Role: Author

Joze Piranian is a lifelong stutterer turned keynote speaker and stand-up comedian. Growing up in Lebanon with a debilitating stutter, he avoided speaking almost entirely for more than 25 years. In the past six years, everything changed as he transformed his obstacle into a strength, performing on stages across three continents and in four languages (he stutters in six). He is a 5× TEDx speaker and has delivered talks at organizations including Google, Meta, Netflix, BlackRock, IBM, BCG and more. His story is also captured in Words Left Unspoken, a documentary about his journey, which premiered in Los Angeles at the Armenian Film Festival in September 2025.Joze is based in Toronto.

Nadine Takvorian is a first-generation Armenian-American author and illustrator of children’s books and graphic novels. From within the Armenian diaspora, Nadine’s family is “Bolsahye” — from Istanbul, Turkey. She is passionate about exploring Armenian identity and history, and battling cultural erasure. She also nourishes a soft spot for fantasy and alternate worlds. Nadine lives in the Bay Area where she digs holes in her garden and dreams of diving into waves at sea. Armaveni is her debut.