Senior Community Investment Officer, Community Investment
Anahid is a cultural anthropologist, social scientist, and community engagement professional whose career includes experience in government, academia, international research, and philanthropy. As Senior Community Investment Officer at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, she supports place-based grantmaking and community investment work across Washtenaw County, with a particular focus on older adults and aging.
Her efforts include developing and administering grant opportunities, engaging with nonprofits and community stakeholders, reviewing community needs and data, and helping connect what is learned from residents and organizations with philanthropic investment. Anahid is guided by what she calls “fierce listening”: approaching communities with curiosity and humility, taking people’s experiences seriously, and using what she learns to shape meaningful action. Her expertise includes qualitative and ethnographic research, community engagement, program evaluation, policy research, and helping organizations understand the stories and experiences behind the data.
Before joining AAACF, Anahid worked in research, policy development, and community engagement, including roles with the University of Michigan, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Army. As a Fulbright researcher in Armenia, she studied displacement, identity, and the experiences of ethnic Armenian women rebuilding their lives after the Syrian conflict. She is the author of Syrian-Armenian Women Migrants in Armenia: Gender, Identity, and Painful Belonging.
An Ann Arbor native, Anahid is delighted to be back in her hometown. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her young son, hiking, exploring parks and nature, visiting farmers' markets, reading murder mysteries, gardening, cooking, and doing jigsaw puzzles.
