Sylvie Keshishian

Sylvie Keshishian was born and raised in England, where she graduated in Economics at Bristol University. Her university program granted her the opportunity to live and work in Paris and Madrid and upon graduating, Ms Keshishian took part in the AGBU's Summer Internship Program in New York. Upon her return to London, she began a career in the advertising industry, initially with Saatchi and Saatchi, later going on to join the editorial team on 'Campaign', the UK's leading ad industry weekly magazine. This lead her and a small team to establish a successful sister publication, the monthly international DVD magazine, 'Campaign Screen'. This created an opportunity for her to meet with big names from the media and film world at festivals and events around the world.

Her first trip to Armenia was in 1999 in order to co-produce a documentary on the orphan situation, 'Eyes Wide Open', with Shant Petrossian. Her link with orphanages continued during her subsequent visits. Ms Keshishian made Yerevan her home in June 2003 and initially worked as a reporter on AIM (Armenian International Magazine). More recently, Ms Keshishian has been working with the Norwegian Refugee Council, concentrating on creating the web site for their work in Armenia following numerous field trips, awareness campaigns and fund raising activities.

Ms Keshishian is fluent in English, Armenian, French, Spanish, Italian and Greek - and is currently learning Russian.