SVETLANA LAVROVA’S MEETINGS WITH ARMENIAN SPECIALISTS ON DEVELOPMENT OF ENDOWMENTS

04.09.2023

04.09.2023

SVETLANA LAVROVA’S MEETINGS WITH ARMENIAN SPECIALISTS ON DEVELOPMENT OF ENDOWMENTS

The last week of 2022 was a pretty busy one for the E-Center. We hosted a delegation from the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP). Olga Bychkova (Dean of the Department of Sociology EUSP, Head of the STS Center) and Svetlana Lavrova (Executive Director of the EUSP Endowment Fund, University management program director, Chairman of the Board of the National Endowment Association) visited Yerevan and met with representatives of Armenian universities and NGO. It was a great opportunity to exchange experience in creating and managing of endowments.

The most important meeting for endowment experts took place at the Yerevan State University. Svetlana Lavrova shared the EUSP foundation experience in building and managing the endowment and presented the โ€œEternal capitalโ€ award, which is given for studies in pre-revolution Russian empire philanthropy traditions. She drew specific attention to the history of Armenian eternal capitals, which is marked among others by the bright example of Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, established by the Armenian diaspora in Moscow in 1815. The discussion was not entirely retrospective, but also quite practical. Armenian law on endowments undergoes the process of finalization and will go to the Parliament in a few months.

Other meetings witnessed prolific expert discussions on potential cooperation with Armenian NGOs in the non-for-profit management and collaborative research. We anticipate new fascinating projects and will inform you about future developments.