At first, I wanted to be an actor. I studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (Los Angeles) and twice attended the British American Drama Academy (Oxford, England) on scholarship. I graduated from the American Academy with their two highest honors: the Charles Jehlinger Award and the Spencer Tracy scholarship. I started life as a classically trained Shakespearean actor.

But then, I found actual work in broadcast journalism. Over the course of ten years, I held various positions at WPBN-WTOM TV (photog, graphics, editing, cameraman, etc.) and I was an assignment editor at WXMI TV. After which, I taught journalism at Northwest Michigan College, which included advising the college publication, the White Pine Press.

And yet, after a decade I felt pulled towards a different calling. I earned my a masters of public affairs degree at the University of Minnesota (Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs). From there, I served as the Director of Student Life and Diversity at Saint Paul College, and then as their inaugural Chief Diversity Officer.

A few years later an opportunity opened up for me at Rainbow Health Initiative in Minnesota. RHI was the only organization in the state working on LGBTQ health equity. They hired me to serve as their Equity and Inclusion Education Manager. I traveled throughout Minnesota working with health clinics, health insurance companies, community organizations, and a variety of health programs in colleges and universities. Plus, I was privileged to manage a prestigious Community Innovation grant from the Bush Foundation and I successfully applied for a second.

When RHI merged with a direct-service health organization, I turned towards a new opportunity to serve as Normandale Community College’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer. At the same time, I co-founded IDEAS, LLC, through which I have worked with organizations throughout the Midwest.

In 2020, I completed a four year project of trying to collect all of the Queer Armenian literature I could find and I published it as a website. I named it the Queer Armenian Library and it has since served as a platform for folks to connect with Queer Armenian writers as well as to promote community building.

I am grateful to serve as a board member of the International Armenian Literary Alliance.

I wish I could say I have spare time. But, I do spend weekends in Wisconsin with my two partners and cat Buffy. I bake. I take videos and photos of the numerous bears in our backyard. And I’m collecting every comic and graphic novel featuring Billy Kaplan (Wiccan) and Teddy Altman (Hulking), Marvel Comic’s most prominent gay couple.