Returning Glendon Alumna Pledges $10,000 Per Year to Francophone International Students
Annie Demirjian, BA 1978, Political Science
When Annie Demirjian’s family arrived in Toronto, she entered high school with only two languages: French and Armenian.
“As an immigrant, you face many obstacles and challenges,” says Demirjian. “In my case language was the key challenge. I spoke French and Armenian but Toronto in the sixties and seventies was a unilingual city.”
Nevertheless, Demirjian says overcoming these early challenges and enrolling at Glendon gave her the confidence to pursue a career in international development and public service. That’s no small statement given her impressive resume which includes time with the Canadian federal government, with the United Nationsin Iraq, Libya, Somalia and former Soviet Union.
After earning a BA in Political Science and Government from Glendon, York University, she continued her studies with an MSc in Economics and Project Management from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has been the Director of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs where she created the conditions for students to succeed in their global careers. Her goal was to raise the profile of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs and part of her work was to act as a steward for the budding careers of GSPIA’s students.
Recently, Demirjian made a pledge of $10,000 per year to fund a new bursary for international students who identify as francophone. When asked what prompted her to make this generous contribution to Glendon, Demirjian draws parallels between the challenges she faced as a new immigrant to Canada and the challenges faced by francophone students in Ontario.
“There are many bursaries available to students, but I feel francophone students studying in Ontario will have similar challenges that I had growing up in Toronto,” explains Demirjian. “I felt I needed to bring my small contribution to students coming to Glendon from La Francophonie family.
“I have been fortunate in Canada. There have been many, many individuals – teachers, professors, legal guardians, friends, politicians – who have mentored me and supported me through tough periods and cheered me on when I was successful. Sometimes it’s the good advice and mentorship, other times it’s financial support that can make a difference in a young person’s life.”
Indeed, there was no shortage of professors to serve as mentors for Demirjian during her time at Glendon. During her Glendon Grads address for the Canada 150 celebrations, she mentioned “legendary” professors such as Professor Edward Appathurai, Professor Joseph Starobin, and Professor Ken Kwaku.
It was Professor Appathurai lessons about international development that led Demirjian to work with CUSO International upon graduation, Professor Starobin’s tales of weekends spent discussing issues and ideas at Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s cottage that fueled her interest in politics, and Professor Kwaku’s lectures on African liberation movements and transitions that later inspired her to work in West Africa.
“Years later, I wrote to Professor Kwaku at the World Bank, where he held a senior executive position, and informed him that because of his influence I ended up in Nigeria to be part of the post-colonial transition. He was quite impressed.”
Overall, Demirjian Glendon education served as a foundation while supporting political transitions in post-Soviet countries, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Good education, respect for human rights, and justice were good foundations that I took with me around the globe.”
After almost 15 years abroad, Annie is back in Canada and she has a foundational piece of advice for anyone embarking on a career in global affairs: Spend time abroad.
“One cannot achieve global connectivity through education and reading the news alone. International travel – through education, work and volunteerism – is important to appreciate and understand global developments.”
Neya Abdi, BA’16 International Studies
Published in July 2019
