VARTAN PETOIAN
CHAIRMAN, CEO AND DIRECTOR
After the collapse of Soviet Union, re-located to California, establishing himself as a consultant on international trade in the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU), including his native Armenia.
Vartan remains hopeful that the states of the FSU can continue to develop economically in a democratic environment, resolving their state-to-state differences at a conference table and not on the battlefield, committing through Dissidenty.org to helping the refugees of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, and other conflict zones.
JOHN GALLICHON
PRESIDENT, COO AND DIRECTOR
John is still active a consultant in business planning and fundraising after a long career in international air transportation. In May 1991, John led a team to commemorate the 1931 around the world flight of Wiley Post, with N61NE “Spirit of Partnership” becoming the only US-registered commercial aircraft to ever fully transit the then Soviet Union, weeks before the election of Boris Yeltsin. In subsequent trips, John came to see the great potential of the vast region, stifled by 75 years of Communist rule.
John believes strongly in the integration of Ukraine into the EU, and the development of a new generation of democratic leadership in the Russian Federation, whose current government has created needless hardship for millions and the deaths of thousands.