Staff
Washington, DC Office
Zara Hovhannisyan is the Director of Teacher Programs. She joined American Councils for International Education in October 2009. Prior to that Zara worked as Senior Program Officer for teacher training programs at International Research & Exchanges Board. She has also taught English as a Second Language in a secondary school in Armenia. Zara holds a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the H. Acharian Language Institute in Yerevan, Armenia and she is fluent in Russian and Armenian.
Uzbekistan Office
Dinara Seytnazarova is the American Councils Deputy Country Director. Dinara is a U.S. State Department-funded UGRAD program 2008 alumna, joined American Councils in November 2019. Dinara is responsible for the management of daily operations that support the implementation the English Speaking Nation: Secondary Teacher Training program objectives.
Dinara has started her professional career in 2010 by joining British American Tobacco Uzbekistan company as a Senior HR specialist responsible for talent acquisition and administration of SAP Talent platform for the Caucasus and Central Asia. In 2011 she continued her career at General Motors Powertrain Uzbekistan, where she held various cross-functional roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining American Councils, Dinara has worked as Communications Manager overseeing all internal and external communication processes.
Dinara graduated from the University of World of Economy and Diplomacy in 2010, majoring in World Economy and International Economic Relations. She also studied as an exchange student majoring in Economics at Wartburg College in 2017-2018.
Zukhriddin Nasirov
Program Manager
Zukhriddin Nasirov oversees educational programs at American Councils for International Education, focusing on leadership development for secondary school educators. He manages the ESN: Teacher Leadership Training (TLT) and the Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) in Uzbekistan.
Zukhriddin joined American Councils in 2019. Before this, he worked as Lead Teacher for the C5+O.N.E. program and as a Program Officer for the Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN). His career also includes roles as a lecturer at the Uzbekistan State World Languages University and Central Asian University, as well as Deputy Director at the Republican Scientific-Practical Center for Development of Innovative Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages.
He holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics and a Bachelor’s degree in Philology from the Uzbekistan State University of World Languages. Zukhriddin is also an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State-funded Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program, where he specialized in pedagogy and served as a teaching assistant for the Uzbek language at Michigan State University.
Fakhriddin Polatkhanov
Program Officer
Fakhriddin Polatkhanov oversees educational programs at American Councils for International Education, focusing on leadership development for secondary educators. He coordinates the ESN: Teacher Leadership Training (TLT) and Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) in Uzbekistan.
Fakhriddin joined the English-Speaking Nation (ESN) Program in 2020 and he continues to support the ESN program. Before joining the American Councils, he worked for the Committee for Tourism Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, where he performed various daily functions in the department of creating tourist zones and attracting investments.
He holds a Master's degree in Public and Municipal Administration from KIMEP University, Kazakhstan. He is a participant of the ERASMUS+ICM program and studied at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland in 2018.
Fozilakhon Abdullaeva
Program Officer
Fozilakhon Abdullaeva oversees educational programs at American Councils for International Education, focusing on leadership development for secondary educators. Fozilakhon is actively engaged in the Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) and the English for IT Summer Camp program, further demonstrating her dedication to enhancing education in Uzbekistan.
She initially joined American Councils as a Program Assistant for the English Speaking Nation (ESN) program. Her prior experience in the Innovation, Technology, and Strategy Center under the Ministry of Public Education, particularly her involvement in the ICT4Girls program has been instrumental in her contributions to the ESN program, a significant initiative positively impacting over 18,000 English language teachers across Uzbekistan.
Fozilakhon is a holder of a Bachelor of Science Honors degree in Finance from Westminster International University in Tashkent.