TUMO will mark 15 years of remarkable impact and growth, from a single center in Yerevan into a global movement that now reaches more than 35,000 teens every week, counts over 100,000 alumni, and spans a network of centers and TUMO Boxes across Armenia and 13 other countries.
The organization will celebrate the milestone with an anniversary gala on September 20, 2026 at Vibiana in Los Angeles, honoring three leaders whose work reflects Armenian excellence on the global stage: ServiceTitan co-founders Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan, and NVIDIA’s Rev Lebaredian. The evening will bring supporters, partners, and friends together for the first time to celebrate TUMO’s impact and raise support for its next phase of growth across Armenia.
The 2026 gala will be emceed by Kristina Ayanian, executive producer and host of Live from MarketSite at Nasdaq. The night will move through a cocktail reception, a dinner program with leadership remarks and honoree recognition, immersive 3D visual storytelling, a live auction, and musical performances, woven together with firsthand stories from the students and alumni whose lives TUMO has shaped. Special guests will be announced closer to the event.
What the Gala Supports
Every dollar raised goes to one place: keeping TUMO running and growing across Armenia. The funds will directly support the day-to-day operation of TUMO’s programs and the expansion of its national network toward a goal of 14 centers and more than 80 TUMO Boxes, reaching 60,000 students every week. The aim is to bring free, world-class education within reach of teens in Armenia’s regions, especially the rural communities where after-school opportunities have long been scarce. Because the evening has been fully underwritten, 100 percent of contributions will go directly to TUMO’s programs and growth.
The Honorees
Vahe Kuzoyan is the co-founder and President of ServiceTitan and a member of the TUMO Foundation Board of Directors. He and his co-founder, Ara Mahdessian, dreamed up ServiceTitan as a “thank you” to Vahe’s father, a veteran plumber who had grown frustrated by how little technology existed in his trade. Vahe earned his B.S. in computer science, neuroscience, and business administration from the University of Southern California. Vahe serves on the TUMO Foundation Board of Directors, bringing his experience in technology, entrepreneurship, and scaling mission-driven innovation to support TUMO’s next chapter of growth.
Rev Lebaredian is Vice President of Physical AI Simulation at NVIDIA and a member of the TUMO Foundation Board of Directors, with more than 30 years in the computer graphics industry. Before joining NVIDIA in 2002, he worked at Warner Bros. Digital and Disney Dream Quest Images and founded his own company, Steamboat Software. At NVIDIA, he leads the product, engineering, and research teams behind NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform that lets developers build and test physical AI and robotics in simulation. A longtime member of TUMO’s advisory board, he also joined TUMO Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2025, bringing deep technology expertise to support TUMO’s continued growth.
Ara Mahdessian is the co-founder and CEO of ServiceTitan and chairperson of its board of directors. He grew up in the trades, watching his father, a residential contractor, work long days in the field and longer nights at home running the business. Ara graduated from Stanford University with degrees in both Management Science and Computer Science. A longtime champion of TUMO’s mission, he has helped advance its work to expand access to world-class technology and design education for young people in Armenia and beyond.
About TUMO
TUMO began with a husband and wife. In 2011, Sam and Sylva Simonian opened a single center in Yerevan, betting that if teenagers were given free access to world-class technology and design education, they would build remarkable things. 15 years later, that bet has grown into a global movement that serves more than 35,000 teens every week and counts over 100,000 alumni. The program is still free for every student, built around a mix of self-paced learning, workshops led by working professionals, and hands-on project labs across 14 fields, from programming and robotics to animation, filmmaking, music, and generative AI.
Carrying that vision forward is another husband and wife. As founding CEO, Marie Lou Papazian has grown TUMO from that first center in Armenia into a worldwide network and is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in modern education. Her husband, Pegor Papazian, serves as chief development officer, leading the organization’s expansion into new countries and building the technology behind how students learn. Together they have made TUMO one of the most recognized education models of its kind.
In Armenia, TUMO’s network of six centers and more than 40 TUMO Boxes is bringing future-ready skills to teens in cities, towns, and rural communities, with two additional centers in development in Masis and Vanadzor.
The Venue
Set inside the historic former Cathedral of St. Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles, completed in 1876 and now one of the city’s most striking event spaces, the gala offers a setting both grand and intimate for a celebration of what TUMO has built and an invitation to help carry its mission forward.
Those interested in supporting the gala can learn more about sponsorship opportunities at tumo.org/sh/galasponsorships or by contacting TUMO’s Office of Philanthropy. More information about the event is available at tumo.org/sh/gala.
By Zartonk Media
