Tania’s Garden։ ​​​​​​​A Living Tribute to Tania Chichmanian (1960-2021)

Amid the vibrant greenery of the Yerevan Botanical Garden, a new 65,000-square-foot space now bears a special name.

Filled with flowers, trees, and winding paths, Tania’s Garden is a living tribute to a life defined by service and care. And as you step inside, you can almost feel the same thoughtful warmth that radiated from Tania Chichmanian herself.

Tania devoted much of her life to building bridges between Armenia and the world, especially as the Executive Director of the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC) from 2011 until her untimely passing in 2021. She helped hundreds of people find a home and a purpose in Armenia, welcoming them not as tourists, but as family. Tania led with a rare mix of grace and exacting detail: She carefully matched every volunteer to a need, personally greeted each new arrival, and remembered every single person's story.



A Life of Service and Commitment 

Born in Vancouver in 1960, Tania grew up in a trilingual Armenian home in Montreal. This layered identity allowed her to move fluidly between communities. She went on to work in Washington, D.C., helping to secure millions in U.S. aid for post-Soviet Armenia. On her first trip to Armenia in 1994, she found a country struggling but full of spirit. Many people were leaving. She chose to come back.

In 2009, she and her husband, the renowned ballet master Roudolf Kharatian, moved to Yerevan for what was supposed to be a two-year stay, but it soon became their permanent home. Not long after, Tania took charge of AVC and began her life’s work. Under her leadership, AVC became a hallmark of trust. Volunteers came from more than 50 countries, serving in every part of Armenian life, and many of them stayed for good. For Tania, service was never just a transaction, but rather about creating the conditions for people, institutions, and Armenia itself to grow.

Tania wasn’t blind to the country’s challenges, but she refused to be cynical. “Armenia’s greatest wealth is its people,” she often said. She believed that things improved through effort, not just optimism, and her dedication never wavered. Together with Roudolf, she also co-founded the Ballet 2021 Foundation, supporting the dream of a permanent arts center in Gyumri. To Tania, the arts and civic service were two sides of the same project: helping Armenia flourish.

A Garden of Growth

Designed as a multi-layered landscape, Tania’s Garden features a sensory garden that encourages interaction, a lush mix of herbs and medicinal plants, and a beautifully crafted wooden playground, modern in design yet timeless in feel. Though Tania did not have children of her own, she treated every volunteer, every visitor, and every friend as if they were part of her family. The playground now feels like an extension of that spirit: a place for children’s voices to rise, echoing the joy and warmth she carried into every part of her work.

The garden feels intimate, filled with native plants and winding paths. The design team worked closely with AVC staff and volunteers to ensure the space wasn’t just beautiful but deeply personal. Every detail, from a small bench for reflection to a stone path leading to a fountain, was carefully selected. It is a place that is both understated and full of life—just like Tania herself.

To the people who knew and worked alongside Tania, the garden feels like a true reflection of her spirit. Linda Yepoyan, Chief of Staff for Armenia operations at the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation, described the garden as a fitting tribute: “Tania’s Garden showcases so many of the things she adored—flowers, children, medicinal herbs, and green open space, to name a few,” Yepoyan says, calling the garden a celebration of Tania’s life. “Even though almost four years have passed, being here reminds us all just how fleeting life is and how much she is truly missed,” she notes. 

That same sense of admiration is echoed by Sevan Kabakian, Country Director of Birthright Armenia, who worked closely with Tania over the years: “Tania was distinguished yet humble, balanced and kind, polite to a fault.” As sister organizations, AVC and Birthright Armenia share a mission and often work hand-in-hand. And through her principled and dedicated leadership, Tania helped make that partnership even more meaningful.

The garden is not a static monument, but a space that will continue to evolve, much like the people and programs Tania helped grow.

Korioun Khatchadourian, Executive Director of the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation, says that the Foundation is honored to support the garden: "This initiative reflects our commitment to projects that enrich communities and honor those who have made a lasting impact. We are proud to support this space in Tania’s memory, and we hope that her spirit of service and love for Armenia will continue to flourish here.”

A Living Memory and a Growing Legacy

Tania passed away on December 19, 2021, at the age of 61, after a courageous battle with cancer. Her absence is still felt by all who knew her, yet her influence lives on—in the volunteers who found purpose under her guidance, in the colleagues she empowered, and in the communities she helped strengthen.

To walk through Tania’s Garden is to be reminded of her presence, not as an abstract idea, but in the rustle of pine branches, the scent of lavender, and a child’s voice on the wind. It is a place made for memory, but also for motion. Tania cultivated people with the patience and generosity of a gardener. Now, Armenia tends to her memory in the same way. 

The garden is a living place that echoes with her kindness and care, reminding us that the seeds we plant in others will continue to grow long after we are gone.
 

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Interviews:
Words of wisdom from Tania Chichmanian, 2021 
Volunteerism: Impacting Communities, Changing Lives, 2020
Volunteering “recipe”, 2015