Who We Are

About the WWNG

We are an association of English-speaking professional women living and working in the Grenoble area.  Our purpose is to build and maintain business and personal connections that help us in our work and careers.

The WWNG was founded by current President Mickey Farrance in 2004 and acquired French Association 1901 (non-profit) status in 2006.  The WWNG operates as a volunteer organization, with an elected board and appointed programming committee as well as ad hoc committees for events and special projects.

Our membership is lively and diverse, representing about a dozen nationalities.  WWNG members are middle managers, top executives, academics, consultants, and entrepreneurs exploring the many new horizons offered by the WWNG.

The 2011-2012 Board

Michelle Onofrey, Secretary

  • A former middle-school teacher, Michelle is launching a new project to encourage women to discover the beautiful mountains around Grenoble through various outdoor activities, such as rock climbing, hiking and canyonning.  Led by licensed female guides, women and young girls will have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors and build friendships, as well as their self-esteem.

Mireille Derain, Treasurer

  • Mireille is the co-founder of greytogreen – tools for life. greytogreen is an international network of coaches, trainers, and consultants. With an innovative approach, they help individual and teams to understand their personal inspiration, resolve blocked situations and master change management. Before following this new calling, Mireille has spent 18 years in finance. She has a Chartered accountant degree.

Lotte Peeters, Program Team Leader

  • Lotte Peeters organized the WWNG Professional Enrichment Program last year and did such a fabulous job, we are delighted to have her on the Board and heading the Program committee.  Lotte is a communications professional at Tornier.

Mickey Farrance, President

  • Mickey founded the WWNG shortly after moving to Grenoble from California, where she was active in a number of professional networking groups.  She is a writer, teacher, and trainer specializing in effective technical and business communications, currently responsible for technical communications at BonitaSoft.

Françoise Lerond, Vice President

  • Françoise Lerond is the founder of Confluences Consulting, which helps businesses to set up and implement marketing plans to grow, find new business opportunities, and make their marketing actions more targeted and efficient. Specialized in high tech, technical and manufacturing industries, Françoise connects marketing and sales, strategic and operational, tech and non-tech. Before creating her own business, Françoise  held several marketing, business development and communication positions in the high tech industry.

The 2011-2012 Program Committee

The 2011-2012 Communications Committee

  • Kelly Rigotti (shown above)
  • Sharon Lenormand
  • Rebecca Skillman
  • Lisa Lemaire
  • Gillian Gover

We are also a “sister” organization with the Women’s Professional Networking Group in Lyon.

(Like our photos? We do too!  Thanks to Pierre Lamarca at Karmin Communication Photographie.)