A conversation at a youth forum, and EduBridge Armenia

At a youth forum, Dayana Mardanyan met students from different regions, including Tavush, where she is from. One girl told her that no one in that girl’s class planned to go to university, and that higher education was not something they expected for themselves.

"I was shocked and silent," she says. For her, education had always felt like a natural path. "That moment changed how I see inequality. I realized that talent and ambition are everywhere, but opportunity is not. And sometimes, where you are born decides what you believe is possible."

“I believe that where you grow up should never determine the opportunities you have. Through EduBridge Armenia, I want to help close that gap and give rural students the opportunity to discover their potential and see what they're truly capable of.”

Dayana Mardanyan

EduBridge Armenia is what came of it, a youth-led initiative working to make educational opportunities more accessible for students across Armenia, especially in rural communities. After the forum she could not ignore the issue, she says, and started thinking seriously about how it could be changed. Around that time she discovered the Global Youth Action Fund 2026 and decided to turn the idea into action.

The project is in its early stage. The team is building a website with developers and starting community-based educational talks and collaborations with local partners. "My goal is simple but important: to make opportunities accessible and understandable for students who might never hear about them otherwise," she says.

Her long-term vision is to grow EduBridge Armenia into a platform that reaches at least 10,000 students, "helping them believe that their future is not limited by geography."

"Because talent should never depend on where you are born."