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The Washington, DC Metro chapter became part of the SOAR family in April 2008. In addition to the District of Columbia, this chapter will concentrate its effort in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland. The Washington, DC Metro Board of Directors is represented in the medical, legal, business, and educational fields, and we are excited to have a presence in and around our nation's capital! If you would like to reach the Washington, DC Metro board, please contact Mike Aurimian via email.
 Mike Airumian, M.D., PhD
President
Mike Airumian earned a medical degree in Pediatrics from St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical Academy in 1993 and a PhD in Social Medicine from Pavlov State Medical University in 1996, both in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has volunteered and worked for several non-profit organizations including Physicians for Human Rights, the Russian Orphanage Association, Firefly Children's Network and Mobility International USA. He currently works for the Department of Health and Human Services and serves as President of the DC Chapter of the Russian American Medical Association. In 1999, he and his wife Susie adopted their oldest daughter. Now a family of five, they live in Maryland and have traveled to Armenia to visit the orphanage in Gavar.
 Suren Avanesyan, J.D., LL.M.
Vice President
Suren Avanesyan has a diploma in law from Voronezh State University, Voronezh, Russia (1995), a law degree from the University of Wisconsin (2000) and an International Law degree from New York University (2001). After working as a public defender in Russia, he re-qualified to practice law in the U.S. He now directs legal development projects in post-conflict countries, such as Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia and the Newly Independent States. Suren resides in Silver Spring, Maryland with his wife and two children, Anna and Alexander.
 Anna Koridze, B.A.
Secretary/Treasurer
Anna Koridze received a Bachelors Degree in Finance, Marketing and Mathematics in 1998 from University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce. She is currently contracting as a Senior Business Analyst for the Department of Navy in Washington, D.C. Anna and her husband, Zurab Koridze, were blessed with an arrival of their son, Alexander, on September 1st, 2007. Zurab and his family have been involved in improving the conditions of orphanages in the Republic of Georgia for over 15 years. In 2006, while in Yerevan, Anna assisted an Armenian journalist in making of a documentary in English language about Armenian orphanages.
 Virginia Avanesyan, M.A.
Chair of Educational Programs
Virginia Avanesyan has been a teacher of English to college students and immigrants of all ages for 15 years. She has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Virginia currently teaches English for Speakers of Other Languages to children aged 5-15 in the Montgomery County Public Schools, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. As an ESOL teacher, she has acquired extensive experience in the linguistic, social and emotional development of children acculturating to the U.S. from a wide variety of cultures and circumstances. She is raising two children, Anna and Alexander, with husband Suren Avanesyan.
 Susie Baker, M.A.
Chair of Assistance Programs
Susie Baker received an M.A. in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Oregon, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Davis. As a volunteer for a baby orphanage in Borovichi, Russia, she developed an innovative pet therapy project for severely disabled children. In 1992 she spent a summer in a Siberian children's home teaching art and social skills to children aged 4-12. From 1996-98 she managed a program hub for the USIA Future Leaders Exchange Program in Kiev, Ukraine, sending hundreds of high school students to study in the U.S. for a year. She worked at the U.S. Department of State for 8 years. She is a Research Leader for the University of Tennessee's GLORIAD advanced Internet project and currently works for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She has traveled throughout Armenia with her husband Mike and their children.
Aideen Mannion, M.A.
Aideen Mannion holds masters degrees in International Economics and International Relations from SAIS – Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Russian Studies from the University of the South. She has held leadership positions on economic development reform initiatives throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union for well over a decade, serving as Country Director and Regional Director of USAID-funded programs throughout the region. Her portfolio of assignments include: Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. She has traveled extensively in Armenia and has visited the Our Lady of Armenia Center in Gyumri, run by Sr. Arousiag Sajonian; former principal of her grade school, Armenian Sisters Academy in Radnor, PA. Currently, she resides in Washington, DC, and works on sustainable tourism initiatives globally.
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