Chairman Joins Archbishop To Open Exhibit Hall
Leadership 100 Chairman Constantine Caras joined Archbishop Demetrios and other Hierarchs for the cutting of the ribbon at the official opening of the Congress Exhibit Hall at the 40th Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America on July 4, 2010 in Atlanta. Leadership 100 provided the underwriting for the exhibit area, which featured numerous booths with vendors from the United States, Canada, Greece, and Cyprus and included a ministry pavilion which highlighted the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
Orthodox Military Bible Presented
Leadership 100 has presented the American Bible Society with a gift of $25,000 toward the publication of the second edition of first-ever military edition of the New Testament and Psalms for Orthodox Christians.
First Episcopal Assembly Meets
The first Episcopal Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Hierarchs in North and Central America met from May 26 to May 28 at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in New York City. Convened by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, the Assembly was attended by more than 50 Hierarchs and was made possible through a Leadership 100 grant to the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, which underwrote much of the expense. Other funding came from a variety of Pan-Orthodox sources.
Peter G. Peterson Addresses Forum, Presented with Award for Excellence
Peter G. Peterson, the renowned Greek American business leader and philanthropist, addressed a capacity crowd of more than 200 members of Leadership 100 from across the country and their guests at the inaugural Leadership 100 Forum on Business and Philanthropy at the Onassis Cultural Center in the Olympic Tower in New York City on Thursday night, September 9, 2010.
Athens and Tomaras Honored
Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology held their 68th commencement on Saturday, May 15, 2010 and conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities on two prominent members of Leadership 100, Andrew A. Athens, a Founder and its first Chairman, and Chris P. Tomaras, a prominent businessman and philanthropist, Founder of the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation, both of Chicago.
Roumelitoes Appointed by San Francisco Mayor
Stefanie G. Roumeliotes, a Leadership 100 Partner, was appointed to the Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority by Mayor Gavin Newsom on May 14, 2010, to fill a seat that expires on March 25, 2014.
Onassis Foundation Joins
Aristotle S. Onassis died on March 15, 1975. At that time, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation amounted to no more than a few lines in his will and the express instruction that it was to bear the name of Alexander S. Onassis, his son, who had pre-deceased him, wishing to preserve his memory.
New Leadership
The Board of Trustees, meeting at the 19th Annual Leadership 100 Conference, elected Constantine G. Caras of Wilmington, Delaware as Chairman; Charles H Cotros of Memphis, Tennessee as Vice-Chairman; and George S. Tsandikos of Greenwich, Connecticut as Treasurer. Kassandra L. Romas of Short Hills, New Jersey continues to serve as Secretary. The Board also elected Tsandikos along with John A. Catsimatidis and Peter J. Pappas of New York to the Executive Committee and, most significantly, seven new members, representing the greatest diversity to date, were elected to the Board of Trustees.
Financial Crisis Inquiry Continues
The 10-member bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission established in 2009 to examine the causes of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression continued televised hearings into the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008. Two prominent members of Leadership 100 serve on the commission, Phil Angelides, the former California Treasurer, who was appointed Chairman, and Byron Georgiou of Las Vegas, Nevada who has had a long career in the private and public sector in government service, business and law, and has spent most of the last decade investigating and prosecuting financial fraud.
National Leadership 100 Sunday
The Second National Leadership 100 Sunday will be observed on Sunday October 17, 2010 in Greek Orthodox parishes across the country, according to Constantine G. Caras, Leadership 100 Chairman and the Chairman of the first observance of National Leadership 100 Sunday in 2009. Caras also announced that he had appointed Michael R. Henry, a member of the Board of Trustees, to be Chairman of the 2010 observance.
Helen Nicozisis Honored
Helen Bakalis Nicozisis, a long-time member of Leadership 100, was honored for her leadership and philanthropy last November at the annual Chrysanthemum Ball of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City. A Trustee and Past President of the Board of Directors of Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), she was the first lay person and woman to be elected to that position. She served on the organization’s board for more than two decades and chaired its capital campaign for some five years, which led to the construction of the Archbishop Anastasios and Archbishop Demetrios Missionary Training and Administration Building, its new headquarters in St. Augustine, Florida.
Caras and Kontos Couple Honorees at Expo
Leadership 100 Chairman, Constantine G. Caras, and long-time members, Evripides (Evris) and Evangelia (Eva) Kontos were honored at the 19th Hermes Expo Dinner Dance and Awards Ceremony Saturday April 24, 2010 at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City.
George Marcus Awarded
George M. Marcus, a long-time member of the Leadership 100 Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, was honored with The Aristeio Award of the American Hellenic Council of California on April 17.
Leadership 100 Extends Support Of Holy Cross Scholarships
The 19th Annual Leadership 100 Conference at Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, California, which concluded on Sunday, February 7, was highlighted by an increased commitment to “The Spirit of Giving” by providing scholarships through 2018 for seminarians preparing for the Priesthood at Holy Cross School of Theology to be known as Leadership 100 Scholars.
Angelides Commission Opens Hearings
Phil Angelides, a Democrat and a former California Treasurer and member of Leadership 100, who was appointed Chairman of a bipartisan commission established in 2009 to examine the causes of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, opened hearings into the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008 on Wednesday, January 13, 2010, by pressing the heads of the nation’s largest financial institutions, focusing his questioning on Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Confirmed
Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis was confirmed on Christmas Eve by the United States Senate to be the US Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. She and her husband, Markos Kounalakis, are members of Leadership 100, as are her parents, Angelo K. and Sophia Tsakopoulos and her brother, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos. Markos Kounalakis publishes the journal of politics and policy, The Washington Monthly. The couple has two young sons.
Drake Behrakis Elected to Boston College Board
Drake G. Behrakis, an active member of Leadership 100 with his wife, Maria, has been elected to Boston College Board of Trustees. A 1986 graduate of the Carroll School of Management, he is President & CEO of Marwick Associates, a real estate investment and development company located in Lexington, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Marwick, Mr. Behrakis held various positions at Muro Pharmaceutical and the Gillette Company.
Maragos Sworn in as Nassau Comptroller
George Maragos, who joined Leadership 100 in 2007 with his wife, Angela, was sworn in as Nassau County Comptroller on January 3, 2010 and officially took office the next day. The ceremony, in Long Island’s New Hyde Park, was attended by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, New York State Senator and Republican minority leader Dean Skelos, other county legislators, as well as Maragos’ wife and two sons, Peter and Angelo.
Pappas Presented with Three Hierarchs Award
Gregory C. Pappas, publisher of Greek America Magazine, founder of the Greek America Foundation and a member of Leadership 100 was presented with the annual Three Hierarchs Award for the Promotion of Hellenism in New York City on January 29th.
Conference To Convene In San Diego Area
The 19th Annual Leadership 100 Conference at Hotel del Coronado, Coronado, California, in the San Diego area, from February 4-7, 2010, will honor three outstanding Greek American leaders who have made major contributions to American life, George Stephanopoulos, anchor of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and Chief Washington Correspondent of ABC News, who was President Clinton’s senior political advisor and Communications Director; George Pelecanos, the award-winning author, film and television producer whose newest book, The Way Home, was on President Obama’s reading list this summer; and George Argyros, former United States Ambassador to Spain and one of America’s foremost real estate investors. All three will be presented with the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence.