Birth date 15 May 1990

Politician, public figure, Օrientalist

• Executive director of “My step” Charitable Foundation,

• Founding member of the “Civil Contract” party, board member of the party,

• 2018-2019 Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia,

• 2019-2021 Member of Parliament, Chair of the Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

Involvement in different organizations.

• President of Yerevan Chess Federation,

• Member of Board of trustees of the Yerevan State University,

• Member of the Executive Committee of the Football Federation of Armenia.

Education

• 2007-2011 Yerevan State University, Bachelor’s degree in Oriental Studies, specialization - Turkey

• 2011- 2013- Yerevan State University, Master’s degree in Oriental Studies, specialization - Turkey
  

• 2012-2013-Member of Student Scientific Society of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and Student Council of the YSU.

Work activity

• 2010-2017 Expert-correspondent of several local newspapers on the topics of the Middle East,

• 2011-2015 Vice President of the “Association of Young Politicians”,

• 2016-2018 President of the “Civic Education and Youth Empowerment Center.”

Anna Hakobyan was born on February 1, 1978 in Yerevan. She is a graduate of Yerevan State University, Department of Journalism. Mrs. Hakobyan completed various courses at the American University of Armenia in 2001 as part of her aspiration for life-long learning. While practicing journalism, she took a number of local and international trainings on journalism to hone her professional skills.

Hakobyan worked as a journalist at “Haykakan Zhamanak” (The Armenian Times) daily newspaper in 2003-2008. She took on the role of the acting editor-in-chief of the newspaper in the aftermath of a crackdown on mass protests on 1 March 2008. She served in the position whilst her spouse, the current Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had been undercover and further imprisoned for political reasons. Since 2013 she formally assumed the position of the editor-in-chief.

Anna Hakobyan has been actively engaged in various political and public events in the country and has been vocal as both a journalist and a public figure.

She stood next to her spouse during the Velvet Revolution in Armenia in 2018 from the protest march that started in the city of Gyumri and rallies that took place in the capital Yerevan.

Following Nikol Pashinyan’s election as the Prime Minister of Armenia on 8 May 2018 as the consequence of the Velvet Revolution in Armenia, Anna Hakobyan expanded her scope of activities to be the spouse of the Prime Minister.

She adopted three focus areas for her activities: My Step and City of Smile charitable foundations and Women for Peace campaign.

The mission of My Step Foundation is to become a platform for solutions to social, educational, health, cultural and environmental problems that, for certain reasons, cannot be addressed by the Government. "We will strive for building an inclusive and healthy society through our joint efforts, where no one is left behind and every single one enjoys equal opportunities," Anna Hakobyan said in the inaugural presentation of the Foundation on 12 July 2018.

The Foundation operates in five main areas: culture, education, environmental protection, healthcare and social security. It functions in three main formats. First, it serves as a bridge between those who have brilliant ideas and those who want to fund those ideas. Second, it sponsors existing or proposed projects that comply with the adopted requirements. And third, the Foundation has its own flagship projects.

“City of Smile” Foundation was established to support children and young people with oncological and haematological diseases in their challenging journey of fighting cancer. While on its mission, the Foundation strives to promote the development of Oncology and Haematology in Armenia and to help doctors and medical institutions in providing patients to the highest level of cancer care.

The mission of the "Women for Peace" campaign is to promote the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, as Anna Hakobyan has noted, the campaign is not of political nature: it is rather an action of a woman and a mother.

"Women can consolidate, unite, raise their voices and make an effort for the sake of peace, so that no more shootings happen along the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Artsakh-Azerbaijani border, and both sides suffer no casualties until the governments and leaders of the two countries achieve conflict settlement," Hakobyan has stated.

She is convinced that the more women join the initiative, the more vocal the voices of women striving for peace will be.

Anna Hakobyan has four children; three daughters and a son. Her son is currently serving in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

Arsinée Khanjian is a graduate of the University of Toronto, with a Master’s Degree in Political Science and Public Administration. In addition to her artistic career, she has an extensive policy development background in the arts and governmental affairs.

A multiple award-winning actor, she is internationally known for her work as a performer both in film and on stage. She starred in the widely-successful romantic comedy SABAH, as well as playing Ani in Atom Egoyan’s critically- acclaimed ARARAT. Internationally, her screen-work includes films with Catherine Breillat, Olivier A ssayas, the Taviani Brothers, Fatih Akin and Michael Haneke.

Khanjian produced and starred in CALENDAR, the first foreign feature film shot in the newly-independent country of Armenia, by Atom Egoyan. She wrote, directed and starred in the multimedia stage project on the life of survivor Aurora Mardiganian – AUCTION OF SOULS, Performing Memory – at the Maxim Gorki Stadt Theater in Berlin.

Khanjian continues to be active as a volunteer for arts and community groups. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Zoryan Institute for International Genocide and Human Rights Studies. She is a past board member of The Power Plant, Canada’s leading contemporary art gallery, and was Co-Chair of the renowned Canadian contemporary dance company, Dancemakers.

Khanjian has been decorated with numerous honours in recognition of her involvement and dedication to artistic, historic, and cultural causes in Canada and abroad such as The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal; The Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America as well the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Lebanon’s medals. Khanjian was presented with the 2005 Crystal Award for Creative Excellence by Women in Film and Television. In a recent poll conducted by SLATE Magazine, Khanjian was voted Best Actress, according to international critical response to her body of work.

Khanjian spearheaded Justice Within Armenia, a coalition of Armenians worldwide who were present as monitors during the elections in Armenia in 2017. She was an active participant in Armenia’s Velvet Revolution in 2018.

Photo credit: Guilio Muratori

Born on March 9, 1983 in Yerevan.

2007 - Graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the YSU (Yerevan State University), simultaneously a one-year course at the Armenian School of Journalism.

2014 - Graduated from the Institute of Modern Art. Journalist.

2005 - 2009 - Journalist of the weekly “Hetq” (Track).

2008 - 2009 - Journalist of the research center “Region.”

2009 - 2015 - Coordinator of election programs of the NGO “Transparency International Anticorruption Center.”

2015 - 2016 - Coordinator of the AUA (American University of Armenia) Center for Responsible Mining’s Independent Environmental Monitoring of Mining Communities Project.

2008 - 2009 - “European Volunteer Service” in Romania, volunteer

2013 - 2015 - Member of the Management Council of the socio-political association “Civil Contract.”

2015 - Elected deputy chair of the Board of the “Civil Contract” party.

Since 2016 - Member of the Board of the “Civil Contract” party.

2017 - 2019 - Member of the National Assembly (“Way Out” alliance of parties). Member of the Standing Committee on Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment of the National Assembly.

May 18. 2017 - September 12. 2018 - Member of the “Way Out” faction.

September 12. 2018 - January 14. 2019 - Head of the “Way Out” faction.

December 9, 2018 - Elected Member of the National Assembly from the territorial electoral list of the electoral district #2 of the “My Step” alliance of parties.

January 15, 2019 - Elected Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

2013 - Winner of the “Freedom of Speech” award (“Asparez” Journalists Club).

Married.

Born on March 22, 1978 in Yerevan.

1999 - 2000 - Served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

2002 - Graduated from the Department of the Armenian Language and Literature of the Faculty of Philology of the Yerevan State University.

1998 - 2004 - Journalist, later editor for the daily newspapers “Oragir” (“Diary”), then “Haykakan Zhamanak” (“the Armenian Times”).

2004 - 2007 - Specialist for public relations of the NGO “Center for Public Dialogue and Development.”

2008 - Editor in Chief of the children's magazine “Multishok.”

2008 - 2010 - Director of the media service of the radio station “Radio Hay.”

2010 - 2011 - Editor for the website of the daily newspaper “Hraparak” (“Square”).

2011 - 2015 - Editor for the programs of “ArmNews” TV company.

2015 - 2017 - Editor for the programs of “Ararat” TV company.

2017 - 2018 - Coordinator for Public Relations of the Foundation for the “Protection of Wildlife and Cultural Property.”

July - December, 2018 - Director of media and analytical programs of the Public Television of Armenia.

Member of the Board of Trustees of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation.

December 9, 2018 - Elected Member of the National Assembly from the national electoral list of the “My Step” alliance of parties.

Married, with three children.

Vahan Vardapetyan is a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology, a doctor of medical sciences. He graduated from the Yerevan Medical Institute with a Red Diploma of Excellence, then completed his residency and post-graduate studies at the same institute. He has been trained twice at the University Clinic in Marseille, France. Since 1994 he has been the head of the Reproductive Health Department of the Republican Institute of Perinatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, where thousands of couples suffering from infertility have been effectively treated. He is active and engages in public-political as well as cultural activities and publicity.

Sara Anjargolian, Esq. is co-founder & CEO of Impact Hub Yerevan. She is also a lawyer and multimedia journalist. Born in London, raised and educated in the U.S., and currently living and working in Armenia. Through Impact Hub Yerevan, Sara focuses on empowering Armenia’s change makers and innovators to grow their social impact projects from idea to implementation to impact.

As a multimedia journalist, Sara’s work illuminates critical sociopolitical issues. Her work, which may be viewed at www.SaraAnjargolian.com, has been recognized and supported by the United Nations, Soros/Open Society Foundations, Fulbright, UCLA School of Art & Architecture (Make Art / Stop AIDS), Photophilanthropy, Fotoevidence, the Tufenkian Foundation, and the Yerevan Press Association.

Sara graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in Political Science/Public Policy and received a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). During her legal career she served as a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, Associate Professor/Assistant Dean at the American University of Armenia Law Department, and policy adviser to the Los Angeles City Attorney.

Lucineh Kassarjian is the Chief Operating Officer of Sensyan, LLC, a boutique advisory firm offering services to companies investing, operating or launching in Armenia. Prior to that she was the Executive Director of FestivAr – Association of Armenian Festivals, an organization coordinating, promoting and supporting the sustainable development of annual festivals in cosmopolitan and rural areas of Armenia. Since 2014, Lucineh has served as the Country Director of the Armenia Tree Project, a US-based charitable foundation which has planted more than 6 million trees all around the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh, as well as is providing environmental education to thousands of students annually since 2005. In 2009, Lucineh co-founded ReAnimania, an acclaimed international animation film festival, and served as the Artistic Director for the first four years. Lucineh is also the founder of MolorakArts, a company specializing in digital and traditional media products for children of all ages. She is the author of “Someone Else’s Cloud”, a children’s book about a fun, engaging way to address childhood anxiety, which is enhanced with augmented reality elements; she has also created other award-winning multilingual multimedia products.

Lucineh has served on the boards of many educational, philanthropic and developmental non-profit organizations, including the Yerevan Chapter of the Awesome Foundation; My Step Foundation; Armenia Support Fund; AVC - Armenian Virtual College; GOALS – Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer; AEF - Armenian Education Foundation; Bay Area Friends of Armenia; Friends of Yerevan Opera; and others.

Lucineh holds a degree in linguistics and pedagogy from Yerevan State Linguistics University and has studied in the Computer Arts and New Media department of the San Francisco Academy of Art. Lucineh is married to Raffi Kassarjian, and they have repatriated from San Francisco to Yerevan in 2008 with their two children, Haig and Satineh.