- Season 2 | Episode 09
Locally Led Futures | SDG 5&8
Hayasa is empowering rural communities and fostering local leadership across Armenia. Through her organization, Armenia Corps, she utilizes asset mapping to identify community strengths, foster collaboration, and mobilize local resources to address pressing challenges. By championing community-led solutions and building on existing capacities, her work strengthens resilience, nurtures skills, and drives sustainable, self-reliant development.
Episode Introduction
Credo Voices, the podcast where we bring you inspiring stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I’m your host, Awele Okibo, the CEO of Credo Advisory. Armenia’s rugged landscapes have been home to resilient communities bound by vibrant culture, traditions, and warm hospitality for centuries.
Today, this historic land also serves as a refuge for those fleeing crises. According to the UN Refugee Agency, as of December 2023, Armenia hosts over 150,000 forcibly displaced persons, including refugees and asylum seekers. In this episode of Credo Voices, we meet Hayasa Tamazian, an international development practitioner dedicated to empowering Armenia’s most vulnerable populations. From supporting Syrian refugees to founding Armenia Corps, Hayasa mobilizes local capacities to foster sustainable development tailored to community needs. Through innovative asset mapping, Armenia Corps leverages human capital, infrastructure, and local talent to drive long term economic growth and social impact. Advancing SDG 5, gender equality, and SDG 8, decent work and economic growth, Hayasa proves that grassroots action can lead to nationwide transformation. Join us as we explore how Armenia Corps is turning resilience into opportunity, one community at a time. the podcast where we bring you inspiring stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Hayasa Tahmazyan is the Founding President of the Armenia Corps Development Initiative, a platform advancing social and economic inclusion in rural and vulnerable communities across Armenia through collective local action. She leads programs that strengthen community leadership, empower women and youth, and promote sustainable, locally led development.
A Fulbright Scholar and alumna of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), Hayasa brings a global perspective to her work in community empowerment. She co-founded the COVID-19 International Student Task Force, which supported over 300 students experiencing financial and food insecurity during the pandemic.
Hayasa also serves on the board of the Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable Organization, advocating for refugees and displaced persons in Armenia. Her professional focus encompasses education, women’s empowerment, youth development, and poverty reduction, utilizing evidence-based and participatory approaches.
With extensive experience in international development and humanitarian work, Hayasa is committed to building resilient, self-reliant communities and promoting inclusive progress grounded in local leadership and collaboration.
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