Armen Sargsyan ’26 awarded Projects for Peace grant to establish learning hub in Armenia

Armen Sargsyan ‘26 has used his years at Earlham for study, but also a bit like a startup incubator for his own goals and visions in the world. He developed his ideas, refined them through competition and collaboration, and ultimately, found great success, as the latest recipient from Earlham selected for a Projects for Peace grant. The $10,000 prize is administered by Middlebury College to fund a grassroots project. 

Both the Projects for Peace, Earlham, and the United World Colleges, where Sargsyan studied during high school, are connected to the Davis family of philanthropists, who invest heavily in education and efforts to promote peace and conflict resolution around the world. 

Sargsyan’s project involves using his grant to create a Peace Hub at Chambarak High School in Chambarak, Armenia. The community there has been touched by war and conflict in many ways, and the school facilities are in rough condition, making it hard for teachers to teach and hard for students to learn and connect with each other, Sargsyan notes.

Funding from Projects for Peace will bring essential features for learning, like functional whiteboards, tables, chairs, and educational resources, many of which will serve students practically and by bringing new life into a school environment that hasn’t been updated in decades.

“I have a double major in business and psychology, and I learned that group dynamics and identities work differently depending on where you are, the environment matters,” Sargsyan says. “A strong environment motivates you toward a better education.”

A selection committee from Earlham, led by O’jeanique Twyman, director of the Center of Social Justice, nominates outstanding applicants for the Projects for Peace grant each year. Committee members also include John Wessel-McCoy (career coach for social justice, education, and public affairs); Andrew Gerard-Adie (assistant director of grants and sponsored research); Debanjali Banerjee (assistant professor of computer science); Safia Diarra (instructor of English language learners and international student adviser); and Tsitsi Makufa (Office of Marketing and Communications).

“It was clear to the review committee that Armen thoughtfully took last year’s feedback and applied it to his proposal this application cycle,” Twyman said. “His revisions directly addressed how a peace-centered technological hub would support displaced and local youth in learning to dialogue across difference, which made a significant impact.”

As an extension of the peace hub’s work, Sargsyan intends to partner with non-governmental organizations to host digital literacy training and peace workshops, helping students connect to better future outcomes.

Sargsyan’s interest in business and entrepreneurship has animated many of his extracurricular pursuits, including his applications to the Projects for Peace. He has participated in the Hult Prize throughout his years at Earlham, working up from initial efforts his freshman year to eventually being named the United States National Coordinator for the Hult Prize this year. 

He has collaborated with the Hult Prize organization and competed himself in various levels of competition around the world. These experiences taught him a lot about how to present his ideas while working to help funders feel inspired and connected to his plans. 

“I got lots of feedback on my proposal, and when I first applied and got rejected, I got feedback and spent months thinking about how to make it better and make the project even bigger and have a better influence on students, teachers, classrooms, and the whole community,” says Sargsyan. “I learn from every competition, and even if I make a mistake, I don’t lose anything; I just keep learning.” 

After graduation, Sargsyan intends to work as an Associate Product Manager at Cummins, a global power solutions company. He knows them well already, having completed two internships at Cummins in the past. 

Story written by Laura Leavitt for the Earlham College Office of Marketing and Communications.

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About Earlham College 

Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion foster a collaborative learning community that inspires and motivates students with transformative opportunities and experiences so they can become catalysts for good in a changing world. Located in Richmond, Indiana, Earlham is one of U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100 national liberal arts colleges and offers one of the top 20 classroom experiences in the nation, according to the Princeton Review.