France, April 5 -- Founded during the pandemic by American Scott Tilton and Frenchman Rudy Bazenet, the Nous Foundation has quickly become one of Louisiana's most influential francophone organisations. Based in the French Quarter of New Orleans, it aims to promote and preserve francophone culture in a region where the French language was once banned.

The Nous Foundation -officially, the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures - began life in Paris in 2020.

Rudy Bazenet, a former employee of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Scott Tilton, a native of New Orleans and former student at Sciences Po university, had been discussing the idea of a project to revive the French language in Louisianafor months.

"We had collabor...