On April 14th, the “My Step” Charitable Foundation held its “Successful Businesswomen Support Novice Businesswomen” charity dinner, the proceeds of which will be geared towards novice businesswomen doing business in the provinces of the Republic of Armenia.
The charity dinner gathered 42 successful businesswomen, meaning 42 novice businesswomen will each receive AMD 1,000,000 in financial assistance for the growth of their respective businesses.
“The turnout is satisfactory. We were expecting 40-50 participants, but we saw a turnout of 42 participants. This is a good indicator, considering the fact that this was the first event of its kind,” Chief of Staff of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation Davit Mkrtchyan remarked.
The event was held at ArmAs Winery where spouse of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Executive Director of the “My Step” Charitable Foundation Anna Hakobyan and the guests of the evening toured the premises of the Winery and were introduced to the whole process of wine production with the accompaniment of the Winery’s CEO Victoria Aslanian.
After the tour, the guests took part in an exhibition-sale during which 9 novice businesswomen showcased their products.
In her opening remarks at the charity event, Executive Director of the “My Step” Foundation Anna Hakobyan extended thanks to the Armenian businesswomen for their response to the Foundation’s initiative and their participation.
“With this, we are shaping a new culture of doing charity in our country. The “My Step” Charitable Foundation is a foundation not only for those to whom we gear the funds, but also for the women in this hall who would like to do good deeds, but sometimes don’t have time to do them since they are on the run on a daily basis. It is the duty of the Foundation to work for both those who receive support and those who provide that support. One million Armenian drams is a large amount, and we know how measurable this is for those who make these contributions. However, I believe what is immeasurable is the feeling of the person who gives the money,” Anna Hakobyan remarked at the outset of the charity dinner.
The event featured performances of Armenian ethnic, as well as modern dances by ETHNO COLORS band, as well as speeches by successful and novice businesswomen and the guests of the evening.
Five years ago, Astghik Galstyan started her business with a very small amount of funding, and today, she is a successful businesswoman with her TEAYAN trademark.
“I have never dreamed of having my own business or traveling the world and having great financial success. My dream is to live in a sustainable and powerful homeland, a homeland, the products of which will become a standard of quality. With my example of business, I personally understand that nowadays it is very difficult to turn big ideas into a reality alone. I am here today simply because I know the great support that these novice businesswomen, the women displaced from Artsakh and the women living in remote provinces need,” founder of the TEAYAN tea production company Astghik Galstyan said.
The successful tea producer’s speech was followed by a speech by novice tea producer Anna Sahakyan.
“When I had free time on my hands, my children and I would go to forests and would gather the herbs that I knew and dry them. Over time, we started packaging them, and they went on to be sold. This happened so quickly that we would barely manage to gather the required quantity of herbs. When I was thinking of a solution to the problem, the first thing that came to my mind was to create jobs through which I would help my fellow villagers and would help my business grow,” founder of Anna-Tey (Anna-Tea) tea production company Anna Sahakyan said as she shared her story.
At the end of the event, Anna Hakobyan thanked once again the guests of the charity event for supporting the Foundation’s initiative.
“Today I am truly satisfied with this event and take great pride in this because this is a very important culture for me. Again, I would like to express gratitude to you because to have an idea is one thing, but to not have the people who will support that idea and implement it with you means to not have anything since the idea will never turn into a reality. The aim of this event is to see more women like you among us since the more women who are able to create goods, the more powerful our country will be and the closer peace will be, and after that, it will be long-term,” Anna Hakobyan stated.
Let us remind that the “My Step” Foundation has already started accepting applications for the grant. As of April 14th, the Foundation has received over 50 applications. The deadline for submission of applications is April 30th. The Foundation would like to remind that it will only consider the applications from novice businesswomen who are legal entities and have been doing business in the provinces of the Republic of Armenia.
