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The Aurora Forum is proud to announce that 111 influencers from political, academic, entertainment, and business sectors around the world have joined the Aurora Forum as Goodwill Ambassadors, showing their dedication to tackling some of our time’s and future generation’s most pressing global challenges.

Aurora Forum Co-Founders Noubar Afeyan, Vartan Gregorian, and Ruben Vardanyan welcome the Goodwill Ambassadors as luminaries of Aurora’s vision to promote innovative and effective approaches to advancing positive social change in Armenia and beyond, IDeA Foundation reports. 

The inaugural Aurora Forum to be held in Armenia, October 14-21, 2019, will bring together thought-leaders and change-makers from Armenia and across the world to facilitate discussions, share knowledge, and experience educational and cultural activities in the sectors spanning from health to technology to education to arts to ecology to humanitarianism. The Aurora Forum is made possible with the cooperation of various organizations in Armenia and globally.

“We are proud to have established a network of people who have made real impact on the world in their particular field,” said Vartan Gregorian, Aurora Forum Co-Founder. “The role of the Goodwill Ambassadors is crucial in making the Aurora Forum a platform to inspire the next generation to take the leap toward achieving meaningful, sometimes disruptive, change.”

The 2019 Aurora Forum coincides with a special moment in Armenia’s history. Last year’s non-violent transition of political power put Armenia in a global spotlight by demonstrating how a nation with an educated workforce and commitment to peaceful means can push for a national change. Armenia’s “Velvet Revolution,” combined with its location at the crossroads between East and West and its rich cultural heritage led to The Economist’s designation of Armenia—one of the world’s smallest countries in landmass and population—as the Country of the Year in 2018. The Aurora Forum will harness this momentum to highlight the possibilities of social change and the solutions that can be developed by combining national and international efforts and resources to advance humanity.

“There is no greater time to convene and celebrate the disruptors, the thinkers and the innovators in Armenia and across the world,” said Armen Orujyan, the CEO of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST). “We truly believe the expertise and professional achievements of the Goodwill Ambassadors will help make the Forum a success and position Armenia as a hub for scientific, technological and socio-economic development in the region. Aurora Forum will serve as the epicenter of creativeness and innovation assembling some of the greatest thought-leaders and luminaries in science and technology from all over the globe.”

“The Aurora Forum is based on our belief that we are all citizens of the world. If we aspire to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, education is key building block for doing so,” said Gabriel Abad Fernández, Head of UWC Dilijan. “As an educator, I am excited to be part of this endeavor dedicated to making lasting advances in the humanitarian, educational, social, cultural and scientific spheres and I am particularly thankful to the Goodwill Ambassadors from around the world who have already joined to make this initiative a success.”

The Goodwill Ambassadors are being announced on March 10, 2019, marking the 4th anniversary of the founding of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative - the founder of the Aurora Forum along with IDeA Foundation, FAST, Scholae Mundi Global Educational Platform, UWC Dilijan International College, and Ameriabank. The October 2019 Aurora Forum’s events in Armenia will consist of various activities presented by each of these organizations.

The list of Aurora Forum Goodwill Ambassadors as of March 10, 2019 is available here.