Becca Brodarick and her husband hosted their first French exchange student in 1989 in an effort to expose their four young children to international cultures.
Over the next decade, many other students from France and the Côte-d’Ivoire would spend summers at the Brodarick home. Becca became the Kentucky State Coordinator for Nacel Cultural Exchanges, placing sixty to ninety French and Spanish students and their teacher-chaperones with Kentucky families each summer.
Mentoring these students through the challenges of adapting to life in America had the unintended, but positive and long-lasting, effect of exposing Becca to French language and culture.
Inspired by a growing love of French culture, she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching French from the University of Louisville where she was a member of Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honor Society.
Becca taught all four levels of high school French in Louisville, Kentucky. With a strong belief in the value of student exchanges, Becca traveled to France with her own students, as well as groups of Nacel students.
She served on the Board of Directors of l’Alliance Française de Louisville (AFL) from 1998-2011 and was President of AFL from 2000-2003, and Executive Director from 2003-2006. AFL presented Becca with the Médaille d’Or (Member of the Year) in 2002 and again in 2012.
From 2006-2012 Becca served as a board member of the Federation of Alliances Françaises, U.S.A. where she held positions as Corporate Secretary and Co-Vice-President.
She has been a strong advocate for the growth of French programs and organizations in her local community and beyond for almost 30 years. What started as hosting a French exchange student grew into a lifetime commitment to championing the culture and ideals of the French community.