare talented students for professional careers, emphasizing learning through individual attention in a positively oriented university environment. With locations in Savannah, Atlanta, Singapore, and Lacoste, SCAD offers more degree programs and specializations than any other art and design university and seeks to provide a superior education through talented and dedicated faculty and staff, leading-edge technology, advanced learning resources and comprehensive support services. For more information, please visit: www.scad.edu/ .
Sonic Generator
Founded in 2006, Sonic Generator is the contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at Georgia Tech dedicated to using technology to transform the ways in which we compose, perform, and listen to music. The group works closely with students and faculty across campus to implement technology in concert and to incorporate new research into live performance. Sonic Generator’s experiments with new technologies have led the group to perform with wine glasses, iPhones, comic strips, car speakers, DJs, and a robotic drummer. The ensemble also frequently collaborates with visual artists to create video projections to accompany its performances. For more information, visit: www.sonicgenerator.gatech.edu.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University:
The Winship Cancer Institute is dedicated to the integration of innovative clinical and basic science research with outstanding patient care for the prevention, treatment and control of cancer. We bring people together. Researchers, physicians, epidemiologists, nurses, engineers, and social workers come to work each day in order to take one step closer to eliminating cancer. It is a team approach, reflecting our commitment to an interdisciplinary and collaborative search for answers to why we get cancer, how we can prevent cancer, and how we can cure cancer. There is no place in Georgia that takes a more agressive approach to finding these answers. For more information: http://winshipcancer.emory.edu.
d) French associations and institutions in Atlanta:
Alliance Française:
A member-supported 501c3 non-profit organization, Alliance Française d’Atlanta is the French-American Cultural Center serving the Atlanta community as the premiere provider of French language and culture since 1912. They offer French language studies and cultural exchange programs promoting French culture representing France and 50 Francophone countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. They also provide French language classes for all levels and cultural programs in the form of art exhibits, lectures, concerts, movies, trips to French-speaking countries and more. They are committed to education and cultural outreach to communities in and around Atlanta and fostering cross-cultural understanding. For more information:www.afatl.com.
Association Ensemble:
Association Ensemble gathers parents whose children are enrolled in the French Department of the Atlanta International School (AIS). This organization’s goal is to foster and develop the French section at AIS, promoting academic excellence, the French language as well as cultural and social activities. For further information, please contact Nicolas de Kerorguen at ensemble_ais@yahoo.com.
Atlanta-Accueil:
Atlanta-Accueil is an organization gathering more than one hundred members of the French community in Metro Atlanta. Its goal is to welcome and help French citizens in their expatriate experience, especially newcomers. They organize many activities to help members of the French community discover the city and its surroundings, and also helps individuals and families having difficulties. To know more : www.atlanta-accueil.org.
Atlanta-Toulouse Sister Cities Committee:
_ The Atlanta-Toulouse Sister Cities Committee operates under the umbrella of Sister Cities International. Atlanta began its official sister city relationship with Toulouse on December 17, 1974, when then Mayor Maynard Jackson signed a proclamation declaring Toulouse one of Atlanta’s official sister cities. ATSSC aims at promoting friendship and build personal and business relationships between the citizens of Toulouse, France, and Atlanta. For more information: www.sprawls.org/ATSCC/.
Ecole du Samedi:
Ecole du Samedi is an organization offering French classes to children ages 3-12. Classes are available for native and non native speakers from September to May. For more information, consult Ecole du samedi’s Web site :www.frenchschoolatlanta.org.
Erai:
Erai was created in France in 1987 on the initiative of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council. Their main mission is to help the companies of the Rhône-Alpes region to export and promote the local competences and know-how at an international level. Each year, Erai assists more than 1,000 Rhône-Alpes SME’s, provides 300 firms with personalized support through its agencies over the world, helps 200 firms to find international funding solutions and works closely with more than 22,000 business contacts worldwide. Its Atlanta office celebrated their 10 year anniversary in 2009,. For more information : www.erai.org/en/.
French-American Chamber of Commerce:
The French American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta is a bi-national, non-profit organization that seeks to contribute to the development and improvement of economic, commercial and financial relations between France and the Southeastern Untied States. They encourage sales of goods and services between both countries and promote better international understanding. They also provide information about the economy and business environments to French and American enterprises to help promote investment from commercial and industrial enterprises of each country in the other. They facilitate the interaction among members to foster advantageous economic, commercial and financial relationships between France and the United States of America. For more information : www.facc-atlanta.com. _
French Heritage Society:
French Heritage Society (FHS) was founded in 1982 to help preserve the architectural patrimony of France and the French legacy in America. It is an American non-profit organization that fulfills its mission in both countries by providing restoration grants, educational programs and exchanges, cultural travel opportunities, commemoration of events that have marked French-American history, and emergency intervention in response to natural disasters. For more information : www.frenchheritagesociety.org.
French Trade Commission – Ubifrance:
The French Trade Commission - Ubifrance network in the United States (Atlanta, Chicago, New York, San Francisco) is divided into both geographic and economic domains. In this respect, the French Trade Commission – Ubifrance in Atlanta specializes in the service sector for the entire U.S. territory. There are also two experts, correspondents for the New York Mission, responsible for the South-eastern region, who specialize in the following industry sectors: “Consumer Goods” and “Food, Wines and Spirits”. The French Trade Commission – Ubifrance network assists companies wanting to export, settle in the United States, or develop commercial relationships on American soil, particularly in the Southeast region. For more information : www.ubifrance.fr.
Foreign Trade Advisors of France (Southeast region):
The French Foreign Trade Advisors or CCE’s are men and women chosen within the business community for their skills and work experience. Appointed for three years by a decree from the Prime Minister, they share their expertise on a voluntary basis by providing government with their recommendations, sponsoring small companies in their international expansion, and educating and informing young people about international trade careers. The Southeastern section has about a dozen members focusing their efforts in this region of the United States. For more information : www.cnccef.org.
Théâtre du Rêve:
As Atlanta’s unique French-language theatre company, Le Théâtre du Rêve’s mission is to bring the language and cultures of the French-speaking world to life on the American stage. They strive to create a true dialogue between American and French-speaking artists. For more information : www.theatredureve.com.