"Youth For Achievements" Educational NGO

Member Activities

Tree Planting Projects
Members of the Organization participated in tree-planting projects at Yerevan Military Academy after M. Melkonian, in Ashtarak and Gyumri in cooperation with Tree Project of the Armenian Assembly of America.

Organization of Benevolent Discotheques
YFA organized numerous benevolent fundraising discotheques in cooperation with the American University of Armenia. Proceeding went to support orphanages in Yerevan.

“Transcaucasus in Transition” project
The "Transcaucausus in Transition" Peace Conference, sponsored by American Councils for International Education, was held in 1995 in Tbilisi, Georgia. FLEX alumni organizations "New Generation", "Azerbaijan International Youth Club" and "Youth For Achievements", representing Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia respectively, played an important role in partaking and conducting the conference on a high level of professionalism. The conference consisted of four-day workshops covering topics closely connected with political, economic and social issues, pertinent in the three Transcaucausus countries.

Courses of English Language and American Culture
The courses of English Language and American Culture were conducted for employees of the Ministry of Energy of RA, Ministry of Health of RA, Central Bank of the RA and women’s NGO leaders in Armenia.

"USA: What Do We Know About It?" Seminars
"USA: What Do We Know About It?" seminars for high school students and their parents. The main goal of the seminars was to deliver information concerning the FSA FLEX Program to all the secondary school students and their parents who were interested in the exchange program. Seminar facilitators and alumni panel describe American families, their traditions, relationships between parents and children, religious beliefs, as well as topics such as household chores, financial issues, and leisure time activities followed by pertinent examples from the exchange students' personal experience.

"Let's Speak American" Game-contest
"Let's Speak American" game-contest was organized among secondary schools in Yerevan. Main criteria for participation were profound study of the English language, history of English-speaking countries, mainly the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The game-contest aimed at expanding the knowledge of high school students in the sphere of American history, geography, culture and customs as well as at developing their English language skills.

All Armenian Alumni Debate Tournament
Popularity of debates could be explained by the excitement of competition and interest that it provided throughout the debate process. It was a challenge for intelligent, persuasive and thoughtful individuals who possessed declamatory skills as well as team spirit. The reason why it had become one of the most popular annual activities was its great importance for the alumni’s future professional experience. Debate developed necessary skills for making articulate judgments and provided opportunity to improve one's research and presentation skills, proficiency in communication and presentation, and, most importantly, constructive thinking and analytical skills.

“Job Hunting” Seminar
The major goal of this activity was to provide the newly returned alumni with key skills and techniques necessary for conquering a place in labor market. During the seminar participants acquired basic theoretical knowledge and useful tips on successful interview, resume writing and translation.

"Welcome Back" Re-entry Seminar

Most of the YFA members are alumni of an exchange program. It is important to involve alumni into YFA activities as soon as they arrive home from the United States. The main goal of the reentry seminar was to introduce the potential members to YFA, its origin and structure, projects, goals and objectives as well as to raise the interest towards the organization in general.

Halloween/Christmas Party for Orphans
Organizing holiday celebrations at orphanages is one of the ways our organization could reach out to these children. Members of the Organization did their best to make these kids feel loved and cared. They brought presents, souvenirs and food for children. Alumni organized various interactive games, singing and dancing, gave out gifts as well as costumes and masks.

Creation of Class Almanac
After a consecutive group of alumni returned home, alumni got together, collected their most interesting photos from the exchange year and created a photo almanac depicting the wide range of activities the class members were involved in while in the United States. This was a good way to interact with other alumni and make new friends.

Regional Conference of Alumni of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

The "Alumni Making an Impact: Forming a Democracy” Conference, sponsored by United States Information Service, was held in Tbilisi, Georgia. At that time four years had passed since their last reunion – “Transcaucasus in Transition” Peace Conference of 1995. All three groups of alumni had great experiences to share, viewpoints to present and strong motivation to continue building bridges of cooperation.

"Shifting It Further" All Armenian Alumni Conference-Reunion
The conference, held in 1998, aimed at reinforcing the Alumni Movement in Armenia, engaging non-active alumni within YFA and creating regional branches of the Organization. Alumni had a chance to discuss problems and difficulties related to YFA, such as work planning within the organization, age difference among YFA members, etc.

FSA FLEX Alumni Leadership Development Campaign
Series of workshops on Leadership Development for Alumni in Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor.