Irina Mkrtchyan is circular economy and grant writing expert, as well as environmental enthusiast from Armenia. She holds a master’s degree in Marketing, PR and Advertising from the University of Sheffield,UK and a second master’s degree in agribusiness from Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) in Armenia. She holds a BA in marketing and agribusiness from the same university. She is the co-founded and development lead of “ISSD” Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development of Communities” NGO (founded in 2017), where she is leading various environmental and rural development projects, supported by organizations like UNDP, Norwegian Retailers Fund and others. Irina is supervising grant writing, marketing, fundraising and development activities. She has raised over 550,000USD in grants and donations within the last 2 years. She has 13+ years of experience in marketing, consulting, public relations/outreach, solid waste management and environmental protection, green communication, strategic planning and development, project/grant management, startup management. She is specialized in designing, planning, executing and monitoring project and marketing/PR campaigns. Irina has strong knowledge and international experience in various industries including Fortune 500 companies, the World Bank, UNDP, GEF, World Resources Institute. Her professional/research interests are circular economy, waste management, recycling, marketing, grant writing, rural development, women empowerment, environmental protection and policy development, partnership development for implementing joint projects.
Host Organization: National Academy of Public Administration
Role at Host Organization: At National Academy of Public Administration, Irina will be serving as a Business Development and Communications Fellow: Supporting the organization’s development and fundraising efforts, and expanding and implementing communications strategies to leverage technology and social media for visibility of the organization.