SOAR - Melbourne Chapter
Melbourne joined the SOAR family in December 2016. The first Armenians migrated to Australia from Asia in the 1850s, during the gold rush and later from the 1915 Genocide and the Second World War. However, the majority came to Australia in the 1960s and 1970s from the Middle East, starting with the Armenians of Egypt after Nasser came to power. In the early 1990s, a small number migrated to Australia to escape the hardships in Armenia caused by the combination of the collapse of Soviet Union, the devastating Armenian earthquake of 1988 and the Azerbaijani aggression in Nagorno Karabakh.
The Armenian community in Australia is estimated to be 50,000 people who primarily reside in Sydney and Melbourne. In both, communities have established a number of organizations that cater to the educational, cultural, sport and welfare needs of the Armenian community. The Melbourne Armenian community, numbering upward of 10,000, has cultural centers, two Saturday language schools, and the Armenian Apostolic Church of St Mary. The community takes pride in the significant contributions that have been recorded in politics, business, academia, sports and culture.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Alenush Hagopian
President
Alenush Hagopian is originally from Sydney Australia, having moved to Melbourne in 2019 for her children to pursue their sporting goals. She completed an Advanced Diploma in Counselling in 2011 and graduated with Honors in Psychology in 2015. Alenush has worked as a counsellor specializing in children in sports, but with her move to Melbourne, her goals shifted, and she is currently work in the service sector.
Alenush is married with four children. Her passion in life is keeping the Armenian culture alive and growing in the Diaspora. She was heavily involved in the Sydney Armenian community (Homenetmen Ararat) from a very young age, starting from scouts, then youth groups and later in children’s sports groups and as a board member.
Andre Boghossian
Pic and Bio coming soon