Leadership 100 Annual Conference Presents Awards for Excellence, Approves New Grants
The 24th Annual Leadership 100 Conference, which took place February 12-15, 2015, at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida, featured the presentation of the Archbishop lakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to the renowned Greek academician, artist and designer, Ilias I. Lalaounis, who passed away in December of 2013, accepted by his wife, Lila, at the Grand Banquet finale on Saturday evening, February 14, 2015.
Other recipients included program speakers and performers Dr. Eleni Andreopoulou, of the faculty at the Weill Cornell Medical College/New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City; Dr. Panagiota Andreopoulou, an Attending Endocrinologist in the Department of Medicine at Hospital for Special Surgery and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the Weill Cornell Medical College; Michael Psaros, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners, LP; Peter Tiboris, the renowned conductor, and Eilana Lappalainen, the celebrated dramatic soprano; as well as to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), accepted by Constantine M. Triantafilou, Executive Director and CEO.
Earlier, the Executive Committee approved $1,350,243 in new grants for 2015 to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and $620,556 in new grants for 2015 to affiliated organizations. There are additional grant proposals still under review.
The new grants to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA) include $300,000 over three years for the Archdiocesan Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (AACST) for the “Addressing Modern Challenges Initiative”; $270,000 for the fifth year of the Camping Ministry Program; $133,200 to the National Finance Committee for “The Orthodox Software Initiative”; $300,000 over two years for the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical & Church-World Affairs for “Faith-Based Diplomacy and Advocacy Initiative”; $125,000 for the third year of the GOA “Strategic Plan Project”; $75,000 for the GOA “Faith and Safety Project”; $65,000 for the Department of Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism for the “Outreach and Evangelism: Baseline Project”; $52,043 for the second year of the Department of Administration “Ministry Updates Project.”; and $30,000 to Ionian Village for the “IV On-the-Go” retreat program.
The new affiliated organization grants include $100,000 for the second year of the Metropolis of Atlanta “Family Life Ministry”; $250,000 over two years for Orthodox Christian Network for “Enhancing the Multimedia Offerings and Marketing Effectiveness of Key GOA Departments”; $118,621 over two years to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) for the “Serv-X-Treme! National Youth Service Leadership Development Initiative”; $88,200 to Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) for “Proper Training for Ministering to Prisoners and Educational Outreach through Training and Inspirational Videos”; and $63,735 to Project Mexico-St. Innocent Orphanage to create and implement an Intern Development Program.
According to George S. Tsandikos, Chairman, more than 350 members and guests, together with their families, attended the Conference. “We chose Orlando to encourage family friendly activities and we were pleased to see so many children participate.”
In addition to the traditional Bible Study and Lecture by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, the program included a special presentation by Jerry Dimitriou, Executive Director of Administration of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, which addressed plans for the building of the Saint Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center. A highlight of the Conference was the concert “Symphony at Sunset” with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Peter Tiboris and featuring Eilana Lappalainen.
