Yervand Shirinyan joined the Open Society Institute in 1997. In 2001, he began working for the Human Rights and Governance Grants Program and currently is the program's director. In this capacity, Shirinyan oversees program activities on human rights and government accountability in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He holds an MBA in international management from Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management in association with the Central European University in Budapest. He also expects an MST in international human rights law from the Oxford University in 2008.