ARMENIAN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION
65 Main St., #3A
Watertown, MA 02472
Contact: Barbara J. Merguerian

aiwainc@aol.com
617-92 6-0171

Women’s Leadership in Business and Government Will Be Discussed at AIWA’s
Annual Meeting on May 20

BOSTON, MASS. – The public is invited to join in a discussion about
women’s leadership in business and government at the 15th Annual
Meeting of the Armenian International Women’s Association on Saturday,
May 20, at the Winchester Country Club in Winchester, Mass.

Armenian women are vastly under-represented in political and
economic leadership positions, but the reasons for this situation and
possible solutions are subjects of debate.

The standard explanation is that Armenia remains a
conservative and male-dominated society where women are largely
confined to minor positions outside the home.

But at a recent workshop Yerevan, one female politician
argued that the women themselves are to blame for their extremely weak
presence in the executive and legislative branches of government,
because they are more reluctant than men to vote women into office.

The situation is not much improved in societies considered
more advanced. If there are only six women in the Armenian parliament,
or 5% of the total, the figures are only slightly higher in the United
States, where women make up only 14% of the membership in the Senate
and 13% in the House of Representatives.

Several women will join in a panel discussion exploring
`Paths to Leadership: Armenian Women in Business and Government.’
These will include Hranush Hakobyan, Deputy in the Parliament of the
Republic of Armenia and president of Aiwa/Armenia, Rachel Kaprielian,
a Watertown Representative inthe Massachusetts Legislature, Nancy
Kolligian, Chairman of Distributor Corporation of New England, and
Sharyn S. Boornazian, Leslie University Certification Officer and
Armenia liaison for AIWA’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Program in
Armenia.

Among those present for the meeting will be actress and author
Nora Armani, who has appeared extensively on stage and screen
worldwide andis currently writing about Soviet Armenian Cinema
(1965-75) as a PhD candidateat the London School of Economics, from
which she also holds a Masters Degree in Sociology.

The event will begin with registration and coffee at 10 a.m. and
the annual Business Meeting at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Luncheon
and Program at 12 noon

AIWA President Suzanne E. Moranian will preside over the business
meeting, and former president and one of the founders, Barbara
Merguerian, will moderate the panel discussion.

Among the topics included on the meeting agenda are the future
plans of AIWA’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (WEP) in Armenia, the
organization of the next international conference, AIWA’s
publications, scholarship program, Women’s Archives, and other
projects designed to increase the visibility of Armenian women and to
promote their equal role in the community.

Established in 1991 `to unite Armenian women worldwide and to
address the critical issues facing them everywhere,’ AIWA and its
programs are open to all who share its goals.