Launched in 2021 by the French Embassy in the United States, Villa Albertine is an arts institution that supports cultural exchanges between the United States, France and beyond. Present in 10 American cities, Villa Albertine offers innovative programming nationwide, including 50+ residencies each year for artists, thinkers, and creators across all disciplines; a series of cross-cultural dialogues and events; grants, resources, and incubator programs for professionals in the cultural sphere; and a magazine “States”. 

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Gillian Bowen is a modern and contemporary dancer based in NYC. She studied with the Martha Graham School and is a certified teacher of the Graham technique. Having experienced many facets of the dance world since starting her training at the age of five, Gillian is looking to expand its current structures and transcend its limitations

Savinien Caracostea is a kaleidoscopic creative, working at the intersection of design, culture & technology. He brings his expertise in graphic, spatial and culinary design to imagine, generate and activate the commercial and leisure spaces of tomorrow. In addition to consulting international brands on creative strategy and innovation, he publishes a magazine and started a non-profit exploring the future of hospitality.

Adam Dalva’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, and The Atlantic. He serves on the board of the National Book Critics Circle and teaches Creative Writing at Rutgers University. Dalva is a writer-in-residence at Brooklyn’s Invisible Dog Art Center, and has received fellowships from Scotland’s Hawthornden Castle, Iceland’s Gullkistan, the Vermont Studio Center, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Wildacres. His graphic novel, Olivia Twist, was published by Dark Horse in 2019. Adam was a judge of the 2022 Story Prize, the Books Editor of Words Without Borders, and the Senior Fiction Editor of Guernica. 

Tim Davis is an artist, writer, and musician who spends an embarrassing amount of his life listening to, writing about, collecting, and being devoted to music. His photographs are in the collections of dozens of museums internationally, and he teaches photography at Bard College

Sanaë Lemoine is a novelist and cookbook writer. She is the author of the novel The Margot Affair, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and the co-author of the cookbooks Hot Sheet and Make It Japanese. In 2022, she was a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow. Born to a Japanese mother and French father, she was raised in France and Australia, and now lives in Brooklyn.

Lindsey Lusher Shute is co-owner of Hearty Roots Community Farm and the cofounder and CEO of Farm Generations Cooperative, an organization that leverages technology and tradition to build a more just and sustainable future for food and farmers. Earlier, Lindsey cofounded the National Young Farmers Coalition and led it for 10 years as it grew from a handful of volunteer farmers into a nationwide network with 40 chapters in 28 states and a grassroots base of over 150,000. The Coalition worked closely with USDA to improve its support of young farmers, including a microlending program that has now served tens of thousands of farmers nationwide. She was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by President Barack Obama and is the recipient of the Glynwood’s “Harvest Award.” She holds a BFA from New York University and an MS in Environmental Policy from Bard College.    

Lela Nargi is an award-winning journalist, author, and editor living in Brooklyn. Her work covering the intersections of food systems and food policy, science, the environment, and social justice issues has appeared in Civil Eats, Eater, Food and Environment Reporting Network, The Guardian, Modern Farmer, Mother Jones, The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and many other outlets. She also writes books – mostly about science, mostly for kids.

Emma Ractliffe is an entrepreneur, activist, and farming enthusiast with bases in New York City and the Hudson Valley. She was born and raised in France, where her father, a biodynamic vegetable farmer, inspired her passion for regenerative agriculture. Early in her career, Emma worked with smallholder farmers in India and Egypt as COO of Sara’s Organic Food, an organic food distribution company. More recently, in the United States, Emma has focused on applying finance to create a better food system. She is the founder and codirector of Ranchlands Coop, a cooperative land investment platform that purchases land on behalf of its rancher members in order to remove it from the speculative market. She  has a BA in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford University. 

Mayukh Sen is the James Beard Award-winning author of Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America (2021) and the forthcoming Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star (2025). Three of his essays have  been published in  The Best American Food Writing, and his  articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among other magazines and newspapers. He teaches journalism at New York University and lives in Brooklyn.