Irina Mkrtchyan holds a Master’s degree in Marketing, PR, and Advertising from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Irina also holds a second Master’s degree in Agribusiness and a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Agribusiness from Armenian National Agrarian University in Armenia. She is the co-founder 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. Through this initiative, Irina has raised over $350,000 in grants and donations within the last 2 years. She has 13+ years of experience in marketing, consulting, public relations/outreach, and solid waste management. Irina is also highly skilled in environmental protection, green communication, strategic planning and development, project/grant management, startup management. Irina has strong knowledge and international experience in various industries including Fortune 500 companies, the World Bank, UNDP, GEF, and World Resources Institute. In 2018, she was awarded Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship during which she studied at the University of California, focusing on environment and rural development, after which she served as Marketing and Strategic Development Fellow at World Resources Institute (Water Team) in Washington DC.