BY YANA ADIMYAN

As soon as I landed in Washington, D.C., something changed.

It was not simply the change in weather conditions or the unfamiliar highways of the East Coast. It was the realization that, for the first time, advocacy was no longer theoretical; it was real, and we were about to step into it.

Within minutes of meeting the staff of the Armenian National Committee of America, any nervousness I carried disappeared. What I expected to be a formal, intimidating environment instead felt like something else entirely: a home away from home.

But what makes the ANCA Rising Leaders Program so powerful is not simply their warmth but rather their ability to turn passion into practice.

For many students like me, policy and advocacy exist mostly in classrooms, as we attend briefings in lectures and learn about policy memos in assigned readings. We constantly learn how systems work, how legislation is drafted, how arguments are structured but rarely do we get to experience what it means to be a part of those systems; thanks to the ANCA staff, we lived it.

At ANCA, the gap between learning about advocacy and actually advocating disappears.

Through direct engagement with policy professionals, hands-on advocacy, and meetings on Capitol Hill, we were no longer observers of the process, we were participants in it. We were challenged not only to understand policy, but to defend it, communicate it, and stand behind it in rooms where decisions are actually made.

One lesson, in particular, stayed with me: effective advocacy is not about arguing one side in isolation; instead, it is about understanding the incentives of the other side and forming solutions in a way that creates mutual gain – an insight that changed how I think about policy.

But beyond skills and knowledge, what truly differentiated my experience with the ANCA Rising Leaders Program is its human dimension.

Leadership, as I witnessed it, was not defined by authority but by mentorship, encouragement, and the ability to make young people feel their voices matter. In an environment that could easily feel overwhelming, the ANCA staff created space for confidence to grow.

And that confidence matters because advocacy is not just about knowing what to say. It is about believing that you have the right to say it.

The ANCA Rising Leaders Program does more than educate: it empowers by transforming students into advocates who are prepared not only to engage with policy, but to shape it.

For me, this experience was more than a professional milestone as it shaped the moment when my academic interests, my identity, and my aspirations finally aligned.

And once that happens, there is no going back. Ever since returning home from Washington, D.C., my experience with the ANCA Rising Leaders program has continued to drive me to learn more, push myself further, and strengthen my skills, so that when ANCA grants such an opportunity again, I will rise to meet it even more fully.

As soon as I landed in Washington, D.C., something changed, and it was me, for the better.

Yana Adimyan, a UCLA Political Science student and ANCA Rising Leaders participant, is passionate about Armenian advocacy and policy, using her voice to highlight issues of human rights, displacement, and the importance of global awareness.

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