Washington, DC – Dzovak Kazandjian, a member of the South Bay ANC and a participant in this year’s Leo Sarkisian Internship (LSI) program, is in Washington this summer working to advance the Armenian Cause. Dzovak was selected in May of this year to be one of four individuals from California to serve in the distinguished ANCA “Leo Sarkisian” Internship (LSI) Program.

The ANCA-LSI Program is funded by the Armenian National Committee — Western Region (ANC-WR). Named after long-time ANC activist Leo Sarkisian, the program brings together young Armenian Americans from across the United States and Canada to gain first-hand experience in the American political system while working on issues of concern to the Armenian American community.

“Dzovak Kazandjian epitomizes the strength and potential of our community’s youth,” commented ANC-WR Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “We are very proud of Dzovak’s efforts in Washington and look forward to her incorporating her skills and experiences to assist the local community when she returns to Southern California,” Hamparian added.

Kazandjian is an English and Sociology double-major at the University of California, Irvine. She currently serves on the executive committee for the South Bay ANC and has interned with the Asbarez daily newspaper and Orange County Register.

During her time in the nation’s capital, Kazandjian has greatly assisted the Armenian Cause in her work. Like her intern colleagues, she has played a prominent role in working with ANCA staff to build support for the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H. Res. 106). Each LSI participant was assigned the task of working with local communities to obtain cosponsorship support from five Members of Congress from around the country for H. Res. 106. Kazandjian has also traveled to Capitol Hill to accompany Armenian American media and to personally meet and interview Members of Congress including Adam Schiff (D-CA-29), Brad Sherman (D-CA-27) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06). In addition to the enriching LSI program lecture series, Kazandjian and her fellow interns have also visited the Library of Congress. Levon Avdoyan, specialist on Armenia and Georgia at the Library, provided the interns with a presentation on authentic and rare artifacts, including manuscripts and bibles from the 16th century, and a letter from Talaat Pasha to Ambassador Henry Morgenthau in French requesting a dinner meeting on April 24, 1915.

Now in its 23rd year, the ANCA LSI Program provides student leaders and activists an opportunity to participate in an intensive 8-week program designed to give them the tools necessary to effectively advance issues of concern to the Armenian American community on the federal, state and local level. The LSI Program is a competitive and prestigious internship program and is widely considered to be the best program of its kind for Armenian American college students.

In addition to Dzovak Kazandjian, the 2007 LSI Program participants from the Western United States are Alex Der Alexanian, Shant Hagopian and Christopher Yemenidjian. Joining interns from Canada, Europe and the Eastern United States, the LSI participants from the Western Region have conducted significant and groundbreaking activities in just their first week in our nation’s capital.

The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

Photo Caption: Kazandjian joins Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA-29) and Armenian Weekly Editor Khatchig Mouradian during the LSI Summer Program.