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PRESS RELEASE
Contact ~ Sarkis Kotanjian
[email protected]
Armenia Fund: Newly Appointed Interim Executive Director
Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region is pleased to welcome
newly appointed Acting Executive Director of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian
Fund (Armenia Fund International), Mr. Ara Vardanyan.
The previous Executive Director, Mr. Vahe Aghabegians resigned in June
2008 after serving one year in that position. According to the June 26,
2008 decision of the Presidium of the Board of Trustees of Armenia Fund,
Mr. Vardanyan will lead the Executive Office of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian
Fund (Yerevan) as the interim chief executive for 90 days, until a new
Executive Director is appointed.
Born on December 16, 1977 in Yerevan, Mr. Vardanyan attended Chekhov
Secondary School from 1984-1993. In 1993 Mr. Vardanyan relocated to the
United States where he completed his secondary education at Winterset
High School in Winterset, Iowa.
From 1994 to 1999, he continued his studies at the Yerevan State
Institute of Foreign Languages and received a joint Bachelor and Master
of Arts degrees in Political Science and English Language.
In 1994, while completing his advanced studies, Mr. Vardanyan joined
Arminpex Bank’s Lending and International Department. In 1995, he was
appointed Executive Secretary at Sayboly International Co. In 1996, Mr.
Vardanyan was appointed Deputy Director at the Organization of Technical
Assistance of Armenia.
In 2000-2002, Mr. Vardanyan worked at the Department of Cooperation with
International Organizations at the Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development (Armenia) working closely with the World Bank, USAID, UN and
others. In 2002, he was appointed by the Minister of Trade to head the
ministry’s European Commission Cooperation division within the
Department of World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union
(EU), concentrating chiefly on the accession of the Republic of Armenia
into the World Trade Organization.
In 2004, Mr. Vardanyan was appointed as the head of the Foreign Affairs
Division of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund responsible for coordinating
the activity of its 19 affiliates around the world.
In May of 2006, Armenia Fund’s International Board of Trustees appointed
Mr. Vardanyan as the Deputy Executive Director of `Hayastan’
All-Armenian Fund.
He is married and has two children. Mr. Vardanyan can be reached at
[email protected]