Anna Harutyunyan joined NAZA in May 2016 as the new Chief Executive. Anna spent the prior 15 years working in education and child protection sectors in her country of origin (Armenia). She worked as chief specialist at the Standing Committee of Education, Science, Culture and Youth Affairs in the Parliament of her country and then continued with international organizations managing large-scale country-wide programs funded by bilateral, multilateral, and private donors (USIAD, EU, UN, etc.) to support the reforms in her country. With the Academy for Educational Development she assisted government in developing a country-wide strategy for the education sector. With Save the Children she managed the child protection portfolio and specifically focused on issues of violence against children and in building the capacity of parents, teachers, and youth workers to prevent, recognize, and report violence accordingly.

With UNICEF, Anna was charged to provide leadership over large-scale assistance to the government in reforming the current system of service provision to the most vulnerable children and youth, including children from low-income families, children with disabilities, children left without parental care, and children in residential care. Anna has promoted cross-country learning; provided technical assistance to the government in deciding the policy course; assisted with in-depth assessments of children and their families; and has constantly promoted models of case management and professional (educational, social, rehabilitation, etc.) service provision at the community level through reliable community mobilization techniques to ensure that every child maintains the right to grow up in a safe family environment and receives necessary services needed for healthy growth.

Anna holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy with a Major in Education from Vanderbilt University and spent her 3-month internship at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. researching WB funding of the education sector worldwide.