Describe yourself in three words or phrases.
Restless builder. People believer. Armenia optimist.
What do you like most about your job?
Seeing people discover that they are capable of much more than they thought. A student getting their first job, a woman starting her own business, a young person deciding to build their future in Armenia, those moments give me energy.
Describe a project or initiative you’re currently working on that excites you.
ACT College – Armenia’s first state-licensed vocational high school for technology and the creative industries, supported by Fund for Armenian Relief.
I have spent the last several years building it, and it has probably occupied more of my brain than is healthy! What excites me most is watching young people learn by actually creating things; coding, engineering, designing, experimenting and sometimes failing. I want education to feel alive.
What’s a piece of work you’re proud of – and what did it teach you?
Building GITC together with Fund for Armenian Relief, from a regional education initiative into something that has changed thousands of lives and then taking everything we learned and putting it into ACT College.
It taught me that institutions matter, but people matter much more. The right teacher, mentor or opportunity at the right moment can completely change someone’s direction.
What’s a small daily habit that helps you in your work?
I talk to people. A lot! I try not to manage only through reports and meetings. I speak directly with students, teachers, colleagues and partners. Five minutes with the person actually doing the work can tell you more than a 20-page report.
What’s one change you’d like to see in your sector over the next few years?
I’d like education to become much less about diplomas and much more about capability. Technology is changing too quickly for us to keep teaching young people simply to reproduce knowledge. We need to teach them to think, build, question and adapt.
What idea, book, podcast or conversation has stayed with you recently?
One idea keeps coming back to me: education is not really about curriculum: curriculum is increasingly available to everyone. Education is about people. The adults who interact with young people every day become their examples of curiosity, integrity, ambition and courage. That is a huge responsibility.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out in this field?
Don’t wait until everything is perfect. Start, listen carefully, fix what doesn’t work and keep going. And stay close to the people you are trying to serve, they will teach you what your strategy documents cannot.
