Haykuhi Orujyan. ” Being strong today is a necessity not only for men, but also for women.”

31-year-old Haykuhi Orujyan is the co-founder of Oqni, an innovative prosthetic services organization founded in Armenia in 2020. Oqni recently won the FemInno International Women’s Innovation Competition, sharing the award with MiCoFe.

Hykuhi was born in Armenia, but grew up in the USA and France. She worked as a clinical and forensic psychologist, then specialized in artificial intelligence consulting at Microsoft.

Haykuhi, who returned to Armenia from France after the 44-day Artsakh war in 2020, over the past two years not only managed to co-found Oqni (co-founder and CEO: Hayk Bagratyantz), but also to recruit a healthy team and offer a unique, innovative approach to limb prosthetics in Armenia.

She says that the start of such an initiative in Armenia had one overarching goal: to put heart and soul into making life easier for people with prosthetics problems and to benefit the country.

Oqni’s mission is to develop advanced mental and physical health solutions and bionics in Armenia, guided by a holistic approach that focuses on both physical and psychological empowerment of those in need.

Shortly after moving to Armenia, she realized that living in Armenia is really difficult, especially for different women. She says, “It’s hard to be a woman in Armenia, it’s hard in all kinds of ways.”

In addition to providing professional psychological support services in France, Haykuhi was actively involved in many projects aimed at the equality of women and men.

By the way, the composition of the organization’s managers, engineers and so-called “ambassadors” consists of almost equal numbers of women and men.

In the opinion of Haykuhi, who regularly faces stereotypical approaches, the most important prerequisite for the establishment and advancement of women in Armenia is the manifestation of female solidarity and motivating each other.

According to Haykuhi, being strong today is a necessity not only for men, but also for women.

Full text in Armenian