A conversation with French cabinet member Éléonore Caroit in charge of Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Citizens Abroad. Recorded on March 30th, 2026 and edited for clarity. 

She paused as she walked through the glass doors of 22 East 60th Street in Manhattan and stepped inside the L’Alliance New York building.

Twenty years earlier, Éléonore Caroit had first crossed that threshold as an intern. She now returned as a member of the French government, Minister Delegate to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, responsible for Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Citizens Abroad.

“It was 20 years ago,” she recalled. In 2005 to be exact. “I was a student at Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies), and I knew I wanted to go to New York for my third year abroad.” She contacted the French Institute-Alliance Française, as it was then known, and soon landed an internship there. 

“My first job ever! Imagine your first job in New York, taking the train, walking through the streets, working with artistsand cultural programming. It was something that built my character and my interest in Francophonie, for promoting the French language and the position that I hold today.”

Two decades ago, from a desk on the fourth floor, she worked on programming. She helped put together a Trophée des Arts gala with a Cirque du Soleil performance at the Rainbow Room, on top of Rockefeller Center. 

Did she know then that she would eventually run for office, join the French National Assembly, and later be appointed to the government by President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu?

“At that time, I wanted to be an actress,” she said.

Yet, Éléonore Caroit also desired to play a role for France. “I knew I wanted to do something related to culture, related to building bridges and increasing dialogue, but I had no idea I was going to enter into politics.”

We are about 400 million Francophone speakers worldwide.
Éléonore Caroit, French Minister in charge of Francophonie, International Partnerships and French Citizens Abroad

Last November, she was back at L’Alliance New York annual fundraiser, except this time as a speaker and at the Plaza Hotel. The French Minister took the stage just after Bradley Cooper, whose French surprised many, and introduced Belgian singer Angèle, who received the 2025 Trophée des Arts.

“I was amazed by how much it had grown and had become, perhaps one of the most sought-after galas in the city,” she reminisced. “Although the one at the Rainbow Room was great, but we were doing the decoration. It was very, I would say, very organic.”

JC Agid: Did you foresee at the time what L’Alliance New York would become? Its role, its ambition in promoting francophone culture in New York and beyond?

Eléonore Caroit: “I wouldn’t have imagined that it would become as great as it is, but I could see that there was a vision. It was Marie-Monique Steckel at the time, and now with Tatyana Franck. You see that at the head of L’Alliance, you have very strong women determined to promote the French language and culture, and to always push further. 

I was very pleased to discover all the new projects that I intend to support. Bastille Day was just on 60th Street, if I remember correctly. And now, it has become a huge neighborhood event. It is the same for everything really. Florence Gould Hall was already there with an amazing programming. We also had the room on the last floor with performing arts, so you could tell that it was going to become one of the places to be in New York.“

French is the second most learned language in the world.
Éléonore Caroit

You keep traveling around the world. There is not a week when you are not on a different continent. What is your analysis of the state of Francophonie in the world, whether it is cultural, linguistic, educational, business, or political?

“We’ve discovered that we are about 400 million Francophone speakers worldwide. The most interesting figure is that French is the second most learned language in the world, so it’s actually a very attractive language. And the reason for this is perhaps because the Francophone family shares values. 

France defends multilateralism and a very multilateral approach to geopolitics. We’re also very attached to dialogue, to democracy. And I think people see it. It’s been the case throughout the years. For instance, my mom, who is Dominican, learned how to speak French because she’s a lawyer, and law in Latin America is very linked to the French language. 

I think today for other reasons and in a different context, French is a language that you want to learn not only because it is interesting, not only because of business opportunities, not only because of culture, but also because of values and principles.“

French language is everywhere around the world, and especially in New York with its diverse communities, whether it’s from Northern Africa, Central Africa, the Caribbeans. There are the French, the Belgians, the Swiss, the Quebecois. To that you add hundreds of thousands of Francophile New Yorkers. How do you bring all those communities together? Do you speak to them with one voice? 

“Your question gives me an opportunity to say what Francophonie is. Most people would think that Francophonie is just promoting French. It is not exactly the case. Francophonie is promoting multilingualism, it is promoting the will, the desire to learn a new language. It is about languages speaking to one another. 

So, of course, when you ask me about talking to all these communities that have different backgrounds, different histories that are in different places, it is difficult. But if you say Francophonie is not just speaking French, but it is speaking different languages together, then we can all speak in different languages together. 

And this actually is better. It creates more value for oneself, but also for the other, and it enriches the dialogue in particular in New York, which is an incredible, diverse and multicultural city.“

The world tends to be either black or white, right or wrong. There’s no room for explanations, for empathy. And this is what is bringing extremist governments and parties into power.
Éléonore Caroit

You speak a beautiful English. You also speak Spanish perfectly. Is it important for the French people to speak foreign languages very well? 

“Of course! I also speak Italian. And I wish I could learn more languages. Learning a language opens something within you. 

It is not just about communicating with new people and being able to travel and speak the language of the places you visit, which is a totally different experience when you’re on vacation or traveling for work. 

It actually gives you new concepts and a new way of seeing the world. And that is invaluable. So, I would really encourage everyone and in particular French people to learn new languages, to practice those languages that they learn, not leave it at a sort of academic or school level, but watch movies in foreign languages, practice, fall in love with people that speak another language. All of that really makes you live life differently.“

As the French cabinet member left L’Alliance New York’s boardroom where we were having this conversation in English, I thought about all the emotions words carry, their clues, their hidden meanings and truths, a multitude of nuances and expressions. 

Words sit at the core of Éléonore Caroit’s ambition: fighting disinformation and polarization. 

“The world tends to be either black or white, right or wrong. There’s no room for explanations, for empathy. And this is what is bringing extremist governments and parties into power,” she told me. 

The woman who once wanted to be an actress now chooses to act differently, by promoting a renewed sense of conversation. In a world blurred by crises and conflicts, wherever we turn, “bringing a bit of hope and dialogue and nuance would be an amazing thing,” she said.

And for that, we may need all the palettes of color, shadow and light that language can create.

Featured Picture: Éléonore Caroit and Tatyana Franck with children at L’Alliance New York’s preschool | March 30th, 2026 (c) JC Agid / L’Alliance New York
Pictures of Angèle, Bradley Cooper and Éléonore Caroit at L’Alliance New York Annual Gala: (c) Craig Barritt/Getty Images for L’Alliance New York
Picture Éléonore Caroit and guests at L’Alliance New York Annual Gala: (c) L’Alliance New York
All other pictures: (c) JC Agid / L’Alliance New York