I was born in Tehran, Iran, and as a young boy, I attended Elbis and Alishan Armenian schools and Alborz Iranian High School for my 9 th grade. In 1976, I migrated to the United States, where I lived with my grandparents until 1978 when my mother emigrated to the US. In 1984, I graduated from the New York Institute of Technology with a BS in Architecture while working for an interior design company in Manhattan.
In 1986, I started my own construction company, Horizon Contractors of L.I., Inc. Although I moved to Frisco, Texas, with my family in 2015, my New York-based company continues to operate. From 2015 to 2020, I commuted to New York weekly while my family settled in Frisco. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, I began looking for employment in Dallas.
In September 2020, I joined Milan Custom Build as their VP of Operations, and on September 1, 2021, my partner and I purchased the company. Today, we are proud to establish ourselves as one of the top luxury home builders and renovators in Dallas and the surrounding areas. I am also pleased to announce that Horizon Contractors has resumed operations in NY as of 2022.
Throughout my life, I have been involved with several Armenian organizations and have participated in various committees, including the Armenian Society of NY and the AGBU. From 1980 to 1986, I danced with the Antranig Dance Group and DJ’d for many Armenian events. I take great pride in my Armenian heritage, religion, and community, and I have strived to stay involved with Armenian Organizations in various capacities.
While running my business and traveling between Texas and New York limited my involvement with St. Sarkis Armenian Church, owning my business in Dallas has allowed me to dedicate more time to the church. I am proud to have been elected to the Parish Council and look forward to serving alongside our dedicated volunteers and members.
I was born in Yerevan, Armenia, to a family of journalists. Being third in the family and the youngest in the dynasty, I quickly learned to fit in with multiple grown up cousins, brothers and sisters. As the youngest, I was also given more freedoms and more lessons learned from the older ones’ mistakes. The era of transition that I lived through was turbulent: everything we knew as permanent crumbled. Once Soviets broke down, foundations were challenged, codes of conducts were pegged unethical, and whatever we had learned up until that point was obsolete. I ended up going to three Universities to reevaluate all that we had learned - Yerevan State, with an unsurprising Journalism degree; American University, with Political Science and International Relations; and University of Essex, with International Human Rights. Formational years were tough for my generation. Although my birth home will always be Armenia, like many of my era, I lived in Russia (Moscow), UK (Colchester, London) and frequented France (Paris). When I relocated to Dallas in 2000, I was sure this was going to be a work-gig. Here we are, some 23 years later, married to Andy Meeks, with two children, Arin (17) and Alex (15).
Ever since I moved to the United States, I’ve worked as a Human Resources Consultant in a variety of large corporations. Since 2012, I founded Global HR Advisors, a holdings company that helps companies build their HR operations from the ground up or expand during growth. A portion of my operation is in Armenia. My clients range from financial services to municipalities to non-profits and the legal industry.
As Armenians with diverse backgrounds, the one thing that unites us is our faith, history, culture, and love for one another. My vision for our community is unity and improved communication. In times of distress we lend each other a helping hand, and no other nation can unite like Armenians do. My wish is to also execute this amazing character during regular times. Help one another, raise each other up, bring the best in each one of us. I’ve served on the Parish Council for 4 years, helped start and taught the Eastern Armenian classes at the St. Sarkis School, and love to think of myself as the bartender of our extended family. I respect who we are as a community, with all that we offer and all that we do not.
My story in short is called my “American dream.”
31 years ago, my immediate family moved to the United States as refugees from Baku, Azerbaijan, when Soviet Union collapsed. Like many Armenians, we were no longer welcomed in our homes, and ethnic killing of the Armenian people began in 1988. Within a few hours our family left our home, with no luggage or belongings. Life changed overnight.
Growing up in Baku, the capital that was built by many nationalities, I was a busy child involved in many activities and blessed by many fun memories.
When my family moved to the United States, we did not know English. Everything was different. Although an opportunity to restart, I was already 19 and had just graduated from the Musical College with a piano teaching degree...
In Oklahoma City, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and a few parishioner families took the sponsorship of our family. Margaret Keaton will forever stay as our guardian angel: she and her family spent enormous amount of time welcoming us to the United States and bringing hope and light to our future.
To learn English, I was directed back to the Putnam High School and then soon after I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with Bachelor's and Master’s in Accounting. Piano Teaching was forever left in another life. We moved to Dallas, TX in 1999 where my husband Ara and I started our careers at Arthur Andersen, LLP. I joined the Real Estate Tax group and started my career by learning about partnerships working on large real estate clients preparing federal and state tax returns. Currently, I work at The Rosewood Corporation as Vice President of Tax. Prior to joining Rosewood, 6 years ago, I worked at KPMG for 15 years serving many clients and running tax outsourced engagements including Rosewood. I am a CPA, member of the AICPA, and TXCPA (my accounting buddies will know).
I grew up surrounded by lots of family and friends and was not ready to sacrifice family for work. I have been blessed to work with people and firms that allowed me to have a successful career and family. My husband Ara, who most of you know, and I are proud parents to three wonderful boys Serj, Sam, and Haik.
I am an active member of St. Sarkis Armenian Church community. Ever since I began my journey in the US, I always prayed and hoped for God to guide me. I tried to hear the messages that he was sending my way. I am a very optimistic person and want to see only good in people. I believe in giving back to the community. I want to share my time and talents with my community.
I have served on the Audit Committee, the Parish Council, where I currently serve as the Treasurer, and when time permits also serve on the Women’s Guild. We have a lot of new challenges in our new St. Sarkis home, but even more opportunities. Our Parish has a great future, and I am here to help to achieve the goals that we set.
I was born in Baghdad, Iraq and moved to Los Angeles, California when I was less than a year old. I attended Rose Camp; Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Hollywood, California for 13 years. I attended California State University Northridge and received a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. I immediately started teaching 2nd grade at my alma mater until moving to Dallas in 1997.
I am married to Ara Dayian from Toronto, Canada and we are blessed with 3 children, Noah (21) Leeza (17) and Amassia (15).
I have worked in the insurance industry as a claims manager; worked in personal injury law firms as a firm administrator and, for the past 10 years, I have been involved in managing my husband’s medical practice.
After getting acquainted with St. Sarkis Church in 1998, I jumped right into teaching Armenian at St. Sarkis Saturday school. I taught for about 14 years. While teaching Armenian, I joined the Women’s Guild. I have held various positions in the Women’s Guild over the past 20 years (chairwoman, vice-chair, and secretary). I have served on the Parish Council for 6 years, took a few years off and am happy to have been elected again in 2023. I am involved in various events at St. Sarkis, such as ArmeniaFest, fundraising banquets, 2020 Consecration Banquet, 2023 Clergy Conference and Diocesan Assembly. I take pride in all things St. Sarkis and will always do what it takes to make our community shine!
I am proud and grateful to call St. Sarkis Armenian church my home.
Born in Louisiana, my rural childhood was very happy; but I wanted to see the world. A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and a career in Banking and Brokerage software took me to Dallas, New York, and back to Dallas. On vacation in São Paulo Brazil, I met Regina Kurdoglian and fell in love. We married in 2003 at the Armenian Apostolic Church of Saint George in São Paulo, and made our home in Texas. From the beginning, the St. Sarkis church and congregation welcomed us with open arms. It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work at ArmeniaFest, and also serve on the Welcoming Committee. Our parish has a great heart and a wonderful future. I am honored to be a part of this amazing community.
Born in Abadan, Iran, I grew up as a member of Christian minority. We spoke Armenian at home
but studied Persian, French, and English at schools. Learning different languages also ignited my
desire to travel and study abroad. I came to the States in 1977 for higher education. When the
1997 revolution took place in Iran, and I chose not to return.
My father had been able to trace our heritage and discovered that I was 14 th generation of
artists and priests. I believe that art and spirituality are in my DNA! After my father’s passing in
1993, I became more involved with St. Sarkis Church and the community by designing the
previous church logo and stationary set, all promotional collateral, stage and exhibition
designing of ArmeniaFests, and establishing a bilingual newsletter, until 2008. I took sabbatical
for several years due to various personal reasons and returned to being active again since 2022.
Professionally, I am a User Experience (UX) Designer, and a Certified Professional of
Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) by the International Association of Accessibility
Professionals (IAAP). I have been instrumental in strategizing and leading the Digital
Accessibility Program for several corporations, including such as Sabre (TX), ICE Mortgage
Technology (CA), and Oracle Communications (TX).
I am a public speaker and have presented at the Big Design Conferences, Access U conferences,
CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, UTD, and local UX user groups such as UXP, and Ladies
That UX.
