Sofi Armenakian currently works for the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena as the Director of Operations and Sustainability. In this role, she is responsible for the conversion, uniform, housekeeping department as well as the venue’s sustainability operation with a special focus on Zero Waste operations. Most recently, she was instrumental in delivering the first-ever Zero Waste NBA All-Star Game and the first TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certified sporting event in the world for leadership in Zero Waste.
Prior to joining the Hawks, she worked as the Conversion and Sustainability Manager for Mercedes-Benz Stadium as part of AMB Sports & Entertainment. During her time with AMB Sports & Entertainment, she was responsible for managing the operations budget of both the conversion department and the sustainability department. In 2018, she created the sustainability department to help start the venue’s journey to becoming Zero Waste. Part of the journey was the creation and implantation of “Recycle & Win”, a surprise-and-delight engagement with fans who were seen in the act of recycling while attending the venue. ‘Recycle and Win’ was implemented into all events hosted at Mercedes-Benz Stadium from 2018-2020. These events included Super Bowl LIII, the 2018 MLS Cup and MLS All-Star Games, the 2018 College Football National Championship, all Atlanta Falcons games and all Atlanta United games. In addition, the venue hosted various collegiate bowl games and various concerts.
Sofi is a board member at CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials) and volunteers with Trees Atlanta and participates in the Green Sports Alliance. Earlier in her career, she worked for ESSEX Consulting Group Inc. as a business development and marketing director, focusing on data-driven sustainability solutions. Prior to energy consulting, she worked in retail as a general manager, district trainer and recruiter.
Sofi is also trilingual and speaks English, German and Armenian. She graduated from Georgia State University and is originally from Armenia but calls Atlanta home.