User:Arman melikyan/sandbox

Larisa Virginia Hovannisian (née Ryan, Armenian: Լարիսա Վիրջինիա Հովհաննիսյան; born 21 October 1988) is an Armenian American social entrepreneur and education activist. Hovannisian is the Founder and CEO of Teach For Armenia, a non-profit organization that recruits college graduates and working professionals to serve as full-time teachers in Armenia's most underserved schools. Teach For Armenia is the 36th partner of Teach For All global network, dedicated to expanding educational opportunities in countries around the world.

Early Life and Family
Hovannisian was born in Yerevan, Armenia to Maya Leonidovna Gurunts of Armenian decent and John Patrick Ryan of Irish-American decent. When Hovannisian was 3 months old her family first moved to California and later to Russia. Hovannisian spent majority of her childhood in Moscow, Russia and Yerevan, Armenia. After graduating from high school, Hovannisian moved to the United States to pursue her undergraduate studies. Hovannisian is the granddaughter of well-known Armenian writer Leonid Gurunts from Artskah (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) and has one younger sibling Margaret Ryan.

Education
Hovannisian holds a double degree in International Business and French, as well as a minor in Graphic Design from St. Norbert College, a liberal arts college in De Pere, Wisconsin. Hovannisian also holds a Masters degree in Special Education from the Arizona State University.

Teach For America
In 2010, Hovannisian joined Teach For America, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enlist, develop, and mobilize the promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence. The organization aims to accomplish this by recruiting and selecting college graduates from top universities around the United States to serve as teachers. Hovannisian was placed to teach special education in an undeserved elementary and middle school in Glendale, Arizona.

Teach For Armenia
Inspired by her teaching experience in Arizona, in 2013 Hovannisian decided, to move back to her motherland and launch Teach For Armenia, an organization with a mission to improve educational outcomes for all children in Armenia and unlock the vast potential of her country’s young people. The organization recruits and trains exceptional young graduates to teach in the most underserved schools for a minimum of two years. Recent survey results show that student engagement levels in Teach For Armenia classrooms are above average within the Teach For All network, with fellows establishing engaging learning environments, holding rigorous expectations for their students, and helping students to fully internalize learnings. Internal student assessments reflect increased student growth both in academics and personal leadership development; after just a year with Teach For Armenia teachers, student subject mastery grew by an average of 230%. And beyond the classroom, through after school activities and community projects, teachers are helping students to develop nonacademic skills and mindsets that will serve them throughout their lives.

Teach For Armenia is part of Teach For All global network.

Music
In 2015 Hovannisian recorded an Armenian lullaby, “Ari Im Sokhag” with Serj Tankian, the lead vocalist of System of A Down ref>https://style.news.am/eng/news/31485/larisa-ryan-on-singing-armenian-lullaby-with-serj-tankian.html. The song became the soundtrack of the film “1915”, a psychological thriller about the Armenian Genocide. The music video was released on April 22nd, 2016 and was directed by Hovannisian’s husband, Garin Hovannisian.

Social and Educational Activism
Apart from her professional career, Hovannisian is also an educational activist. In one of her recent interviews she stated, “I have long believed that change—true, meaningful change—begins in our schools”. Hovannisian starred in numerous promotional social videos and was one of the speakers at Tedx Yerevan, 2016.

Personal Life
Hovannisian is fluent in English, Russian and Armenian. In 2016 Hovannisian married Garin Hovannisian, an Armenian-American writer and filmmaker. They live in Yerevan, Armenia.