Alumni Leadership Recognition Awards

Civic Participation/Public Service Award given to Anoush Baghdassarian (USA, 2018) and Tamara Shahabian Voskanian (USA, 2005). Anoush Baghdassarian is a Harvard Law School graduate. She is the co-founder of the Rerooted archive, which documented more than 200 testimonies from Syrian-Armenians who have fled the conflict in Syria, and she helped organize and participated in a conference in Armenia regarding the 2020 Karabakh war. While in Armenia, Anoush also ran a fellowship program she created through the Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) for four law students. Tamara Shahabian Voskanian is an ethics attorney and a passionate advocate for rule of law. As one of the founders of the Center for Truth and Justice, a nonprofit organization established in November 2020 in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh war, she is part of a group of lawyers overseeing the collection of firsthand testimonial evidence from war survivors via in-depth, recorded interviews. The alumni have earmarked CFTJ to receive a donation of $1,000.

Mentorship Award given to Armen Kherlopian (USA, 2005). Armen is an accomplished data scientist, researcher, entrepreneur, investor, and expert in AI. He has been able to shine a light on start-ups in Armenia among global Venture Capital. After completing his Ph.D., he formed a tech accelerator to help Armenian start-ups. Armen has earmarked Little Bird Armenian Development Inc. to receive the $1,000 donation. The goal of Little Bird is to raise money in the diaspora for specific sourcing projects on a case-by-case basis to support Armenian border villages and communities that are threatened.

Valor Award given to Marguerita Doudaklian (Lebanon, 2019). During the 2020 Artsakh War, Marguerita was vital in ensuring humanitarian aid delivery to soldiers, residents, and displaced residents from Artsakh. From maneuvering through the risks during times of war to trekking through adverse weather conditions to deliver essential aid to border villages during the Artsakh gas crisis, Marguerita continuously goes above and beyond to serve those in need. Today, she serves as the Operations Director of Kooyrigs, where she works to develop projects, facilitates on-ground immediate aid operations (Parukh, Aghavno, Berdzor, and all across Armenia’s eastern border villages in Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik), and manages beneficiary relations. Marguerita has earmarked Kooyrigs to receive a donation of $1,000.

Young Philanthropist/Give Back Service Award given to Nanor Balabanian (USA, 2022). Nanor is the founder and director of the Hidden Road Initiative and has been actively engaged in philanthropy for almost 12 years now. She has been implementing yearly educational summer camps for students in remote villages and managing an online English-learning program of over 70 students from around Armenia and Artsakh. Nanor chose the Hidden Road Initiative as the recipient organization for her $1,000.

Professional Achievement Award given to Tania Sahakian (USA, 2005). Since 2005, Tania has impacted Armenia as Director of Development of TUMO and established key innovation collaborations as Regional Director at DISQO. Tania has earmarked Bari Mama, a charitable organization created by Armenian mothers' efforts, to receive $1,000. Its goal is to support children with disabilities.

Spirit of Birthright Armenia Award given to Karina Halajian (USA, 2016) and Garo Seferian (Argentina, 2019), for having actively represented our organization where they live and being active ambassadors for our program. The organization they selected is the Women's Support Center (WSC).

Natalie and Armen dedicated their studies to preserving Armenian culture and educating the public about important Armenian cultural practices. Natalie's focus is on traditional vernacular dance, and Armen is digitizing Armenian folk music. They have co-founded the Lernazang ensemble. Natalie and Armen chose to donate their $1000 award to VOMA, a civilian preparedness training center in Armenia.

Araz Chiloyan (USA, 2016) was awarded for her dedicated work at the Ministry of Health in Armenia supporting COVID-19 public awareness efforts and acting as an important liaison for vaccine import coordination for the government during her tenure with iGorts and later. Araz allocated her $1000 award to the Women's Center - Shushi.

This is the first year in which we added this category, highlighting the selfless dedication of our alums participating in operations during the 44-day Artsakh war. The alumni group decided to support the Lorik Humanitarian Fund with their $2000 award, helping the Fund with their charitable initiatives for residents in Artsakh.

Recipients Araz Kekejian-Sahakian (Lebanon, 2016) and Matthieu Sahakian (France, 2017) were nominated for their dedicated fundraising and support initiatives to develop rural regions of Armenia, especially in the Syunik region. The couple co-founded All for Armenia, an organization that was founded to assist displaced residents of Artsakh, but later expanded to broader training, support, and education initiatives. They have chosen to have their $1000 award go to All for Armenia.

After his experience and joining the Armenian Army, Sevan lives by the philosophy that he is serving his country, and Armenia does not owe him anything in return. Shant is a first-generation Armenian American, born and raised in Glendale, CA, within a primarily Armenian-speaking family. During high school, he became more interested in Armenian culture and started to learn more about its history. That’s when his love for Armenia sparked, and as he learned more, his love for his Homeland continued to grow. In 2019 Shant decided the ultimate giveback to Armenia would be to truly serve, which is why he enlisted in the Republic of Armenia’s Army after completing his volunteerism with Birthright Armenia.

Christine was born and raised in Waterville, Maine. She holds an M.E. in Higher Education from Harvard University, an M.S.T. in ESL from Pace University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Brown University. Since having her first child in 2015, Christine’s work has focused on improving accessibility for pregnant women, lactating mothers, families, and caregivers. She is the Founder and CEO of UP-STAND, which provides pop-up lactation and diaper changing stations at events and conferences, consulting services for businesses and organizations looking to become more family-friendly, and a product line to improve accessibility for individuals and companies. She is a frequent speaker at transit rallies, hearings, and forums relating to accessibility matters and is also a member of the Advisory Committee for Transit Accessibility (ACTA), working with New York City Transit on a range of accessibility issues. Last year she was awarded two neighborhood grants by the Citizens Committee of New York City both to improve accessibility locally.

Her intense experience in negotiating and managing global aviation-related commercial contracts, and in-depth research conducted on government impact on airport growth, led her to become the first female heading the Civil Aviation Committee in Armenia, and the youngest leader in the world with such a position at age 31. Tatevik’s designated organization for her $1000 award is ''Women's Empowerment Center'' a non-profit organization that focuses on women empowerment, as she wants to create a community where everyone feels empowered to lead and achieve their goals.