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Father Hovnan Demerjian earned his B.A. from Boston College and M.A. in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. From 1996 to1998, he taught in the public schools of Armenia as a member of the U.S. Peace Corps, an experience that motivated him to establish the Armenian Volunteer Corps in 2000. Father Hovnan returned to the United States in 2003 and joined the staff of the Diocese of the Armenian Church, where he pioneered a program to connect Armenian college students with the church. He graduated from St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in 2007 with a certificate in Armenian Studies, and following his ordination as a priest in June, he was assigned to St. Hagop Armenian Church in Pinellas Park, Florida. Tamar Hajian, former vice-president and general counsel of Brandeis University, earned her J.D. from Boston College and LL.M. in taxation from Boston University. Hajian’s expertise in non-profit law - she headed the American Bar Association General Practice Section's Non-Profit Law Committee for several years – has proved beneficial, given the central importance of non-profit organizations to the evolution of civil society and the rule of law in developing nations. She first traveled to Armenia in 1967 and currently visits several times a year. In 1998, she co-founded the international legal firm Arlex, based in Yerevan. Hajian resides in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Dr. Tom Samuelian holds his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is the author of numerous books, articles, reviews and translations in the fields of Armenian language, literature and history, and has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and St. Nersess Seminary. He practiced corporate law in Washington, D.C.; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Moscow, and is now based in Yerevan. Samuelian co-founded Arlex International Ltd., a public interest law practice in Armenia. Arlex also houses a range of development projects and has aided countless diasporan Armenians to integrate into Armenia. Edele Hovnanian, Edele Hovnanian has been traveling to Armenia once or twice a year since the late 1970s, participating in several youth-oriented educational, cultural and volunteer service programs. She currently serves as president of the Land and Culture Organization (LCO-USA) and has sat on the board of its international umbrella organization, Union de Organization Terre et Culture in France, since 1993; Hovnanian has also been a member of the board of directors of the Armenian Assembly of America since 1991. She holds several senior management positions in real estate and property management firms. Hovnanian earned joint B.S. degrees in finance and civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.B.A. from Columbia University. She credits her study abroad year at the University of Yerevan in 1982-1983 as a life-changing experience. Hovnanian resides in New Jersey. Alex Sardar, is currently chief of party of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Civic Advocacy Support Program in Armenia, implemented by Counterpart International. Previously, he served as deputy chief of party of USAID’s Armenia Legislative Strengthening Program (implemented by Development Associates, Inc.), working with the National Assembly of Armenia. Sardar was previously employed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the California State Assembly, and was a community organizer and lobbyist in the United States. Based in Armenia, he currently volunteers and consults with several community-based organizations in Armenia and the United States. He holds a B.A. in English and German literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and a M.A. in international relations from the School of International Service at the American University in Washington, D.C. Linda Yepoyan, has twenty years of diverse project management experience, the last twelve within the non-profit sector. Since living in Armenia from 1989 to1992, she has maintained many homeland ties and relationships that take her back regularly. Her 1993 creation of the NGO Training and Resource Center in Armenia has aided Armenia’s development and improved the lives of many. Yepoyan is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She resides in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Sharistan Melkonian, visited Armenia regularly before relocating to Yerevan to direct the Armenian Volunteer Corps. A Massachusetts native, she has lived in Los Angeles, where she graduated from Ferrahian High School; New York; and Boston. Melkonian has been actively involved with a number of Armenian-American organizations, including St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Boston, and the Armenian National Committee of America, where she held a variety of positions. Melkonian spent eight years as Legislative Director for YouthBuild USA. She has a B.A. in communications from Worcester State College and a M.A. in comparative and international education from Columbia University.
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