Steven Counelis, Recipient of the 2023 AHEPA District 20 Periclean Award

Steven Counelis

The Honorable Steven Counelis, a member of Leadership 100 and Regional Commander for Southern California for the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was the recipient of the 2023 American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) District 20 Periclean Award. Judge Counelis received the award at the 91st El Camino Real District 20 Convention, which was hosted by Anaheim’s AHEPA Chapter 411 on Friday and Saturday, June 2-3, 2023.

The Periclean award is given annually to a Greek Orthodox Christian of sterling character, whose life and work manifest consistent and profound devotion to our Holy Orthodox Faith and indefatigable support of Hellenic values.

“This is an immense honor,” Judge Counelis stated, “and it is much more than simply an award. I see this as a responsibility, a spur for me to labor all the more in the vineyards of the Lord for His Church and the Omogeneia, and I am grateful to AHEPA for the confidence it has shown in me.”

Counelis is a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of California in the County of Riverside. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government, and with his Juris Doctor degree, from the University of San Francisco. As a college student, he served at the United States Supreme Court, in the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice. He and his wife Stacia have served as the Conference Advisors to the Young Adult League (YAL) Conference Ministry of the Metropolis of San Francisco since its renaissance in 2018 and continue to guide in the execution and planning of the annual Conference. Hon. Steven Counelis was invested as an Archon by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on October 31, 2021, and conferred with the offikion Nomophylax.