LEADERSHIP 100 EXCEEDS 2007 GOAL ON COURSE FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY

The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund has exceeded its goal for 2007, recruiting 68 new members for a total of 755. Fulfilled members also hit a record number of 344. “Reaching these benchmarks positions us for our 25th Anniversary goals - to reach 1,000 members, 500 fulfilled members, $100 million in endowment funds and annual grants of $5 million by 2009,” said George D. Behrakis, Chairman.

At the end of 2007, contributions exceeded $4.3 million, the second highest figure historically. Endowment funds reached $67.8 million with total assets at $84 million. Grants distributed since the inception of Leadership 100 will exceed $25 million in 2008.

Grants have continued to support the ministries of the Archdiocese and Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology as priorities with support continuing to go to scholarships for those studying for the Priesthood, Clergy in need and Religious and Greek Education. New support has gone to projects in the Metropolises and to the Greek Fire Relief Fund.

Leadership 100 Conferences continue to draw record numbers of attendees with programs promoting Orthodoxy and Hellenism. The 17th Annual Conference will take place February 14-17, 2008 in Palm Desert, California and will feature the awarding of the Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to longtime members Theodore P. Angelopoulos and Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki for their historic roles in promoting Greece and Hellenic culture through the organization of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

As Leadership 100 reaches its 25th Anniversary, it is fitting that it has generated the Leadership 100 Partners program, encouraging young Greek American professionals to join at affordable levels as they progress in their careers. The following represents the level of payments:

Ages 1-30 $2,000 *

Ages 31-35 $4,000

Ages 36-40 $6,000

Ages 41-45 $8,000

Ages 46- $10,000

At the end of 2007, there were 52 Leadership 100 Partners. Leadership 100 has set as its highest priority the transfer of its philanthropic tradition, borne of its faith and heritage, to the next generation.

The Leadership 100 17th Annual Conference will convene from February 14 to 17, 2008 and will include the annual meeting of the General Assembly, meetings of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees and programs and forums on Church History, Hellenism, life-style and the arts, including award-winning actress Jane Seymour, who will address a special program on Saturday, February 16, 2008 on the subject of the autobiographical Remarkable Changes: Turning Life’s Challenges into Opportunities, which profiled her own and 20 personal stories of others who have experienced positive transformation in the face of life-changing crisis.

Congressman Michael Bilirakis, will open the Conference on Thursday, February 14 with an address on Advocating Hellenic Issues in the U.S. Congress. Ambassador Loucas Tsilas, Executive Director of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA), who will address a luncheon the same day on The Importance of Hellenism Today.

The Forum on Hellenism, titled Presenting Greek Art in America, is scheduled for Friday, February 15 and will feature Dr. Christine Kondoleon of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Kenneth Dean Shapiro Lapatin of The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Leadership 100 is the largest Greek American charitable membership organization in the United States, holding more than $82 million in assets. It has distributed more than $23 million in grants advancing Orthodoxy and Hellenism since its inception in 1984.