American Embassy Representative

US Embassy Minister-Counselor for Management Affairs

John Kuschner is the Minister Counselor for Management Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  He has been a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department for over 30 years. He started his career in Beijing in 1985 and, in addition to a few years in the U.S., has also served in Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Iraq.  John was previously assigned to Moscow from 2013 to 2016.  He is married to Jay Carol Wilson who was the School Psychologist at AAS Moscow from 2013 to 2018. Both originally from New York State, they now call New Hampshire home. They have three grown children – all of whom spent many years at international schools during their travels.  John received a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from New York University – a long time ago.

American Embassy Representative

Deanna Ayala is the Minister Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, having arrived in August 2017.  She previously served in Moscow from 2010-13. During both occasions, her children have attended AAS. Deanna’s husband, Mateo Ayala, is a fellow Foreign Service Officer at the US Embassy. Previous overseas postings include Indonesia, London, and Tokyo. Deanna is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where she received a Bachelor degree (International Relations) and a Master’s degree (Applied Economics).

PTO Representative

PTO President

Rupa and her husband Arup are from India and relocated to Moscow in 2016 from Istanbul. Their daughter Aarushi is currently in Seventh Grade at AAS.

This is Rupa's and Arup's fourth posting in 13 years as part of the UN Diplomatic corps. 

Rupa has a Masters degree in Computer Science from Russia and a MBA from George Washington University in the US. She has worked for Revlon Euro International in Moscow for 6 years  and then worked as a Consultant with the World Bank in Washington DC, prior to relocating to Hong Kong with her husband. Rupa is fluent in English, Russian, Hindi and Bengali.

Rupa was elected as a PTO/PTA officer at each of the four international schools her daughter attended in Hong Kong, Cairo, Istanbul, and Moscow.

Rupa was the External VP of PTO at AAS from 2016 -18 and currently serving her second year as the PTO President at AAS.

American Embassy Representative

U.S. Embassy Alternate Board member
First Secretary, U.S. Embassy Moscow

Sonata Coulter is a First Secretary in the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  She returned to Moscow in September 2018 with her family, after having earlier served in Russia from 2005-2007 (Moscow and Yekaterinburg).  Since joining the State Department’s Foreign Service in 2003, Sonata’s previous postings include tours in the Kyrgyz Republic and Liberia, as well as a variety of assignments in Washington, DC.  Originally from California, she received her B.A. (French, Art History) from Columbia University and MA (International Affairs) from George Washington University.

At Large Representative

PPF

Jean-Pascal (JP) Duvieusart, Chantal and their children arrived in Moscow in 2007 coming from Prague where they lived for 7 years. JP, a former Director at McKinsey, is with PPF since 2010 where he is responsible for the Real Estate activities of the group. JP is a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee of the Board. Three children of Chantal and JP's  graduated from AAS in the past few years. Outside of work, JP is a member of the board of the Russian Food Bank and enjoys practicing sports.

British Embassy Alternate Board Member

First Secretary (Corporate Services), British Embassy

Jan is a Diplomatic Service officer with more than 30 years experience in the UK and overseas. She has three sons and 4 grandchildren (two boys and 2 girls). Jan arrived in Moscow in 2015, following postings in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She is Association of Accounting Technician (AAT) qualified and is a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee of the Board. Outside of work, Jan enjoys travelling, reading and spending as much time as possible with her family, who all live in the UK.

Canadian Embassy Representative

Minister-Counselor / Deputy Head of Mission, Canadian Embassy
Board Treasurer 

Mr. Jobin is Minister-Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Canadian Embassy, where he arrived in the summer of 2016. He is a lawyer by training. He has served twice at the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, and has lived with his family in Beijing where his wife Annick Goulet, who is Head of the Canadian Embassy Trade Programme, was posted. In Ottawa, he has managed two large international security programs, and had the chance at that time to visit remote locations across Russia. He was previously Director of Relations with the United States and with Mexico. Stéphane and Annick have three teenagers, with two of them attending AAS.

At Large Representative

Finance Director at Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe & Central Asia Republics

Vincent is Finance Director at Procter & Gamble, multinational manufacturer of products including Ariel, Tide, Fairy, Pampers, Always, Pantene, Gillette. He has 23 years of experience with P&G including assignment in Brussels, Cincinnati, Almaty, Kobe and Geneva. He arrived in Moscow in August 2014 with Carole and their 3 children. Vincent has still 2 daughters at AAS (Grade 12 and Grade 9) following the graduation of his son in 2017. Vincent is a member of the Finance and Facilities Committee of the Board.

British Embassy Representative

Andrew is relatively new to the Diplomatic Service, having joined the FCO only in 2016.  Previously he was a British Army Officer and served in various countries, with the focus of his experience being infantry service in Afghanistan.  He also worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Ukraine.  He has a long-held interest in educational matters and is a qualified teacher.  He has a personal interest in the AAS as his wife attended the school from 1991 – 1993 and he plans for his young children to attend in the future.

Canadian Embassy Representative

Canadian Embassy Alternate Board member
Counsellor (Management) and Consul General, Canadian Embassy

Nira (BA/BED [History], Concurrent Education Program, Queen’s University, 1991) began her career as a high school teacher of geography and history. She taught in international schools in Guatemala, Malaysia and the UAE. In 1994 she returned to Canada and taught in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. She joined the public service in 2002 as a Foreign Service Officer, working in the Central Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Division at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

She has served abroad at the Canadian Embassy in Kazakhstan as Third Secretary and Consul and was also accredited to the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Her next overseas assignment took her to the embassy in Libya where she was First Secretary and Consul and responsible for multiple programs in the mission.  Ms. Shearer has had a variety of assignments in Canada at Global Affairs Canada, the most recent being Director of Corporate Services Learning at the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. She is currently Counsellor (Management) and Consul General at the Embassy of Canada to Russia with accreditation to Armenia and Uzbekistan.

She is married and has one son.

At Large Representative

Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright (Central Europe) LLP
Community at Large Member

Julian is a partner of Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, an international law firm. He advises international and Russian corporate and financial investors on mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in various sectors including energy, mining, financial services, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and consumer products. Julian has lived in Moscow since 2008. He was previously based in London. Julian joined the AAS Board in January 2017. He chairs the Board's Policy & Governance Committee. Julian is an Australian citizen.  He has two daughters at AAS, Alexandra in Grade 2 and Anastasia in K. Julian's interests include swimming, golf, tennis and travelling.

British Embassy Representative

Colin is a career diplomat, joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at 19 and has now served a little beyond 30 years overseas and in London. He arrived in Moscow in January 2018, and has served before in many different places ranging from Barbados in the Caribbean, to Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Nigeria and India to name a few. Between 2011-14, Colin was Administrator and Head of Government of the tiny UK Overseas Territory of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic where he had the most unique challenge of his career – being the  “owner” of a school for 100 pupils aged between 5-16.

Colin has three children, who were educated predominantly in International Schools. This has given him a solid understanding of the value and importance of quality education provision overseas  from the particular perspective of a parent who was passionate about his children's’ development. One of his daughters has severe learning difficulties, which has given Colin an additional understanding of those issues too. Colin’s  children are now grown up but the passion still remains and he is honoured to serve on the AAS Board.