Who We Are

Co-Founders
Staf
Advisory Board - Armenia
Executive Board - USA

Co-Founders

Noubar Afeyan

Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, a firm he co-founded in 2000. He is also a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management where he has taught the MBA program’s primary entrepreneurship course since 2000. Dr. Afeyan has authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987. 

A technologist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Dr. Afeyan has co-founded and helped build over 20 successful life science and technology startups during the past two decades. He was founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems (Nasdaq: PBIO), a leader in the bio-instrumentation field. After PerSeptive's acquisition by Applera Corporation (NYSE: ABI), he was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics (Nasdaq: CRA). 

Currently Dr. Afeyan serves on a number of public and private company boards. He is a director and co-founder of Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG Medicine, Ensemble Discovery, Helicos BioSciences (NASDAQ:HLCS), Joule Biotechnologies and LS9, and is on the board of Eleven Biotherapeutics. Previously he was a member of the founding team, director and investor in several successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics. 

Dr. Afeyan is a member of several advisory boards including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, the Whitehead Institute at MIT, the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and the SKOLKOVO School of Management in Moscow. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Afeyan is co-founder and board member of Armenia 2020 and the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, two international economic development projects focusing on the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. In 2008 he received an Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as U.S. citizens and who have enabled their ancestry groups to maintain their identities while becoming integral parts of American life.

Raffi Festekjian

Mr. Festekjian is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the PCi. Under his leadership, PCi has become one of the largest providers of compliance solution to the financial services industry with over 2500 clients, including 95 of top 100 institutions in US. He dedicates a significant amount of time to overseeing PCi’s product lines, including sales, product enhancements and delivery. Prior to co-founding PCi, Mr. Festekjian was a consultant and investment banker at Kellett Ventures Management and Private Capital Investments where he aided capital-deficient community banks through operations consulting and the recapitalization or sale of the institution. Earlier in his career, he worked in product management at Proctor & Gamble and as a civil engineer in the construction industry. Mr. Festekjian received a BS in Engineering from American University of Beirut and an MBA, with distinction, from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. In addition to his professional activities, Raffi is also engaged with several non-profit organizations that are focused on the future of Armenia. In 2004 he co-founded YerazArt which focuses on assisting talented young Armenian artist in Armenia. He is also the Chairman of Armenian St Stephens School Board of Trustees in Boston, Board Member of Armenia Fund USA, Board Member of Armenia 2020, Board Member of Vem Radio in Armenia and a trustee of the Armenian Assembly of America.

Staff

Apo Ashjian - Concert Tour Manager

Apo Ashjian has been active in Armenian dance for more than 30 years. Studying under choreographers Sarkis Paskalian and Ohan Armoudian, he has performed extensively with Armenian dance ensembles as well as with the internationally renowned Mandala Folk Ensemble. In 1982, Ashjian directed his first production, "Tribute to Armenian Heritage," at Tufts University, in Medford, MA. He has been a director of the Erebouni Dance Ensemble of

The Boston Chapter of Hamazkain (1980) and the Daron Dance Ensemble of the Greater Boston Chapter of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (1981-1985). He founded the Sayat Nova Dance Company of Boston in January 1986 and directed its premiere performance the following fall to an enthusiastic sold-out audience.

In October 1987, Ashjian traveled and studied with various dance ensembles in Armenia. At the invitation of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Armenians Abroad, he returned to Armenia twice, in January 1990 and September 1992, to continue his training. He studied with choreographer and soloist for the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia, Gagik Karapetian, and also with Artousha Karapetian, a choreographer and expert of ethnographic dances. In 1994, Ashjian received a certification as an Armenian dance Director and Choreographer from the Dance Department of the Khatchadour Apovian School for the Performing Arts. He completed the extensive five-year course of study, a few months at a time, during his many visits to Armenia.

Ashjian once again journeyed to Armenia, but this time, the entire Sayat Nova Dance Company went along; it was in August 1995, at the official invitation of the Cultural Administration of Armenia, a rare and high honor for a diasporan dance troupe. Under his direction, the Group returned to Armenia once again in 2006, to celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 7 performances including at the famous Opera House in Yerevan Armenia in a government affair performance.

Born in Syria and raised in Lebanon, Ashjian immigrated to the United States in 1970. After graduating from the Cambridge Public School System, he majored in Physical Education at Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
Ashjian is also the founder of the Abaka Armenian School for the Performing Arts, where he teaches Armenian dance to children between the ages of 4-17.

Ashjian, his wife and three children live in Belmont, MA.

Arman Padaryan

YerazArt Armenia Country Director: A key person for international programs, concert and artist management, festival and CD production, Mr. Padaryan is an internee of Dublin Institute of Technologies in 1996 and Visiting Arts in 1999. Prolific work in Cadence Music Centre from 1997 to 2004 resulted to subsequent invitations to work with the Komitas Quartet in 2002, Armenian String Virtuosi in 2003, and Hover Chamber Choir of Armenia in 2004 in the capacity of General Manager. In 2005 he organized various events and tours for the Armenian artists in Europe, started cooperation with Kultur Aktiv e.V. Germany, which resulted implementation of various non-profit youth and culture exchange projects. In July 2006 Mr. Padaryan was appointed as Country Director for YerazArt Inc., Armenia.

Advisory Board - Armenia

Gevorg Dabaghyan (duduk)
Ara Gevorgian (composer, World)
Vartan Adjemian (composer, Classical)
Sergey Saradjyan (Yerevan State Conservatory, rector)
Anahit Nersisyan (piano)
Pyotr Haykazyan (violin)
Eduard Tadevosyan (violin, Komitas State Quartet)
Aram Talalyan (cello, Komitas State Quartet)
Samvel Sahakyan (Spendiaryan Music College Director)
Tigran Hekekyan (Sayat Nova Music College Director)
Anahit Shahbazyan (Tchaikovsky Music College Director)
Rafael Hakobyants (voice)
Natalia Afeyan (voice)

Executive Board - USA

Nicole Babikian Hajjar – Chairperson, YerazArt Executive Board (USA)

Anna Afeyan
Nina Festekjian
Vahe Ghahraman
Avak Kahvejian
Armina Karapetyan
Sargis Karapetyan
Yeghishe Manucharyan
Seza Seraderian
Sylvie Zakarian

History