The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is honored to present the members of its Board of Directors. Coming from diverse backgrounds in business, public service, philanthropy, and communications, their combined expertise and passion for making a meaningful difference is instrumental in steering our initiative towards achieving its goals and effecting lasting change in communities facing adversities worldwide.

Meet Aurora’s Board of Directors: 

Noubar Afeyan 

Dr. Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that creates bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability, and co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna, the pioneering messenger RNA company. Noubar has received multiple awards for his passionate advocacy of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress. He is the co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and a number of other philanthropic projects.

Anna Afeyan

Anna Afeyan is a trustee and co-chair of the Afeyan Foundation, a family foundation building and advancing innovative solutions to benefit communities around the world. Honored to have known and experienced the wisdom of the late Vartan Gregorian, Anna volunteered to chair the fundraising campaign for the VG Humanitarian Fund at Aurora in 2022, and she is currently chairing the “Endowment Oversight Committee.” Anna received her M.S. in Biochemical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Anthony J. Barsamian

Anthony J. Barsamian is Managing Partner for over 25 years of Hutchings Barsamian Mandelcorn, LLP., an 8-attorney firm concentrating on Business and Commercial Transactions, Estate and Tax, and Family Succession Planning located in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. He is also President of Gravestar, Inc. Anthony is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and Suffolk University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Ara Darzi

Lord Ara Darzi is Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. He leads a large multidisciplinary academic and policy research team, publishing over 1,500 peer-reviewed research papers focused on convergence science across engineering, physical and data sciences, specifically in the areas of robotics, sensing, imaging and digital and AItechnologies. He is also the Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee.

Eric Esrailian

Dr. Eric Esrailian is a physician, Emmy-nominated film producer, investor, and entrepreneur. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a major in integrative biology and a minor in English. Eric is Chief of the Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and member of the board of the Clooney Foundation for Justice. He led the efforts to establish The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law Promise Institute for Human Rights in 2017. 

Alice Greenwald

Alice Greenwald is founder and principal of Memory Matters, LLC, providing strategic advising services for museums, memorial projects, senior executives, and boards, with a focus on helping communities build resilience through commemoration and documentation of traumatic history. From January 2017 to September 2022, Alice served as President & CEO of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, where she was responsible for the overall vision, financial well-being, management, and longterm sustainability. 

Arman Jilavian

Arman Jilavian has been the CEO of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative that transforms the Armenian experience into a global movement based on the philosophy of Gratitude in Action since 2015. He leads the Armenia 2041 Charitable Foundation, which strives to create a common framework of understanding around the sustainable development of Armenia and Armenians. As Chair of the Board of the IDeA Charitable Foundation and Member of the Board of Governors of UWC Dilijan, Arman is actively engaged in many development and education projects in Armenia. 

Laura Kline

Laura Kline is Senior Vice President and Partner of Corporate Communications and Social Impact for Flagship Pioneering. In this role she is responsible for the development and execution of Flagship’s corporate communications strategy and social impact initiative. Laura received a Master of Science in Global Affairs from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.