On May 22, The AGBU Young Professionals of Greater New York in cooperation with The Repat Armenia Foundation hosted the Imagine Armenia forum at the AGBU Central Office in New York.
The forum attracted young professionals from the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area.
The panel comprised seven accomplished speakers, representing Armenian Volunteer Corps, Birthright Armenia, DEPOP Institute for Governance, MAROG Creative Agency, ONEArmenia, Repat Armenia Foundation, Teach For Armenia and Tufenkian Foundation.
The forum addressed several issues of interest for AGBU, including diasporan engagement in contributing to the development of Armenia.
At the beginning of the forum, AGBU’s Director of Development and Outreach Karen Papazian spoke briefly about the global Armenian nation, emphasizing the need for the diaspora to help Armenia grow.
“We recognize that vibrant homeland and engaged diaspora are codependent and must be viewed as one,” said Papazian.
She stated that AGBU laid the foundation to secure human capital and launch sustainable development projects in Armenia, encouraging other organizations to follow suit.
The panelists shared their personal stories of moving to, living, working and doing business in Armenia, offering their insight into the country’s professional environment and lifestyle. They also discussed employment opportunities in their organizations and Armenia.
“The task of today’s meeting is to introduce different experiences of people who either moved to or are engaged with Armenia so that each one of you can find something interesting to follow up and see how you can contribute, participate, engage and engage others,” said Vartan Marashlyan, Repat Armenia’s executive director and moderator of the panel.
Linda Yepoyan, a board member of the Armenian Volunteer Corps and executive director of Birthright Armenia, shared her thoughts on how working in Armenia creates career advantages for young professionals.
“Working in Armenia propels your careers,” said Yepoyan. “You are able to do things much faster and have a bigger impact. It is more challenging and rewarding.”
Repat Armenia concentrates on three major principles: promoting repatriation, providing individual integration support and influencing government policies to develop a pro-repatriation environment in Armenia. Repat Armenia also helps people who are interested in moving to Armenia, with employment, setting up a business or other aspects of integration.
For more information about Repat Armenia Foundation, please visit www.repatarmenia.org.
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 500,000 Armenians around the world.
For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit www.agbu.org.