Armenia Nercessian de Oliveira has been a lover of traditional handicrafts all her life. A sociology professor at the Universidade Federale of Rio de Janeiro, she served as a UN officer for 16 years, primarily working with refugees. Both travel extensively to the regions to work with Novica artists and to discover new ones. Armenia has a BA in Social Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. She was formerly Assistant Professor of Sociology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; served in UN High Commissioner Office for Refugees, Geneva, Brazil; and was a Human Rights Officer, Political Affairs Officer, United Nations Mission, El Salvador (ONUSAL and MINUSAL), Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH); Armenia is the Co-Founder of Novica. She is the recipient of America Economia Excellence Award for Cultural Preservation (2003) and of the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award.