In this first episode of 2024, we are joined by Larisa Hovannisian, Founder and CEO of Teach For Armenia. I love this conversation because it is deep, inspirational, and highlights the power of diasporans to impact the communities where they or parents once fled.
I am proud to say that is our first international episode because Larisa speaks with us from Armenia. She moved back to her birth country just over a decade ago with just two suitcases. Larisa explains how a college course on social impact business inspired her to abandon plans for a career in fashion merchandizing to eventually launch Teach for Armenia. As a diasporan, her motivation to abandon life in the U.S. to help bring quality education to underserved children of Armenia is nothing short of inspirational.
Larisa discusses the challenges of launching a national non profit, especially after many of her personnel and the children she serves were impacted by the renewed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh ( Artsakh). As Larisa describes, and CNN and others have reported, Nagorno-Karabakh has been "under blockade since December 2022, when Azerbaijan-backed activists established a military checkpoint on the Lachin corridor. The blockade prevented the import of food, fuel and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting fears that residents were being left to starve" (CNN). In September 2023, Azerbaijani forces rapidly seized the region after 24 hours of fighting and the ethnic Armenians fled to Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh's government has said the self-declared republic will cease to exist by this month- January 2024 (BBC). Larisa and her team at Teach for Armenia are now dealing with the impact of the conflict on its students, two of whom were killed in the conflict according to her.
You don't want to miss this powerful episode. We look forward to bringing you more compelling stories of power women leaders serving their communities here in the United States and across the globe in 2024.
***Special thanks to my good friend, Jirair Ratevosian for helping me find Larisa. Jirair is a champion for human rights and the Armenian people, and I am proud to help support his work to help shed light on the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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