Leadership 100 Celebrates 30th Anniversary at Conference
The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund marked its 30th Anniversary at its 23rd Annual Conference, February 13-16, 2014 at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Naples, Florida. Some 400 members and their guests attended, according to Charles H. Cotros, the outgoing Chairman, who passed the torch of his office to George S. Tsandikos, Vice Chairman, at the Grand Gala on Saturday, February 16. The event featured a special message from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who commended Leadership 100 for its 30 years of service to the Church and acknowledged His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios for his 15 years of service as Archbishop of America. The Archbishop was presented with a crystal encased replica of the design for St. Nicholas Church, which is to be built overlooking the September 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan.
The Conference highlighted the future of the Church and philanthropy in America and the world with the presentation of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, accepted by Vasili Tsamis, Chief Operating Officer, for worldwide innovative philanthropy; to the Seleni Institute, accepted by Nitzia Logothetis, Founder and Executive Chairwoman, for programs addressing women’s health; and to Greek Orthodox Telecommunications (GOTelecom), accepted by Nicholas J. Furris, Senior Producer/Director, for the 26-program series, “Discovering Orthodox Christianity,” funded with a Leadership 100 grant. The Conference also included a Personal dialogue, “A Vision for the Future”, with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, conducted by Charles H. Cotros; a Business Forum, “A Vision for the Future of Business”, moderated by George S. Tsandikos, featuring George D. Behrakis, Chairman Emeritus of Leadership 100, John Catsimatidis, member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of Leadership 100, and C. Dean Metropoulos, a long-time member of Leadership 100 and the newly-elected President of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy & Hellenism, all leading businessmen and philanthropists.
