BURBANK, CA – The ANC Burbank has taken community calls for broader Armenian American participation in the public policy sector to heart, placing this year’s May 4th Banquet spotlight on the ANCA Endowment Fund’s civic education and youth empowerment programs.

The gala event will take place at the Arbat Banquet Hall, located at 711 South San Fernando Boulevard Burbank, CA 91502. Opportunities to purchase special pre-sale reduced Banquet tickets will be coming to end on April 6th, after which tickets for the annual dinner and dance will return to their regular prices.

ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian will be joining with the Burbank community on that evening to discuss the successes of the ANCA Capital Gateway Program and the Leo Sarkisian Summer Internship program in expanding Armenian American youth participation in the American civic and public policy arena. In support of these and other efforts to educate elected officials and media about Armenian American concerns, the ANC Burbank designated the ANCA Endowment Fund as the beneficiary of this year’s banquet proceeds.

“For over 25 years – through our annual Leo Sarkisian Summer Internship Program in Washington, DC and now the Capital Gateway Program – the ANCA has trained a generation of Armenian grassroots advocates, opening doors to countless new opportunities for recent graduates in DC’s public policy world,” said Chouldjian. “I look forward to sharing our successes, and together with the Burbank community, exploring innovative ways we can expand Armenian American civic participation.”

Chouldjian, a graduate of UCLA with a Bachelors in Materials Engineering, is a 16-year veteran of the ANCA Washington, DC office. She will be joining Burbank’s own Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who will be the guest of honor at this year’s ANC Burbank Annual Banquet. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Schiff has been a consistent supporter of high levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia and Karabakh, and most recently, in a meeting with Republic of Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili, advocated for targeted economic assistance for Georgia’s Armenian populated Samtskhe-Javakheti (Javakhk) region. Rep. Schiff offered hard-hitting questioning of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a House Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations hearing, during which he urged her to clarify the Obama Administration’s position on the Armenian Genocide. A Congressional letter to the Secretary of State, spearheaded by Rep. Schiff and Rep. Robert Dold (R-Il), urging Secretary Clinton to stop misrepresenting the Armenian Genocide as a “historical debate,” was signed by over 60 Members of Congress.

Following the dinner program, Burbank’s local singing sensation Koko Hayitian will be entertaining guests with his Armenian and international music repertoire. Hayitian has turned down engagements in the East Coast and Canada to lend his support to the ANC Burbank’s efforts.

For more information about the banquet and to secure reservations, please contact Silva Kechichian at silva@anca.org or visit the ANCA Burbank Facebook page –facebook.com/ancaburbank.