First Woman Elected Officer
The Board of Trustees of Leadership 100, meeting at the 25th Anniversary Celebration Conference, elected Kassandra L. Romas of Short Hills, NJ as Secretary, the first woman to be named an officer of the organization. She is the Managing Director of Bouras Properties, LLC of Summit, NJ.
This followed a series of firsts for the women of Leadership 100. Romas and Eugenia Hasiotis of Boston, MA were the first women elected to the Executive Committee of Leadership 100, also in 2009, and there are now five women serving on the Board of Trustees: Romas who was elected in 2005, Hasiotis, who was elected in 2004, Froso Beys of New York City, who was elected in 2002, Eula Carlos of Atlanta, GA who was elected in 2007 and Cathy Sakellaris of Milton, MA, who was elected in 2009. The longest serving woman on the Board of Trustees and the only woman to serve for many years was Eve N. Condakes of Swampscott, MA, long-time President of Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, who served on the Leadership 100 Board from 1994 until 2009.
Kassandra Loucas Romas was born in San Francisco, California in 1945. In 1957, she moved with her family to Bronxville, NY where she attended Tuckahoe High School, graduating Salutatorian of her class. She attended Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of New Rochelle, NY, teaching Sunday school. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle with a BA in 1967 and received her MA in teaching from Manhattanville College Graduate School the following year.
Upon graduation, she married Christos Romas, MD and settled in Short Hills, NJ where her husband established his Ophthalmology practice and where they raised their three daughters, Christina, Annette and Maria. During those years, she was active as a volunteer on the boards of the League of Women Voters; in school PTAs, Summit College Club, YWCA of Summit, NJ, and Junior League of Summit, NJ. Her involvement included being an elected official of the Republican Party Committee of the County of Essex, New Jersey, Millburn District 4. She served on the CoreStates Bank Board of Advisors and is currently on the Board of Advisors of the Town Bank of Westfield, NJ. She was also very active in Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ where she served on the Auxiliary Board and then being President of the 1600 member volunteer organization. She was elected to the Overlook Hospital Foundation Board, serving for 16 years, and is currently a Trustee Emeritus. As a volunteer, she was asked to produce and moderate the Overlook Hospital Foundation sponsored cable TV show “30 Medical Minutes”, and is still, after 16 years, the producer and on-air host of this show, which is presented as a community service to viewers in Central New Jersey.
The recipient of many honors, she received the Woman of the Year award of the Union County Professional Women’s organization in 1994, the Overlook Hospital Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteerism, in 1996, was selected to carry the Olympic torch, also in 1996, when the flame was on its way to the Atlanta Olympic Games, received the Ursula Emeritus Award from the College of New Rochelle in 2004 and the prestigious National Ethnic Coalition Organization’s (NECO) Ellis Island Medal of Honor award and a Volunteer Service award from TV 36 for her work on the TV show 30 Medical Minutes in 2005. In 2006 she received the Woman of the Year award from the AAUW (American Association of University Women) and in 2008 was the recipient of “Woman of the Year” award from the Boy Scouts of America, Patriot’s Path Division in Central New Jersey.
Active in numerous church-related organizations over the years, she was president of her local parish chapter of the National Philoptochos Society for four years and is currently Parliamentarian on the Board of Trustees of the national organization, having served as first and second vice presidents. She was also Vice President of the Metropolis of New Jersey Board of Trustees and for sixteen years served two terms as President of the Parish Council and Millennium Building Fund chairman for the expansion project of the Holy Trinity Church in Westfield, NJ. She chaired the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity of New York’s Annual Cathedral Ball for two years and has been actively involved in the building restoration projects and chairing Testimonial Dinners at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation of New York, including one honoring John Catsimatidis (attended by former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, Governor Pataki, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and many other notables). She has also chaired the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation’s Annual Gala at the Harvard Club annually since 2005.
When her husband passed away in 1995, she entered the work world, working for the Executive Recruiter Michael E. Marion and Associates for over three years engaging executives for pharmaceutical companies, primarily Merck. She was then asked to become Director of the newly formed Bouras Properties, LLC and is currently Managing Director/Landlord of a large office building in Summit, NJ.
Kassandra’s interest in her heritage and background led to her purchasing her familial home on the island of Andros, Greece and after a four year saga, has completed the restoration of the historical landmark home. She and her family have been enjoying going there and also look forward to other travels. She is now the grandmother to Elizabeth, 4 years old, and infant Corinne, the daughters of her eldest daughter, Christina.
