Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund, Inc., the U.S. Western Region affiliate of Hayastan All Armenian Fund is pleased to announce that its Corporate Board unanimously elected Mrs. Maria Mehranian as the organization’s new Chairperson. Mehranian succeeds Mr. Antranik Baghdassarian, who completed his tenure in early 2016.
“Mr. Baghdassarian’s strong belief in attracting a larger public participation through educating the Armenian Diaspora on Armenia’s successes as well as the challenges facing our Homeland, introduction of new projects benefitting residents of Armenia and Artsakh who are faced with economic hardship proved successful and resulted in a serious increase both in the number of donors and collected funds. We thank Mr. Baghdassarian for his years of dedicated service to Armenia Fund as well as for his very generous support of the organization.” – said Ara Vardanyan, Executive Director of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.
Newly elected President, Mrs. Mehranian is the Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer for Cordoba Corporation, a full service civil engineering, construction management, and program management firm specializing in transportation, education and facilities as well as water and energy. Cordoba is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco, Santa Ana, and San Diego, California.
For over twenty years, Mehranian has dedicated her career to building Cordoba into one of the top engineering consulting firms in the nation also leading it into international markets by heading multimillion dollar planning projects.
Having been appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown, Mehranian has been serving on the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board since 2008, chairing it in 2012 and 2013.
Mehranian served as President of Armenia Fund, Inc. also in 2004-2008, establishing the Executive Office of the organization and laying the cornerstones for growth. For her extraordinary contribution to furthering Armenia Fund’s mission in the United States Mrs. Mehranian was recognized with a Special Commendation by the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian in 2007. Ms. Mehranian is also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
“I thank Antranik Baghdassarian for his hard work and commitment to the cause of strengthening Armenia’s independent statehood and I welcome Mrs. Mehranian’s election as the new Chair of Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region, an affiliate of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund – an organization that has a crucial importance for Armenia’s and Artsakh’s development. Building upon the successes of the recent years, Mrs. Mehranian steps in also as a Special Envoy to deepen the cooperation between the two U.S. affiliates of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund that has been discussed during the previous year, develop the strategic roadmap and an operational network of the solidified nationwide operation, elevating the organization to a new level,” – said Grigor Hovhannissian, the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States.
“I am honored and humbled by the Corporate Board’s unanimous vote of confidence. I always believed that a big part of Armenia Fund’s mission is to bring together the Armenian Diaspora’s best and the brightest around Armenia and Artsakh. As Armenia’s challenges change, so does Armenia Fund. More and more of the heavy infrastructure is being built by the government, allowing Armenia Fund to concentrate more on development projects. This takes not only financial resources, but also the know-how of many Armenian Americans who hold a unique and priceless knowledge, so desperately needed for ensuring Armenia’s long term development and competitiveness in the global marketplace.” – said Maria Mehranian.
Armenia Fund’s Corporate Board is composed of the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian Cultural Foundation, the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of U.S., the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A., the Nor Serount Cultural Association, the Nor Or Charitable Foundation, the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
