As we look to nearly 30 years of service in Armenia, the Armenian EyeCare Project is pleased to welcome our four newest board members to our Board of Directors who will help facilitate our success for years to come. Dr. Thomas Lee, Mr. Michael Aghajanian, Ms. Lysa Grigorian and Mrs. Lisa Kalustian all joined the AECP’s Board of Directors in the fall of 2019 and each will bring their professional expertise and personal dedication to fulfill the AECP’s lifelong mission of eliminating preventable blindness in Armenia and providing access to quality eye care for every child and adult in the country.
The new physician on the Board – Dr. Lee – has been working alongside the AECP for quite some time. Director of the Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Tom started working with the AECP in 2010 and has been integral in helping develop our organization’s pediatrics-oriented programs including our Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Childhood Blindness in Yerevan. The state-of-the-art center is dedicated to advancing eye care for infants and children in Armenia and eliminating blindness caused by childhood eye diseases like retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and more.
More recently, Tom has also helped the AECP spearhead our large-scale School Screening Program in partnership with Children’s Hospital L.A., in which we screen schoolchildren across Armenia for eye disease with the goal of detecting vision issues early on and preventing them in the future.
Michael also has a history with the AECP. An adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, Michael co-founded WPI’s Armenia Project Center, which allows students from WPI to travel to Armenia to complete summer projects where they apply their technical skills to solve real-world social problems. Thanks to Michael’s initiative, WPI students have since traveled to Armenia to work alongside the AECP on projects that will enhance our ability to achieve our mission.
Lisa K. and Lysa G. also join the board as longtime supporters of the AECP and our efforts in Armenia. Once serving as VP of Public Affairs for the Western Region of Health Net, Inc., Lisa K. is an accomplished strategist experienced in communications and advocacy, policy development and implementation and public affairs. Founder of the JHM Foundation, benefactor Lysa G. has made it her life’s work to support various charitable organizations through her private foundation, including the AECP.
We welcome these four new board members to our Board of Directors. They join our remaining board members Dr. John Hovanesian, Mr. David Keligian, Dr. Barry Kuppermann, Dr. Richard Hill, Mrs. Meredith Khachigian, Mr. Archie Cholakian, Mr. Jack McHale, Dr. Khodam Rostomian, Mr. Mike Sahakian and AECP Founder and President Dr. Roger Ohanesian.
Our volunteer Board of Directors operates with a traditional nonprofit structure. Board meetings are held regularly to manage the AECP’s affairs and the Board works diligently to ensure that the highest percentage of donated funds go directly to our medical programs in Armenia. You can learn more about the AECP’s Board of Directors here.
