Earlier today, Homenetmen Western U.S.A. announced the lineup for its “Envisioning the Future: Youth, Politics, and Power,” panel to take place at its centennial Youth Forum this Saturday, June 23, 2018 at the Woodbury University Fletcher Jones Auditorium. California State Senator Anthony Portantino and Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian will be joined by activist and ANCA-Western Region Board Member Anahid Oshagan as moderator.

The panel will cover an array of avenues youth can be civically engaged in, including grassroots organizing, running for elected office, and becoming active participants in shaping policies and enacting change.  Panelists will also address how policy changes on the local, state and federal levels have transformed the political atmosphere and what this means for current and upcoming generations of students and Californians. Furthermore, the panelists will provide an update on policy issues important to the Armenian-American community.

“I am excited to share my experience in public service with young activists.  I look forward to a robust discussion on Saturday,” stated Senator Portantino.

Senator Portantino has a long and distinguished record of service, which includes six years in the California State Assembly, representing the 44th Assembly District, nearly eight years on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council, with two terms as Mayor, and vice chair of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee. He also served as president of the League of California Cities Mayors and Councilmembers Department, and the legislative chair of the California Contract Cities Association.

Portantino was elected to the California State Senate, representing the 25th district, in 2016. In 2017, he was named ANCA Western Region’s “Legislator of the Year.”

Since his first days in office, Portantino has championed issues important to the Armenian community. He established the historic Senate Select Committee on California, Armenia, and Artsakh Mutual Trade, Art and Culture Exchange, which aims to expand business opportunities through trade, economic development, cultural awareness, and education between California, Armenia, and Artsakh. He also acquired an additional $3 million of funding from the State of California, a vital step in realizing the foundation of an Armenian-American Museum. As Chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education, Portantino secured $10 million to fund the History/Social Science curriculum framework and to ensure that young Californians were educated about the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide.

In his capacity as Chair of the Senate Education Budget Sub-Committee, Portantino personally submitted two important education proposals on behalf of Armenian Californians into the California State Budget, which were both adopted on June 19th. The submission included six full tuition scholarships at Hastings College of Law for graduates of the American University of Armenia and a $500,000 state grant to create study guides for California schools to properly teach the Armenian Genocide.

Recently, Portantino was appointed as Chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

Kassakhian has served as Glendale’s City Clerk for the past 14 years and is the first person ever elected City Clerk in an open election for the position in Glendale’s 75-year history.  His landslide victory in a field of nine candidates made history, also making him the youngest person elected to public office in Glendale.

During his tenure as City Clerk, Ardy has helped educate thousands of non-English speaking citizens in Glendale about the voting process, spearheading groundbreaking efforts to teach voting in Spanish, Armenian, Korean, and Tagalog.  His efforts have gained attention from regional and national agencies for their creativity and ingenuity. Ardy continues to take his passion for voting and the democratic process beyond the voting booth and into the classroom to engage students in high schools and colleges in order to encourage involvement at an early age in their local government.  He is a regular lecturer around the county and state on this topic and has created a curriculum on US Campaign History for high school students.

Ardy spent his early career in political campaigns and coupled that experience with a career in public relations, working for one of California’s largest public affairs PR firms. During this time, he represented international labor unions and fortune 500 companies, while working on national, state and local campaigns and initiatives, Kassakhian left the private sector to become the government relations director and later executive director of the Western U.S. offices of a national non-profit which specialized in human rights advocacy, voters rights education, and public affairs.

He worked closely with members of state legislatures throughout the Western U.S. and in the U.S. Congress on policy issues affecting Armenian-Americans.  Ardy became an active member of the Los Angeles County Voter Outreach Committee (CVOC) – a group created specifically to seek different methods to raise voter participation in county, state and federal elections.  Ardy’s efforts have helped make the County of LA the only county that provides Armenian language translations for election materials and information on its website.

Ardy holds a B.A. in History from UCLA, where he also participated in the University’s Center of American Politics and Public Policy program in Washington, D.C.

A member of the ANCA-Western Region Board of Directors since 2016, Oshagan’s history of activism dates back to 1988, when she first served as an intern for the organization in Washington D.C.. Among many other contributions, Oshagan has also served as ANCA-WR TV and ANCA-WR Telethon host and on the boards of the Glendale YWCA and Glendale Ghapan Sister City Organization.

Oshagan, along with her husband, Ara, is also a curator for ReflectSpace Gallery, located inside Downtown Central Library. ReflectSpace is designed to explore and reflect on major human atrocities, genocides, and civil rights violations. Immersive in conception, the gallery is a hybrid space that is both experiential and informative, employing art, technology, and interactive media to reflect on the past and present of Glendale’s communal fabric and interrogate current-day global human rights issues.

During the Armenian Genocide Centennial, Oshagan served as project coordinator for the largest public art installation in Grand Park in Los Angeles. As an integral part of the iwitness Project, Anahid also helped secure the City of Los Angeles’s first permanent monument dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in Downtown Grand Park.

Upon acquiring her bachelor’s degree from CSUN in English Literature and humanities, she taught English as a second language to refugees, before attending the Whittier College School of Law. She also studied Comparative European Union Law at Facultat Dret in Barcelona, Spain.

She currently practices law in Glendale. In 2009, she received the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce Women in Law award. During her spare time, she servers as an assistant coach for the American Youth Soccer Organization.

The forum will begin at 11AM and will also include previously announced panels – “Empowering the Future: Your Step For a Stronger Armenia” featuring Director of the Sosé and Allen’s Legacy Foundation Vaché Thomassian, Public Relations Coordinator for the Hidden Road Initiative Margarita Baghdasaryan, and political consultant and founder of The Stark Group Elen Asatryan. “Mobilizing the Future: Elevating Your Cause Through Activism” featuring moderator Dr. Talin P. Kargodorian, currently principal of Vahan and Anoush Chamlian Armenian School; former Armenian Youth Federation Central Executive member Joseph Kaskanian; Founding Board Member of the Homenetmen Youth Committee Varand Avanesian; Hyer United Board Member Meher Khechadori; Bridge of Health President Robert Agaverdian; and ALL-Armenian Student Association Advisor to the Executive Board Ripsime Biyazyan. “Fusing the Future:  The Power of Mass and Social Media” will be lead by Emmy Award nominated general assignment reporter for KTLA 5 News Ellina Abovian, founder and director of New Michigan Media Hayg Oshagan, and founder of Seviant™ Studios Sevan Torossian.

A Mix and Mingle Social will follow the forum at Alumni Quad on the green.

Community members are encouraged to visit www.WeAre100.info for additional information. For sponsorship opportunities, call (510) 858-4003 or email sponsorship@weare100.info. For up to the minute updates, follow Homenetmen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HomenetmenUSAWR and Instagram at @Homenetmen_Western_USA.

The Youth Forum is part of a series of events for Homenetmen Western Region’s centennial anniversary. Additional details on the forum and other panels are forthcoming.

The forum will be followed by an innovative, historical exhibition – open to the public on September 16th; an all-day street festival on the same day of the exhibition opening; the Navasartian Games and Festival from July 3th-7th; and a Victory Ball on July 1. Centennial activities will conclude with the official Centennial Celebration Programs scheduled for October 5th in Northern California and October 28th in Southern California at Glendale High School.

The Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts, referred to as Homenetmen, is a 501 (C)3 non-profit organization founded in 1918, which has to date served more than 800,000 youth in five continents. Homenetmen Western Region currently has 19 chapters. It is the largest Armenian athletic and scouting organization in the United States.