“What I love about TUMO is when I see those kids queuing to come in downstairs. They’re actually here because they want to be here and they can’t wait to start,” said Vanessa. She comes to TUMO with a background in foreign languages and EU governmental affairs — grants, communications and lobbying. Her interest in Armenia was sparked ten years ago in Poland, where she met her Armenian best friend in graduate school.
“TUMO is a very international environment. I’ve had many colleagues with international experience, but here my colleagues are actually from different countries,” said Araks, who was born in Dilijan, Armenia and raised in Belarus. “I’m learning different techniques, mindsets and ways of working.” After high school, she moved to Italy where she has lived for over a decade — first in Rome for university, then in Milan to work at Royal Dutch Shell and in consulting at PwC.
Born and raised in Cheshire, England, Erebouni grew up spending every summer holiday in Armenia. She has eight years of experience managing vendor and partner relations at Tech Data, one of the world’s largest tech distributors and service providers. In her role, she developed sales and marketing strategies for clients like Google, Huawei, Motorola, Samsung and SONY.
All along, however, Armenia was never far from her mind. “I was very much waiting for the right opportunity to come to Armenia. I knew that I wanted to do something that was purposeful, impactful, but still drew on my actual experience in business,” she explained.
Outside of work, our newest project managers enjoy soaking up the sights and sounds of their new home. Erebouni savors the mountainous landscape on her commute to TUMO from her home in Ashtarak. Araks takes Capoeira classes and loves browsing the aisles of Vernissage, and Vanessa is learning Armenian.
FUN FACT
If they were TUMO students, Araks would learn animation, Erebouni would study programming and Vanessa would take up photography.