LA CRESCENTA—Raffi Hamparian will be the guest speaker on “The Armenian Cause in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for Armenian Americans” at Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley, located at Western Prelacy’s” Dikran and Zarouhi Der Ghazarian ” Hall, at 6252 Honolulu Ave., in La Crescenta, California on Sunday, April 22 at 1 p.m., following the church service which starts at 11a.m.
Hamparian, a member of the Armenian National Committee of America’s national Board of Directors and a lifelong ANCA activist will discuss specific ways in which Armenian Americans of all backgrounds can play a decisive role in advancing the Armenian Cause. He will discuss the ANCA’s leadership role in working on the Return of Armenian Churches confiscated by the Republic of Turkey and its efforts with respect to Armenia, Artsakh and Javakh. He will also focus his remarks on the organization’s successful efforts to engage a new generation of Armenian Americans to continue participating in America’s democratic process to advance issues of special concern to Armenian Americans.
Since joining the ANCA National Board and with the efforts of dedicated and capable staff and volunteers, the ANCA has significantly expanded its Washington, DC activities, significantly increasing the power, respect, and influence of the Armenian American community. A few of these metrics include: Email outreach to activists has grown from 10,000 names to more than 70,000; Web page hits have grown to over 30 million; New local ANCA chapters have been established or significantly grown in many communities (Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, & Florida); The number of ANCA donors has grown from less than 1,000 to more than 10,000; The number of major media mentions of the ANCA has grown dramatically, with key citations over the past year in the New York Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. The ANCA has over 28,000 Facebook friends and is one of the largest and fastest growing Armenian American organizations with respect to other social media – like Twitter.
Born in New York City and raised in the New Jersey, Hamparian is a graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. At this school he earned both an undergraduate degree and a Masters in International Relations. Hamparian has worked for a number of members of Congress, handling budget, tax and trade issues and also serving as a key staffer for international relations work related to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Most recently, he worked as the chief foreign affairs aide for New Jersey Congressman Steven R. Rothman.
Currently, Hamparian is the Government Relations Director for Los Angeles Metro, where he works to increase the $600 million that agency annually receives from the federal government for major transportation projects.
The general public is invited to this interesting and very informative presentation. The event is being sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Arshag and Nevear Koulajian.
This event which is organized by Crescenta Valley Church Education Committee is free and open to the public. There will be a reception before the start of the program at the completion of the Divine Liturgy.
