Watertown, MA – The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region is pleased to announce the speakers for its sixth annual banquet to be held on Saturday, December 1 at the Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah, NJ.

Virginia Davies will be presenting Baroness Caroline Cox with the Freedom Award, Marc Mamigonian will present the Vahan Cardashian Award to Professor Richard Hovannisian, and Nora Kzirian will be the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, which begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner and program at 8:00 p.m.

Virginia Davies is a lawyer who lives in New York City with her husband Williard B. Taylor. She graduated from Harvard Business School’s advanced management program and has a doctorate in law. Davies and Taylor are the parents of two daughters, Mary Alexandra Kennedy and Madeleine Saraceni. Davies’ maternal grandmother, Vergene Mouradian Garabedian, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and one of the first Armenian women to immigrate to Canada after World War I.

“My grandmother instilled in her family the view that we as a family and as Armenians have survived for a reason, and that it was incumbent on each of us to use our own unique talents to ensure the survival and betterment of the Armenian people and protect and advance the democratic rights of all,” Davies said.

Davies has been a long-time supporter of the Armenian-American community and has contributed a great deal of time to ANCA efforts over the years.

Marc A. Mamigonian is the Director of Academic Affairs at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), based in Belmont, Mass. He also is the current vice president of the Society for Armenian Studies, as well as the editor of the publications Rethinking Armenian Studies (2003) and The Armenians of New England (2004). His research interests include Armenian-American history, genocide denial and the writings of James Joyce.

Nora Kzirian is a proud New Jersey native and a long-time supporter, advocate and friend of the ANCA. She credits the organization for igniting her spirit to influence decision makers on matters of interest to the Armenian-American community.

In 2004, Kzirian started her tenure as Deputy Press Secretary for the Honorable Steve Rothman, former U.S. representative for New Jersey’s 9th congressional district. During that time, she partnered with the ANCA to ensure human rights issues were at the forefront of the Congressman’s agenda, including the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

With more than 10 years of experience as a communication and change management professional, Nora has been recognized among clients for her creative approaches to business leadership. In her current role at Comcast, the largest cable and Internet service provider in the U.S., she specializes in human resources and talent acquisition communications.

Nora currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Jim, where she is a member of the Armenian Relief Society “Artemis” chapter. Both Jim and Nora are active participants of the ANC-PA community, as well as supporters of the ANC’s sister organizations, the ARF and AYF-YOARF.

“I have always enjoyed working with the ANCA and doing my part as a grassroots activist, so it is a tremendous honor to be invited to serve as Master of Ceremonies for this year’s 6th annual ANCA Eastern Region Banquet. I am looking forward to joining our supporters on December 1 to celebrate another successful year for the ANCA,” she said.

For more information about the banquet and to purchase tickets, please contact Karine Shnorhokian at (201) 788-5425 or visit the website at www.anca.org/erbanquet.

You can also RSVP and find other details on the Facebook event page here.

(Pictured above are Nora Kzirian and Marc Mamigonian).