Armenian Melodies

A Mechanical Engineering degree enabled Margaret Mgrublian to follow a career in the electronics industry while continuing to volunteer her time to her community.

Margaret currently sits on the Los Angeles City Mayor’s International Advisory Council; is a member of the Board of Governors of the Armenian American Museum that is currently under construction in Glendale; sits on the Southern California Regional Council of the Armenian Assembly of America, – and is Vice-President of the Armenian International Women’s Association, Los Angeles Affiliate (AIWA-LA.) She is also a board member of the National Association of Armenian Scholars and Research (NAASR) and a board member of St. Nerses Seminary in New York. Margaret is a past chair of the Pasadena Community Foundation, a non-profit that serves as a depository for philanthropic funds which grant out over $1 million a year to Pasadena nonprofits.

In 2014, she and her husband endowed the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College where she provides counsel regarding programming for the Center whose mission is to instill in students an understanding of human rights as central to moral and ethical decisions in personal and public arenas. She has been recognized as Women of the Year by Assembly Member Carol Liu and Volunteer of the Year by Congresswoman Judy Chu. Recently, she and her husband were presented with the St. Gregory Pontifical Encyclical issued by His Holiness, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, – an honor received for their many years of service to the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church.

Salpy Akaragian, Ph.D., RN, NPD-BC, PHN, is the President and the Founder of the Armenian International Medical Fund (AIM Fund), Founder and President of the Armenian American Nurses Association, Treasurer of the Armenian Medical International Committee (AMIC) and Former Nursing Director of UCLA Health. She received a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Philosophy of Doctorate degrees from UCLA School of Nursing.  She was the US Partner Representative for USAID/AIHA grants from 1995-2004, directed multiple healthcare projects, and initiated reforms and developed programs in Armenia, such as the first Baccalaureate Equivalent Degree program in Nursing, setting up the primary healthcare clinic in Lori Region, and facilitated the formation of the Armenian Nurses Association in Armenia.

In 2003, she co-founded the cochlear implant program at Erebouni Medical Center, Yerevan, Armenia. Currently, she is preparing for the 26th medical mission to operate on 13 children for cochlear implants so they can hear for the first time. Due to her leadership, over 200 children and young adults have joined the hearing world and live a productive life.

In addition to the cochlear implant program, in 2023, due to Salpy’s past experience with the California Board of Registered Nursing, the Minister of Health of Armenia appointed Salpy to a Nursing Commission. She is working with the nursing leaders in Armenia to define the Scope of Practice of Nursing and to create the Board of Registered Nursing.

During the Artsakh blockade, Salpy worked with the Ministry of Health of Artsakh, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Armenia, AMIC, and others and sent medications to Artsakh. 

After the Artsakh gas explosion, she worked closely with the burn center, AMIC, MoH, and other agencies to provide critical medical items to burn patients throughout Yerevan. In early October 2023, she was instrumental in sending two adolescents burned in the Artsakh gas explosion to the United States. She worked closely with the US Embassy in Armenia to obtain passports and visas; today, one of the adolescents returned to Armenia after receiving superb medical care and the other will be leaving to Armenia before the holidays. 

Salpy is in the process of sending the third adolescent to Boston to receive medical care for his burns. She is also working very closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to prepare for the next step for Artsakh burn victims, such as rehabilitation and mental health for the patients and their families.

For more than 40 years, longtime community advocate, leader, music educator, high school teacher, trainer, volunteer, and activist “Arick Gevorkian” has dedicated his life and energy to the betterment of various nonprofit organizations and to the cultural enrichment of youth through fun, innovative, engaging and educational music teachings and methodologies.

Arick Gevorkian is an exemplary and humble individual with many virtues and is known not only for his selfless and charismatic character, but also as a loved and respected teacher, mentor and a man of many talents who unconditionally gives his time to the youth and community.

Apart from teaching at several southern California schools, Mr. Gevorkian travels with his extensive collection of Armenian and International folkloric musical instruments to local schools, youth camps and educational centers to educate and inspire youth and children to take interest in performing art, playing music, composing, and expressing their inner feelings through the arts. His motto is “Teach youth the value of heritage, identity and culture, so they can continue creating.” He is a multi-instrumentalist and composer of numerous scouting songs and loves to perform with his youth and children’s choirs.

Ani Hovannisian Kevorkian is a filmmaker and broadcast journalist whose documentary, The Hidden Map, achieved the rare distinction of national television distribution on PBS in 2022, airing more than 2000 times across US cities. The film brings to life the remarkable journey of an Armenian- American granddaughter of Genocide survivors and a Scottish explorer as they trek through the forbidden Armenian homeland in today’s eastern Turkey, uncovering long-buried truths, sacred relics, and the hidden map. The Hidden Map has earned more than a dozen international awards and honors at festivals and special screenings, most notably in the UK Parliament, and was considered for three Primetime Emmys.

As a broadcast journalist, Ani spent two decades traveling the world, from operating rooms in Siberia to green rooms at the Grammys, producing non- fiction stories for network television and other audiences. She was also a reporter and anchor on Tele-Nayiri and Horizon Armenian News for more than a decade.

Hovannisian continues to tell impactful human stories and to shed light on the Armenian experience and its universal relevance. She is engaged with Armenian communities and activities worldwide, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America, Television Academy and International Documentary Association. She earned a BA in Mass Communications (UCLA, Phi Beta Kappa) and an MA in Broadcast Journalism (USC). Her parents, Professor Richard and Dr. Vartiter Hovannisian, and grandparents inspire her life and work. Ani and her husband Armenio Kevorkian have two children, Sophene and Daron, named after the ancestral Armenian lands of their great-grandparents.