People
Please meet the people and
strength behind Birthright Armenia:
Edele Hovnanian, Founder, has
been making trips to the homeland once or twice a year since the
late 70s, personally experiencing many of the youth oriented educational,
cultural and volunteer service programs in Armenia. Her participation
in such programs lead her to assume strong leadership positions
within two organizations, serving currently as President of the
Land and Culture Organization (LCO-USA) and Board member of its
international umbrella organization, Union de Organization Terre
et Culture (UIOTC) in France since 1993, as well as serving as
a member of the Board of Directors with the Armenian Assembly
of America since 1991, with the position of Treasurer from 1992-2002.
She is currently the Senior Vice President of Operations for Hovsons,
Inc. a diversified real estate development corporation in Tinton
Falls, NJ, and President of Hovnanian Senior Housing Services,
Inc. and Hovnanian Property Management, Inc., where she manages
and oversees the operations of the health care and commercial
divisions.
Hovnanian holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University, and joint
B.S. degrees in Finance and Civil Engineering from the University
of Pennsylvania. However, it was her study abroad program at the
University of Yerevan from 1982-1983 that proved to be the educational
experience that was the most life changing for her. Hovnanian
resides in New Jersey.
Thomas J. Samuelian, Board of Directors, is the
founder and managing partner of Arlex International Ltd., a public
interest law and consulting firm based in Yerevan, Armenia that
handles a wide range of commercial and pro bono matters (www.arlex.am).
A US attorney with over 12 years’ experience in international
practice, he is a licensed member of the Armenian bar. He served
as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia (2001-2002).
Mr. Samuelian is the author of a number of books, articles, reviews,
and translations in the field of Armenian language, literature,
and history, including a recent English translation of St. Gregory
of Narek’s Book of Prayers: Speaking with God from the
Depths of the Heart (www.stgregoryofnarek.am), a two-volume
Course in Modern Western Armenian, Dictionary of Armenian
in Transliteration. He is also team leader for two Armenian
language-learning software programs, Discover Armenian
(Western) (www.discoverarmenian.com), and Depi Hayk Armenian
(Eastern) (www.birthrightarmenia.org). He has taught at the University
of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and St. Nersess Seminary.
Mr. Samuelian holds his J.D. from Harvard
and his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania.
He first lived in Armenia in 1979. He moved to Armenia in 1998,
and continues to be active in church and Armenian community life.
Linda Yepoyan, Executive Director, has
20 years of diverse project management experience, the last 12
having been within the non-profit sector. Since living in Armenia
from 1989-1992, she has maintained many homeland ties and relationships
that take her back regularly. Among her many accomplishments,
the 1993 creation of the NGO Training and Resource Center in Armenia
remains high on her list of initiatives that contributed to Armenia’s
development and strengthened the lives of many people globally.
Yepoyan is a graduate of The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
She resides in Wynnewood, PA with her husband, artist Armen Yepoyan,
and their three children, Soseh, Sevag and Serop.
Meet our Yerevan, Armenia staff:
Sevan Kabakian, Executive Director,
has always been a great enthusiast of Armenian youth. Born in
Lebanon, he has been living in Los Angeles for nearly 25 years.
While there, he has worked with the local Armenian Youth Federation
badanees (Juniors) in Glendale, aiming to instill in them a sense
of pride, duty and responsibility towards Armenian issues. Sevan
strongly believes that a material connection to Armenia is a vital
and irreplaceable source of strength for Armenian youth living
in the Diaspora.
Kabakian has an undergraduate degree
from UCLA and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering
from USC. Since graduating in 1987, he has worked as an engineer
in flight performance at McDonnell Douglas/Boeing. He is joined
in Armenia by his wife, Klariss, and three young daughters, Naro,
Naneh and Lalig.
Haykak Arshamyan, Deputy Director,
has had positions in both the Foreign Ministry (Assistant to the
Deputy Minister) and Ministry of Education involving relations
with the Diaspora, including Chief Expert of Staff of the Prime
Minister (1999-2000) and Advisor to the Minister of Education
and Science (2001-2004). He received his Ph.D. in History at the
Yerevan State University and is fluent in three languages.
Hratchya Gasparyan, Office
Manager, has parlayed his years of interest in traveling
throughout the villages and towns of Armenia and Artsakh into
a full-time position of coordinating logistics for events, activities,
and excursions. Hratchya is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute,
with a degree in architecture.
Nairi Melkomian, Office Assistant, was born in Manchester, England, and lived in Iran for eleven years. She, along with her family, moved to Yerevan following the independence of Armenia in 1991. She holds a bachelors degree in History from Yerevan State University, and a master's degree in Political Science and International Affairs from the American University of Armenia. Nairi is an avid reader of all types of litereature, from Raffi to Emily Bronte to Paolo Coelho. Her wish to dive into Lake Sevan in the middle of winter 2006 was thwarted by her friends.
Advisory Committee
Mark Geragos, USA
Dr. Vartan Gregorian, USA
Father Mesrop Aramyan, Armenia
The Honorable Vardan Oskanyan, Armenia
Serj Tankian, USA
Bedros Terzian, France
Acknowledgments
Our heartfelt thanks go out to the
individuals who played a large role in creating a strong foundation
for Birthright Armenia, and the many more people who have volunteered
their time and expertise in support of our mission.
Thomas J. Samuelian, Arlex International Ltd.
Tamar Hajian, Arlex International Ltd.
Kathryn Manuelian, Marketing Consultant
Fran McElhill, Esquire, Archer & Greiner
Peter Fascia, Archer & Greiner
Dr. Anny Bakalian, CUNY
Tania Chichmanian, Triratna Web Design
Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan, New York Armenian Students’ Association
Salpi Ghazarian, Foreign Ministry, Republic of Armenia
Armen Yepoyan, Artist
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