ANCA Welcomes New USAID-Armenia Mission Director Deborah Grieser

New USAID Armenia Mission Director Deborah Grieser (center); Suren Avanesyan (left), Senior Advisor in USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia; and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian (right).

WASHINGTON””The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) swore in its new Mission Director for Armenia, Deborah Grieser ”“ a veteran of humanitarian and developmental missions across the globe ”“ at a Washington, DC ceremony attended by Administration officials, USAID colleagues, family, friends, Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Grigor Hovhannissian, and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, representing the Armenian American community.

The ceremony, which was officiated by Thomas Melia, USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, featured remarks by Hovhannissian about the importance of USAID to the development of U.S.-Armenia ties over the past quarter century. Grieser’s longtime friend, Monica Stein-Olson, a senior USAID official herself, offered heartfelt words of support and inspiration prior to formally administering the official oath of office.

“We are pleased to see that USAID ”“ in appointing Deborah Grieser to serve as our Mission Director in Yerevan ”“ is, once again, sending our country’s best and brightest to strengthen the powerful and enduring bonds between the United States and Armenia,”