After five years of dedicated support to war veterans, allowing them to boost their education and careers, 4090 Foundation brought beneficiaries and partners together for an event earlier this year to mark the successful achievement of its mission. We take a look back at the remarkable story of this organization and the journey it has undertaken.
Text : Irina Pahlevanyan, Nazareth Seferian Photo : 4090 Foundation
“How are you supposed to go on living when there is a storm raging inside you?” This is the question that Temur Khudoyan was asking himself after the 44-Day War in 2020. He was one of many young Armenians who had come back from the battlefield, having seen defeat, destruction and the death of many friends. Young men like Temur found themselves unable to settle back into everyday life, they were constantly searching for a new sense of purpose or meaning. In their own words, they felt like they were facing immense challenges, they had to scale a peak that seemed insurmountable.
“These people were ready to give their lives for our country. We set about creating an organization that would help them develop to their full potential and become the elite of our society in the future,”
said Gevorg Tamamyan, one of the cofounders of 4090 Foundation. Along with four other friends – Eric Gyulazyan, Zaven Koloyan, Armen Gazaryan, and Lida Melikyan – they established the foundation named for the altitude of the highest peak in Armenia, a recognition of the new heights that their beneficiaries would scale both literally and metaphorically.
Founded in 2021, the organization has provided almost 200 veterans with the support they needed to further their education and take their future into their own hands through new businesses or other initiatives. For many of the veterans that benefited from 4090 Foundation, education served as both a compass for the future and a balm for the pains of the past.
“I am studying law at the French University. This career area gives me comfort because I believe that I am helping to create a future that will secure peace,” said Harutyun Babayan, a 4090 Foundation beneficiary.
Temur Khudoyan overcame the “storm within” and gained admission to a university program to study applied mathematics and programming. He ended up authoring a book called Python from Zero, helping the next generation take their first steps in the digital world.
Supporting veterans means creating opportunities to be seen, heard, and celebrated.
In addition to accessing formal education, the veterans served by 4090 Foundation would often come together for soft skills training and social activities. For many of them, the annual hike up Mount Aragats, from where the name of the Foundation originates, was a particularly important activity. “I remember going up that mountain, putting one foot in front of the other and overcoming the sheer physical difficulty of the hike. That sense of achievement was the first bright spot in what had been a dark time in my life,” recalled Hrach Safaryan, who had almost decided to leave the country out of desperation after his return from the war.
Recognizing that reintegration requires more than education, the Foundation developed a broad ecosystem of activities aimed at personal growth and community building. The young veterans also committed to completing 120 hours of volunteer service per year, thus contributing to a cycle of generosity.
Besides this, a key benefit that the young men received from the Foundation came in the form of mentorship, which proved crucial for their success. Khachik Grigoryan is always candid about how he loved making wine but knew nothing about business. He took his first steps in this sector thanks to the 4090 Foundation. “My mentor helped me dive into the business world and get the loan I needed to finance my wine tasting room,” Khachik stated. For him, this business is not just a source of financial security, it is a deeply personal outlet. “The emotions I have deep inside, which I can never communicate to anyone, all go into my wine,” he said.
Meanwhile, the opportunities that were created for the beneficiaries of 4090 Foundation were not just limited to Armenia. Inspired by their new beginning, many of them applied to other programs and managed to study and work abroad, gaining important new skills. Khachik, for example, learned the art of wine making in the Porto and Madeira style by securing an internship in Portugal, while Harutyun succeeded in a French University program that allowed him to visit Nice.
The ripple effect of the Foundation’s work extended beyond its formal partnerships. When the Armenian Conference Interpreters Association learned about the 4090 Foundation, they chose to order their lapel pins from one of its beneficiaries, David Petrosyan, in a spontaneous act of solidarity that speaks to how the broader community rallied around these veterans.
4090 Foundation brought together a Board of Directors consisting of eleven accomplished professionals from Armenia and abroad, along with a professional team. Importantly, they joined forces with several partners that believed in this mission. AraratBank was a key business that joined this effort early in the process, providing the necessary financial and moral support to deliver success over the five years of the Foundation’s operations. Recalling his company’s partnership with the Foundation, the CEO of AraratBank Mher Ananyan said, “One would think that they should be thanking us for our support but, in fact, I am grateful to the 4090 Foundation. The financial resources that we allocated to that superior mission make us feel happier and more secure as a bank that makes a difference in Armenia.”
AraratBank’s commitment extended beyond financial support. Through its broader partnerships, the bank actively created platforms to raise awareness about the beneficiaries’ stories and achievements. “At the KardaLove Book Festival, for instance, we wanted to spotlight Temur—his journey and his book Python from Zero. He was provided with his own pavilion at the festival to present the book, sell copies, and meet people,” noted Anna Allahverdyan, the Head of Communications and CSR Programs Coordination Division at AraratBank.
Five years after it was founded, the Foundation has achieved its objectives. Nearly 200 veterans received support for educational opportunities, with 70 graduates already having started their professional careers.
In 2025, the Board of Directors concluded that the Foundation had successfully improved the quality of life of its beneficiaries, and the organization has ended operations in June 2026, at the end of the academic year. However, the community it has created continues to stay connected and its members are there for each other. “We’re so intimately connected with each other that they invite us when they get married, they consult with us before important job interviews. We think of them as family and we truly celebrate the successes that each one of them has,” said Irina Pahlevanyan, the Executive Director of 4090 Foundation.
But the most powerful aspect of 4090 Foundation is not what the young veterans have achieved so far. It is that they are now dreaming of bigger achievements in the future. Not only have they overcome the bleakness and uncertainty of those first days when they returned from the war, they no longer see any obstacles that they cannot overcome.
The presentation of one of the beneficiaries of 4090 Charity Foundation at its closing event
Temur has launched an online channel to educate the next generation in mathematics, helping them achieve academic and career success. Hrach completed his bachelor’s study and went on to pursue a master’s degree in civil rights. Khachik dreams of expanding his wine tasting facilities. “This is just a small part of my dream,” he said, “We are going to add 15 or so rooms for guests to stay overnight and build a space for outdoor events.” David’s ambitions, meanwhile, are not limited to his own business making lapel pins. He has founded a cultural non-governmental organization, which has collaborated with NCEDI Foundation to develop and submit a full curriculum in Goldsmithing to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. His vision is to establish a network of 20 school laboratories across Armenia over the next three years, ten in the capital and at least ten more in the regions, with further outreach planned to Armenian-speaking communities abroad.
It is empowering to go from having a “storm raging inside you” to a clear horizon where you can aspire to anything. And these young veterans know how it happened. “I want to express my gratitude to the team at 4090 Foundation. There were days when I thought that hope and faith could no longer exist, but I found them again thanks to you,” said Hrach.
In literal terms, it may require a certain level of physical strength and perseverance for the average individual to climb 4090 meters to the top of a mountain. But the beneficiaries of 4090 Foundation rose from the depths of despair and overcame the darkest of hours to reach the heights at which they currently stand. Their current achievements mark just the beginning of a story of personal success and national victory.
The team, partners and beneficiaries of 4090 Charity Foundation at its closing event titled “History and Jazz”