GATEWAY TO POWER
By Aram Suren Hamparian

ay-to-power
May 20th, 2009

As the ANCA Endowment Telethon approaches, we are, along with early
donations from across the country, also receiving hundreds of very
thoughtful suggestions about how we can better serve our community
and our common cause.

A consistent theme of this feedback, in recent weeks and also for the
past several years, has been that our success as a community hinges
in great measure on having more Armenian Americans working inside the
American political system, where the real policy decisions are made.

We’ve taken this advice to heart.

And produced real results.

Our Capital Gateway Program – funded by donations to the ANCA
Endowment – provides a platform for a new generation of talented,
young Armenian Americans to start careers in government, politics,
international affairs, and the media.

We owe a special debt to the Cafesjian Foundation, which helped
launch officially this innovative program in 2003, and, of course,
to the vision and generosity of the Saghdejian family. This proud
family, from Fresno, established the Hovig Apo Saghdejian Memorial
Fellowship in 2004 in memory of Hovig, who, though he died far too
young, served during his lifetime as a powerful role model of Armenian
American dedication, civic responsibility, and public service. We are,
as well, appreciative of major gifts from the family of Frank and
Barbara Hekimian and the Armenian American Veterans Post of Milford,
Massachusetts.

With the continued financial support of our community, we can build
on this ground-breaking success.

Your generosity to the ANCA Endowment Fund Telethon on May 31st
will allow us to open the door to hundreds of new Armenian Americans
to pursue full-time positions as government and political leaders,
journalists, foreign policy experts, and elected officials. Please
help our youth realize their dreams and strengthen our community’s
voice in the nation’s capital.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress