Mariam Martirosyan
2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: Social Change Camp for Armenian Civics TeachersArmenia
Mariam Martirosyan is Project Harmony’s Armenia Country Director. She has more than 20 years of work experience in the NGO sector, with a focus in organizational and project management. Mariam has led large-scale educational, community development, legal-judicial and youth leadership programs in Armenia funded by the U.S. and Armenian Governments, the UN, and other donors.
Mariam currently serves on the boards of the Health Fund for Children of Armenia and the Republic of Armenia Child Protection Network. She is a member of the Juvenile Justice Council of the Republic of Armenia and Armenian National Selection Committee for the United World Colleges. She was a member of the admission committee for the Police Academy during the pilot of the new computer-based admissions system. While serving on the public board adjacent to the country’s Human Rights Defender within the UN Optional Protocol of Convention against Torture, she monitored the state of human rights in special institutions of Armenia.
Mariam holds a master’s degree in teaching English as a Foreign Language from Vanadzor State Teacher Training Institute, Armenia, and a master’s degree in Gender and Culture from Central European University, Hungary. In 1998, she received the “Best Secondary School Teacher of English in Armenia” award. She is an alumna of the Manoukyan Public Service 2009 Fellowship and participated in the “Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage” of Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She also is an alumna of Caucasus Research Resource Centers – Armenia 2007 Fellowship funded via the Carnegie Research Fellowship Program.
2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: Social Change Camp for Armenian Civics Teachers
The Social Change Camp for Armenian Civics Teachers project trained 30 civics teachers across Armenia, introducing the positive youth development framework and project-based learning to inspire action for positive change in schools and communities. The trained teachers then organized local workshops to transfer their learning experience and impact another cohort of 300 educators and school administrators. The trained teachers' new methodologies of civic instruction and community engagement are estimated to impact approximately 4,500 students, promoting youth leadership and civic activism and an effective intergenerational partnership for Armenia's brighter future.
"This part of the training is specifically important and invites us to think deeply on how much agency we have as teachers and how we can influence our students." – Project Participant
2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: Advancing Restorative Juvenile Justice Policy and Practices in Armenia
The project introduced community-based juvenile restorative justice practices applied in the USA, namely the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Office of the LA Mayor’s Office, to the Armenian Juvenile Police, the Armenian Probation Service, and the “Center for Legal Education and Restorative Programs” State Non-Revenue Organization, to help localize the inventory of the GRYD’s effective practices and tools and improve the juvenile justice case management in Armenia, enriching it with evidence-based and professional experiences. The project worked with the abovementioned key bodies in Armenia responsible for the formation of policy on restorative juvenile justice and its application on the ground. The institutions learned from their experience of integrated management of cases of juveniles in conflict with law and then worked on the adaptation and adoption of the GRYD best practices.
"We strongly appreciate the literature provided by Mariam Martirosyan and her team because they provide evidence-based methodology for community-based interventions supporting Armenian specialists working with children in conflict with law." - Project Partner
IVLP Exchange Experience
Mariam participated in the IVLP Project A Global Moment in Time: Peace and Justice in 2023, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education, in partnership with U.S. Department of State Office of International Visitors program branch in New York City, WorldBoston, Georgia Council for International Visitors, Global Ties Detroit, International Citizen Diplomacy of Los Angeles, Global Minnesota, San Diego Diplomacy Council, Tulsa Global Alliance, World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana, and World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.
Mariam's exchange experience led her to develop her IVLP Impact Award Project: "My discussions with the IVLP guest speakers and fellow participants about the future of our world prompted that we should jointly concentrate our efforts to produce healthy, engaged and responsible citizens all over the world, mobilizing our efforts for delivering proper civic instruction to our youth at their earliest age."
U.S. Communities Visited in 2023
Washington, DC; Miami, FL; Pittsburgh, PA
U.S. Communities Visited Virtually in 2022
Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Louisville, KY; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis, MN; New York City, NY; Tulsa, OK; Philadelphia, PA