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Washington, D.C. - As the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) marks its 50th anniversary year, the organization is pleased to welcome its newest Board Members, including Valina Agbabian from California, Peter Mirijanian from Washington, DC, David Onanian from Texas, and Herman Purutyan from Massachusetts. “We enthusiastically welcome our new Board Members to the Assembly family and team,” said Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian. “With our 50th anniversary upon us and the current challenges facing the people of Armenia and Artsakh, there is much work to do and we are confident that together we can ensure a bright future,” the Co-Chairs continued. The Assembly’s current full Board of Trustees includes Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian, President Carolyn Mugar, Treasurer Oscar Tatosian, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer Bianka Kadian-Dodov, Assistant Secretary Lisa Kalustian, along with Valina Agbabian, Aram Gavoor, Alex Karapetian, Peter Mirijanian, Lu Ann Ohanian, David Onanian, Herman Purutyan, Ani Yeramyan Speirs, Annie Simonian Totah, and Talin Yacoubian, as well as emeritus members Robert A. Kaloosdian and Joyce Philibosian Stein. In addition to the Board election, the Assembly also convened its biennial Board of Trustees meeting earlier this year, wherein a quorum was present and the activities and programs of the organization were discussed, including a review of developments in Washington, DC, and in Armenia and Artsakh. During the meeting, Trustees approved a series of By-Law changes, including a new budgetary procedure, creating term limits for senior officers (three consecutive years); re-establishing term limits for Board Members (two consecutive four-year terms with a right to be re-elected after at least a one-year break); establishing emeritus positions for select individuals who have served more than 20 years; consolidating the voting process for Board Members; and establishing a separate endowment fund where Life Trustees would be represented, among other changes. At the outset of the meeting, a moment of silence was observed to honor former Assembly Members and friends who recently passed away. “These By-Law changes reflect the confidence we all have in the Assembly as an established institution with participation by a wide cross-section of the community and a clear mission to provide the best possible, professional representation of Armenian issues in Washington, on a non-partisan and bipartisan basis, while recognizing the pluralistic nature of Armenian life and organizations in the United States,” noted Co-Chairs Barsamian and Krikorian. “We welcome the participation by more and more people, including in governance at the state and national levels, and these changes help to achieve that type of inclusion and broad participation as the need to care for our communities, genocide prevention, and a stronger US-Armenia/Artsakh relationship grow more challenging,” they concluded.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
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NR# 2022-34