Adept Architecture Announces Ardy Kassakhian as V.P. Government and Philanthropic Relations

Pasadena-based Adept Architecture has hired government relations and non-profit veteran Ardashes “Ardy” Kassakhian as Vice President for Government and Philanthropic Relations, the company announced Friday.

Kassakhian has both public and private sector experience, with extensive work in municipal government as City Clerk for the City of Glendale from 2005 up to March 2020, when he was elected City Councilmember. He has been on political campaigns both on the federal, state and local, and spent time in Washington, DC as an intern on Capitol Hill.

Kassakhian holds a B.A. from UCLA, an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University, and has completed the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program, in addition to the Coro Executive Program.

Kassakhian is Glendale’s appointee to the Metropolitan Water District, and serves as an appointee to the California State New Motor Vehicle Board. He is currently the Vice-chair of the Glendale Housing Authority.

At Adept, Kassakhian’s role will be to implement philanthropic and socially responsible investment strategies and will head efforts to deliver affordable housing. His previous work running Glendale’s City Clerk division allowed him to modernize the office through digitization and focusing on issues of good governance, improved transparency and civic engagement.

“I’m very excited to be working with the team at Adept to help address the issues of affordable housing, environmental sustainability and bringing into focus the opportunities that are facing both the development community and cities throughout California and the United States,” Kassakhian said in a statement.

“I believe that it will be up to market rate developers, working with government officials, and nonprofits, to address Southern California’s housing shortage,” Patrick Chraghchian, president of Adept, said. “Ardy is well suited to take up effort on behalf of our company as part of our commitment to help the communities in which we work.”

Adept Architecture is the business name for American General Design, Inc, a Pasadena-headquartered real estate architecture and development company delivering mixed-use projects throughout Southern California.

For more information, visit www.adepturban.com.