AUA Welcomes Suzy Antounian to the Board of Trustees

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OAKLAND, CA – The American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Suzy Antounian to the AUA Board of Trustees.

Antounian has extensive nonprofit management experience, with a focus on strategic planning, program design, institutional development, partnership building, operations, grants procurement and management. She is Senior Vice President at the World Affairs Council of Northern California where she oversees the Global Philanthropy Forum – a donor education program that seeks to build a community of philanthropists and social investors committed to international causes, and to inform the strategic nature of their work. The Forum attracts over 400 participants to its annual conference held in the United States. It also holds an annual conference in Brazil and soon in Africa. Previously she was the Council’s Vice President for Public Programs, overseeing more than 150 programs on international issues per year, including an annual conference on international policy issues.

As a consultant in 2007-2008 she provided advisory services to clients that included the Aspen Institute’s Philanthropy and Social Innovation Program and The Elders.

In the 1990’s she served as Vice President, Director of Policy and Planning and Dean of Extension Programs at the American University of Armenia where she oversaw the University’s grants, helped establish a graduate law program, a legal resource center, a speaker’s forum and began offering fee based adult training programs through the University Extension. In 1998-1999, she also served as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia where she helped establish a diplomat training program intended for the Ministry’s younger Foreign Service officers in collaboration with the Fletcher School of Diplomacy and the Tavitian Foundation.

Prior to joining the nonprofit sector she worked as a tax attorney for Howard, Rice, et. al.  (now part of Arnold and Porter), and for Ernst & Whiney (now Ernst & Young). She is a member of the California Bar.

She holds a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Lawrence Pitts thanked outgoing members of the board Dr. Lyman Porter andDr. Wyatt (Rory) Hume for their dedicated service to AUA. AUA President Dr. Bruce M. Boghosian says, “We are very pleased to welcome Ms. Antounian on the Board of Trustees, and we thank Dr. Porter and Dr. Hume for their years of dedicated service.”

 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.