PRESS RELEASE
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
September 2, 2005
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org

ARMENIAN LEADERS EMPOWER YOUTH TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE HOMELAND THROUGH
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA FORUM SERIES

Yerevan, Armenia – In an intensive 12-week Forum Series, Birthright Armenia
has brought together well-known Armenian leaders with young volunteers from
across the Diaspora. A diverse group of speakers including President
Kocharian’s advisor on corruption, Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
and a national expert on Nagorno-Karabagh, has inspired diasporan youth, as
future leaders, to participate in Armenia’s development by providing unique
insight into Armenia’s social, cultural, economic, and political issues and
needs.

In order to provide the broadest picture possible, Birthright’s Forum Series
is offered via a two-track system: a hard-track centered around policy,
economics, government, and business, and a soft-track concentrated on
culture, arts, poverty reduction, entertainment, and ecology. The forums go
beyond presenting facts and figures to providing concrete tools that empower
youth to participate in the building of a nation.

The overall response from Birthright Armenia’s participants has been
positive. Lalai Manjikian, an Armenia Volunteer Corps volunteer and
Birthright Armenia participant from Canada, says that the Forums have
changed her experience in Armenia because they have enabled her to see
beyond the typical diasporan point-of-view. `They allow us to have a real
grasp of the social, economic, and environmental problems and issues Armenia
faces so we have an idea of where we can contribute.’

The impressive list of Birthright Armenia’s invited experts includes:
Vardan Oskanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Gegham Gharibjanyan, Deputy Foreign Minister and Former
Ambassador to Iran
Garegin Chookaszian, Executive Director of Information
Technologies Foundation (ITF)
Manuk Hergnyan, Executive Director of Vem Radio
Bagrat Yesayan, Anti-corruption Advisor to the President of the
Republic of Armenia
Alexander Manasian, Ph.D Philosophic Sciences and Expert on the
Nagorno-Karabagh Conflict
Arsen Kharatian, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Open
Forum
Edith Khachatourian, Founder of International Legal Consulting
Shake Karapetyan, Owner, Art Bridge Bookstore and Café
Vardan Hovhannisyan, President/Founder of Bars Media
Dikran Xzmalian, Independent Filmmaker
Avetik Ishkhanian, Head of Helsinki Committee of Armenia
Isabella Sargsyan, Member of Helsinki Citizens Assembly, Youth
Program Coordinator
Mikael Danielian, Executive Director of Helsinki Foundation
Levon Abrahamyan, Ethnographer
Ms. Gayane Shagoyan, Head of Hazarashen NGO
Father Dajad Davidian, Pastor of the Armenian Church Youth
Movement, Diocese of Ararat
Dr. Tom Samuelian, Founder of Arlex International Ltd
Alexander Iskandarian, Head of the Caucasus Media Institute
Tevan Poghosyan, Executive Director of International Center for
Human Development
Pavel Gharakeshishian, President of Makur Yerevan
Mary Eganian, Representative, Armenian Young Lawyers Assoc.
Lara Aharonian, Director, Kanayq Hayots Women’s Resource Center
Edward Balassanian, Executive Director, Cafesjian Museum
Foundation
Raffi Niziblian, Viva Cell Marketing Manager
Alex Sardar, Chief of Party for Counterpart International
Jeffrey Tufenkian, President of Armenian Forests NGO
Susan Klein, Executive Country Director of the Armenia Tree
Project in Yerevan
Jeff Masarjian, Executive Director, Armenia Tree Project
Karine Danielian, President of the Association of Sustainable
Human Development NGO

The speakers have also responded positively to Birthright Armenia’s Forum
Series, as they are excited to share their knowledge with young diasporans,
who may one day return to Armenia and contribute further to its development.
One featured speaker, Garegin Chookaszian, Executive Director of Information
Technologies Foundation (ITF), states `I am sure that this kind of meeting,
with experts from different fields, represents one of the fastest and most
interactive ways of getting information about what is going on in Armenia.’

Susan Klein, Executive Country Director of the Armenia Tree Project, an
environmental NGO, further points out that the Forums provide an excellent
mechanism for public awareness, as volunteers speak about what they have
learned to other volunteers and ex-patriates, as well as Armenians in the
Diaspora. She also points out that not only are the Forums critical to
`understanding what is really happening in this country and the kinds of
people that are working here,’ but also that through the expansive scope of
topics, the volunteers are exposed to ideas and projects that could
potentially `shape what they are doing here.’

Birthright Armenia’s mission is to strengthen ties between the Homeland and
Diasporan youth by affording them an opportunity to be a part of Armenia’s
daily life and to contribute to Armenia’s development through work, study
and volunteer experiences, while developing life-long personal ties and a
renewed sense of Armenian identity. For those interested in learning more
about Birthright Armenia, please visit or email
info@birthrightarmenia.org.