Interview with David Petrosyan, Vice President of “Enlight” Public Research Center NGO.
How did you learn about “Enlight” NGO?
If we take into account the fact that I am one of the co-founders of the organisation, “learning” about “Enlight” has quite an interesting prehistory. More than a decade ago there was an idea of doing all this. I can say that I knew everything about the organisation, when it did not even exist.
Now you are the vice president of “Enlight” NGO. How did you succeed to reach this position? What were your first steps?
It is a great responsibility to be the vice president of “Enlight”, which I have not taken over in one day. From the moment of its foundation I was one of the analysts, and when we started to actively engage in public activities, “Media” department was created, which I headed myself along with the position of a Board Member.
What do you think, for what qualities and skills you have been chosen as the vice president of the organisation?
It is difficult for me to answer that question. Maybe because the “Enlight” members liked the projects we had offered and they decided to give us the opportunity to bring them into life.
Which were your greatest successes and your top failures at work?
The greatest success, in which my participation was little, but certain, was the creation of the professional team. It is not an easy thing to gather a few dozen talented, stable and unique people under one roof, and organise their harmonious work. It is probably the greatest capital of “Enlight”. Undoubtedly, this result did not appear immediately: failures, mistakes, corrections are the constant reasons for improvement.
How would you explain the slogan of “Enlight”?
The slogan is also the result of teamwork. It tells the story of “Enlight” accurately. It gives answers to some questions: how “Enlight” was created? What is “Enlight”? Why join us? We gave the answers to all these questions through the slogan as much as it is possible.
How did you come up with the idea to name the organisation “Enlight”?
We tried to choose a name as simple and meaningful as possible. The word “enlightenment” seemed to be rather sharp, and the suggestion to use its shortened version came up. In spite of it, the word “Enlight” received richer explanations both by the members and the readers later on.
Did renaming the organisation influence the ongoing activities?
Definitely yes. The renaming was a little part of rebranding. Parallelly, we started to make ambitious projects in some directions and broaden the field of our activity. The renaming also made the organisation more charming, in the result of which new people joined us.
What have you learned from “Enlight” members?
If I start enumerating it will be a very long list. It would be better to say that all the members learn from each other, and together. “Enlight” tries to smooth a path on which no one has walked yet. That is, if we stop learning from each other for a moment, we will fail.
Three things that attract you most in “Enlight”.
Enlight is an environment of free thinking. But the charm is, that you can do what you want: being enterprising is not punishable here, quite the opposite.
Interview by Anna Manukyan.