Meet Anna, Forge's First Hire!

Anna Darian comes to Forge with over 10 years of global project management experience in community and economic development.

She will oversee the business incubator programs, including recruiting startup teams and mentors, and coordinating educational services. 

Most recently, Anna stepped into the world of entrepreneurship herself when she turned her storytelling hobby into a coaching service in 2017. She launched her business with a whirlwind 7-month cross-country roadtrip that ended with her settling in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Here she taught entrepreneurs how to refine their messaging by leveraging the art of storytelling. Notable partners included the Nordic Innovation House, Female Founder School Business Incubator, and Runway Innovation Hub.

Prior to this, Anna served as part of the City of Phoenix’s economic development team, where she led key revitalization and transit-oriented development projects, including the Downtown Phoenix Entertainment District, and the Phoenix World Bazaar immigrant and refugee market.

When asked about her new role at Forge, Anna reflected, “I was so excited to join this project at the ground level because I love working with entrepreneurs, particularly in early stages, where ideas are flying high, but confidence is running low.

"It's at these junctures that it is so important to reconnect to your story and the purpose behind your work."

But above all, I was thrilled when I met the Director, Brian (read all about him here) and learned of his international career and how he planned to leverage his global network to serve the Tucson community.

This is important to me personally because I grew up in a multi-cultural family where my mother was a translator at the United Nations office in Geneva and my Armenian father was a journalist with BBC Russia, and I was privileged to be able to travel between Europe and the US.

"That exposure to other cultures taught me at an early age that brilliance and innovation was originating in every corner of the world. "

Innovation was not created by a small group of engineers in Silicon Valley.  Forge recognizes the unique potential of our local talent and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this rich and diverse community that I am proud to call home (again).”