Greek America's Forty Under 40: Class of 2018
At only 30 years old, Evanthia (Eva) Anadioti, DMD is both a clinical assistant professor of restorative dentistry and founding director of the advanced prosthodontics residency program at the University of Pennsylvania, which educates residents in digital dentistry, CAD/CAM systems, ceramic material science and 3D printing.
Before joining Penn Dental Medicine, Eva was a clinical assistant professor at Boston University’s School of Dental Medicine. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics and earned both her certificate in prosthodontics and MS in oral sciences at the University of Iowa before completing a fellowship in surgical implant dentistry at the University of North Carolina.
A native of Greece, Eva also holds a DDS from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
“It feels like Penn was waiting for the right time to start an advanced prosthodontics program,” Eva says. “With the tremendous technology available, the best time for prosthodontics is now. We’ ve designed a curriculum to develop the next generation of leaders in our specialty.”
Eva is a role model for women in the sciences globally and the recipient of several awards who is working to educate dental students around the world through seminars and lectures, and is helping the community through pro-bono work.
Zina Anaplioti moved from Greece to New York City on her own at age 18 to attend the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she graduated with a BFA in acting. Over the next few years, she worked as an actor to achieve the status of U.S. resident.
In 2012, on her way back from Greece, Zina was wrongfully accused of overstaying in the country and banned from the USA for her lifetime. Against everybody’s advice, she launched a legal battle, which she won in six months. (The only other person in USA immigration history to reverse a lifetime ban was John Lennon.) Zina is the first 100% Greek person to be a series regular on a hit TV show.
She has written, produced and acted in three short films, with increasing honors and recognition. Additionally, she has finished four short films as a producer and writer and is working on a feature scheduled to be shot in Greece.
Zina is also a Certified Life Coach and works as a volunteer at the Ackerman Institute for the Family.
Zina is an honorary Ambassador of the Libra Group and its social responsibility branch, the Home Project, an initiative to address the needs of refugees, especially children who have arrived in Greece alone.
Zina's biggest challenge made her understand her true calling: to use her talents to help people and raise awareness about subjects as important as the refugee crisis.
Androniki (Nicole) Andreakos is an accomplished Employment, Corporate and M&A lawyer. She is licensed to practice law in the state of California and the province of Ontario. Nicole is currently a member of the in-house legal team for Apotex, Inc., Canada’s largest generics pharmaceutical company.
Nicole earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History and Political Science, and a Certificate in Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution from York University. She then went on to earn her Juris Doctor from the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, and an LL.M degree in European Union and International Law from the University of Jean Moulin in Lyon, France.
As a law student, Nicole co-founded Our Children Africa, a charitable foundation supporting children and women’s empowerment initiatives in Ghana. In addition to arranging for the construction of schools in rural areas of the country, Nicole set up scholarship programs; worked with orphans and homeless children; and introduced programs that promoted literacy and training aimed at empowering children and women through education and leadership development. Nicole helped to secure funding for the foundation’s programs from the Canadian International Development Agency. Additionally, Nicole was selected as the Chair of her school’s chapter of the National Association of Women in the Law and was invited to speak before Members of Parliament to advocate for the rights of female domestic workers in Canada.
Since then, Nicole has been involved with numerous not-for-profit organizations and initiatives, such as Autism Speaks, Frontier College, and the Pact Restorative Justice Program, which are focused on empowering vulnerable groups, and advocating for the rights of women and children. Nicole served as a Board Member of a Philoptochos organization in Irvine, California, and is currently involved in various fraternal Hellenic-Canadian and Hellenic-American business, professional, and cultural organizations.
Nicole’s professional accomplishments include working as an attorney for corporations and law firms in California and Ontario; on behalf of political campaigns in California and Canada; and as a mediator. She is passionate about business, trade and innovation. With this enthusiasm, she promotes business connections and cross-border trade between California and Canada through her involvement with the Maple Cross-Border Business Council, an executive-level organization promoting cross-border investment, trade and entrepreneurship.
Michael Apostolides is a mover and shaker in the business and Greek communities. He is a natural networker and connector who has spent his career in financial services, advising leading executives of Fortune 100 companies, endowments, foundations and family offices.
After graduating from Colgate University, Michael began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and then transitioned into private banking. After five years at JP Morgan Private Bank, he was recruited by the Safra family to build a new global private banking venture. Giving back is a big part of Michael’s ethos. He has led and served on boards of the Hellenic Initiative - young leaders, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Pencils of Promise and Colgate University President’s Club, and ran the New York City marathon for charity twice.
Michael was one of the original supporters of Pencils of Promise, an organization that advances educational opportunities in developing states, and served as president of its Leadership Council. The organization has built more than 400 schools in Laos, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Ghana. His fundraising efforts have been responsible for building dozens of these schools and enhancing the lives of thousands of people in remote communities throughout the world.
Demetri Argyropoulos, founder and CEO of Avant Global, is a successful serial entrepreneur who has also been the catalyst for originating, cofounding or seeding more than 50 new companies.
Demetri is also a cofounder of Owl BioMedical (recently acquired by German multi-national Miltenyi Biotec).
Since its founding, Avant Global has helped fuel more than $15 billion in added value for billionaires, startups, and Fortune100 companies.
Demetri has helped raise tens of millions of dollars for charities worldwide. He is the youngest recipient of the GUSI Peace Prize in the Philippines (2010). In 2016, he was integral to the success of the Elpida Home Project, which offers safe shelter and passage options for refugees in northern Greece. He also works with the National Hellenic Society and the Greek Orthodox Church.
For his support of philanthropic causes, Argyropoulos has been knighted by the Order of Savoy, which recognizes those who contribute to the benefit of mankind through good works, the arts and letters, science, and humanitarian disciplines.
Demetri graduated from Westmont College; studied at the American University in Washington, DC, and Georgetown University’s American Government and Foreign Policy program; and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management program (OPM) and a member of the Harvard Business School Association of Southern California.
George Balafoutis works for Microsoft as a Cybersecurity Architect and is the worldwide lead for the company’s Cybersecurity Champion program. Since joining Microsoft in 2011, he has delivered in dual roles: using business know-how to work with senior leadership to develop internal programs and technical know-how to consult with some of Microsoft’s largest customers.
Before Microsoft, George worked at Trustwave, a credit card security company, where his responsibilities expanded from consultant to auditor and product manager for a web content monitoring service, all focused on Fortune 500 companies.
George holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MSc in computer science from Northern Illinois University, and BSc in mathematics from the National University of Athens. He also holds the cybersecurity industry’ s main certifications.
George recently relocated to Athens from NYC, because he believes wherever there is a crisis, there is an opportunity to make a positive difference.
One of his recently launched initiatives is akapnos.gr ("Smoke-free"), with the mission of identifying all nonsmoking venues in Greece and reviving the discussion about enforcement of the non-smoking law. This initiative has garnered 34,000 Facebook friends in seven months and is the largest volunteer-run non-smoking campaign in Greece. It has garnered mainstream media attention, including frontpage references in Kathimerini, SKAI TV and Radio, ERT1, etc. Additionally, George maintains close ties to the US, where he is vice president for the Hellenic Film Society, an organization sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Onassis Foundation USA, with a mission to promote Greek film and related arts.
Charles Bililies is the Founder & CEO of the San Francisco-based Greek restaurant group Souvla, a pioneer in the fine fast segment of restaurants. Souvla is inspired by the casual souvlaki joints found throughout Greece, spit-roasting naturally-raised meats and wrapping them in warm, fluffy pita bread with seasonal salads and Greek yogurt sauces. Charles takes great pride in sharing the beauty of Greek food and wine, and his restaurants have the only entirely Greek beverage list in the United States with several Greek wines featuring the Souvla label.
Souvla donates regularly to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco and the Elios Society, and is a member of the Restaurant Opportunity Center, which focuses on hiring, inclusion and promotion of people of all backgrounds and orientations. Souvla supports several local schools and art organizations through philanthropic fundraising and donations, as well as national charities such as NoKidHungry and Share Our Strength.
Charles is a board member of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, mentors first-time restaurateurs and entrepreneurs on how to open and operate restaurants, and is viewed nationally as a leading restaurant entrepreneur — Bon Appetit magazine dubbed him “the Mark Zuckerberg of fast fine restaurants.”
Charles holds degrees in hospitality management from the Hotel School at Cornell University and culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University. He leads strategic development for the restaurant group, focusing on new business opportunities, financial planning, team, culture and brand consistency. He also serves as an advisor to partners in food and tech, and speaks on panels and in the press about the future of restaurants and tech, entrepreneurship and how to develop profitable restaurants.
Christos Chrysochoou is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lover of philosophy and all things Greek. Professionally, he is an Environmental Engineer and partner with TradeWorks Environmental Division.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Christos studied in Sweden, traveled globally, and moved to Canada to develop the network and structure necessary to assist his homeland to gain global recognition for its intellectual capital and innovation. He is committed to finding modern solutions to the economic crisis in Greece which lead to his organizing a conference at Harvard University under the auspices of the Hellenic Republic Ministry of Economy Infrastructure, Maritime Affairs and Tourism, bringing Hellenic professionals together from across the globe.
Following in his father’s footsteps as an Environmental Engineer, Christos and his brother Dimitris are deploying and extending a Greek technology for cleaning any organic wastewater. In partnership with a Canadian and European company, the brothers have deployed and are assisting in developing an alternative waste water method. They are collaborating with industry leaders and working with universities and the Center of Alternative Waste Water Technologies in Canada to advance new products and methods to deploy this breakthrough and disruptive Greek technology. Christos and Dimitri have created a new model for deploying the technology by creating “set aside” accounts for projects, using the funds for training and education campaigns or community initiatives to support and benefit the community. Leading by example, their model thus demonstrates the importance of developing business solutions that combine, social responsibility, economic and environmental benefits for all stakeholders.
Dimitrios Chrysochoou is a former Athlete, Entrepreneur and Environmental champion. Having completed his masters of mechanical engineering, Dimitri is a partner in the TradeWorks Environmental Division supporting the expansion and adoption of an environmentally beneficial method to treat wastewater. Initially developed in Greece by his mentor, he is leveraging his leadership skills with his team in Greece, Canada and USA as they develop the methods and practices to modernize the municipal and industrial wastewater management industry.
Dimitris knows the dedication and commitment it takes to win. Driven by his passion to leave his mark on the world, he has overcome many obstacles to be a key technical resource assisting those who have been in the industry decades longer than he has learn and adopt new operational methods and to show how a generational gap can be bridged by collaboration and unity toward a common goal. He is working with regulators and municipal treatment plants in Canada and the USA on adopting these alternative methods.
With his brother Christos, Dimitris is working towards launching a training program that teaches new environmentally beneficial practices. They are also working with the Center of Alternative Waste Water in Canada and collaborating with other industry leaders and working with universities in North America to advance new products and methods. They have created a new model for deploying the technology in municipalities by creating “set aside” accounts and using the funds for training and education campaigns or community initiatives, thus proving that millennials can change the world.
Elias Demangos is the founder and president of Fortigo Freight Services Inc., one of Canada’s fastest-growing supply chain and logistics providers and a major player in the dedicated outsourced fleet market.
Elias started Fortigo in 2007, while completing his bachelor of business administration degree at York University’s Schulich School of Business. Even in the face of the Great Recession of 2008, he was able to maintain exponential growth.
Fortigo focuses on using technology to create a better customer experience, providing track and trace scanning technology to monitor deliveries to ensure efficiency, security and accuracy. It is the first Canadian company to purchase Tesla trucks for its fleet.
Elias has served on the boards of the Logistics Institute, Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport North America, Southern Ontario Gateway Council, and Toronto chapter of Supply Chain & Logistics Canada.
Over the past 10 years, the company has been a strong financial and volunteer donor to organizations such as SOS Children’s Villages Canada, Canadian Cancer Society, Alzheimer Society of Canada, Humber River Hospital and many more. This year, the company teamed up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.).
Elias was one of the youngest-ever members of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) in Canada, is the current vice president of the Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and chairs the HHF Fundraising Committee.
Michael Evangelopoulos knew he wanted to be a scientist from an early age, but it wasn’t until years later, when prostate cancer took his pappou’s life, that he knew he wanted to develop cancer treatments. He graduated from the University of Houston with a BS degree in biomedical engineering. As an undergrad, he was part of a team at the Houston Methodist Hospital that developed a nanotechnology that exploited natural components derived from the body to coat a man-made nanoparticle that could be used to deliver a therapeutic payload, resulting in publication in Nature Nanotechnology.
Michael previously worked with a team at the Texas Heart Institute to develop a biological reactor that could strengthen lab-grown heart tissue.
Michael joined the Houston Methodist Hospital as a biomedical engineer, where he develops a variety of nanoparticles capable of localizing cancer treatment. He is investigating how white blood cells can be engineered to form protein-rich vehicles that can avoid detection by the immune system, localize at the tumor site and release a chemotherapeutic drug without inducing any side effects.
Michael has volunteered with the Big Brother Big Sisters of America, the Houston Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity. His Movember Foundation team raised more than $1,000 for research in testicular and prostate cancer and men’s mental health. He also advises on biomedical devices as a board member for GroupDash.
In 2011, Alisia Sophia Geanopulos launched A Fine Line, a contemporary women’s clothing label. The collection consists of modernized basics with twists on classic shapes and infusions of graphics. Her label quickly gained a loyal following and is now sold worldwide.
It has been Alisia’s mission to produce and manufacture her collections exclusively in local factories in Los Angeles. In 2016, she launched Creep + Hound with her brother George. Their goal for the recycled vintage online store is to honor their love of vintage and encourage sustainable fashion.
Alisia’s love for design has extended to home decor as well. She has followed in her mother’s interior design footsteps and lends her taste to many interior design projects in Los Angeles.
Alisia is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, with a bachelor’s degree in communications. In addition to her expanding fashion and interior design business, she is an animal advocate with the ASPCA and gives her time to multiple dog rescues around the Los Angeles area.
Georgia Hatzis Janicijevic, Esq. is licensed in the state of Ohio and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Georgia is a litigation associate at Ulmer & Berne LLP in Cleveland, Ohio, representing clients in complex business, pharmaceutical, medical device, and mass and toxic tort actions. She has successfully handled all aspects of state and federal civil litigation, including pleadings and motion practice, pretrial discovery, trial preparation, trial practice, and appeals. She is a board member of the Federal Bar Association Northern District of Ohio Chapter and a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.
Georgia has worked as a law clerk for the Sherwin-Williams Company and as a legal extern for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Office of the Principal Legal Advisory. As an intern with the Serbian Unity Congress in Belgrade, Serbia, she edited funding proposals for the Balkan Trust for Democracy and executed a marketing strategy for the English School of Business.
Georgia volunteers with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and at the Greek Orthodox parish of Annunciation Cleveland and in the Serbian Orthodox community with her husband. Georgia recently gave the Three Hierarchs presentation to the Georgia Pappas Hellenic Greek School as a graduate of the program, talking about the value of education and philanthropy.
Georgia earned a BA from Baldwin Wallace University and her JD as a magna cum laude graduate of the Cleveland Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.
Fotini Iconomopoulos learned how to cope with age and gender discrimination as the only female negotiation consultant in a global consulting firm. She built a North American consulting practice, mentoring and managing men over a decade older than her and winning over clients in male-dominated industries. She launched her own consulting practice in 2015.
Fotini teaches an MBA Negotiations class at the Schulich School of Business that constantly has waiting lists.
When she’s not working with Fortune500 clients or providing media commentary, Fotini shares her mastery of Dzmaking a dealdz by educating women of all ages how to own their power, stand up to bullies and advocate for themselves. She collaborates with organizations that help women and disadvantaged groups achieve their personal and professional goals. In 2015, she started supporting organizations like Up With Women to help women leaving violence shelters as well as Lean In Canada, the Schulich School of Business’s Women in Leadership and the Rotman School of Management’s Women in Management groups, among others.
Fotini champions women as a R3 Board member at Rethink Breast Cancer and a regional officer at the Network of Executive Women. Her negotiation and sales prowess yields sponsorship funding for these organizations.
Fotini has volunteered for the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Canadian chapter in Toronto since 2014 and is NEW’s co-lead of Sponsorship, as well as its Succession Planning and Strategy chair.
Eleftherios (Louie) Karapanagiotides began his career at the Huron Consulting Group in New York City, becoming a subject matter expert in the life-sciences industry, developed new service lines for the business, and was a team leader. In 2015, at only 24, he became a co-founder in the Helio Health Group, a Management Consulting firm serving the Life Sciences Industry. Louie has assisted Helio in growing to over 10 employees and are fast approaching $3-5 million in annual earnings through their work with over 15+ clients which include Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer, Teva, Shire, Sandoz, and Spark Therapeutics.
Louie also started Off Main Properties, a real estate investment and management company, which provides leasing options to college students in Philadelphia.
Louie graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Louie serves on the board of Hellenic Hearts, a non-profit organization, and created its Educational Guidance Program (EGP). EGP provides education-to-career guidance to Hellenic-American youth through mentoring, networking, admissions counseling, and professionalism programs, while also making the collective experience and resources of the Hellenic-American community accessible to them. EGP hosts college fairs, college admissions workshops, sponsors free SAT tutoring programs, and provides $15,000 in scholarships annually.
Louie also coaches the youth basketball team at his home church in Upper Darby, PA.
Dina Karvounides, PsyD. Dr. Karvounides is a practicing, pediatric psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in its Pediatric Headache Program, focusing on treatment methods to help children and adolescents manage the effects of headaches on daily living. She is the psychology externship student supervisor in the pediatric headache program and has training in mindfulness, pediatric hypnosis, and biofeedback.
Dina spends time in outreach activities affecting the mental health of children in the community and is getting involved in global opportunities through Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
She received her undergraduate degree a BA in psychology from the Ohio State University and her graduate MA and doctoral PsyD degree from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. She completed an internship at Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, and a dual postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric pain & trauma at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and in pediatric chronic pain at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Dina is involved in supporting the Hellenic community at large and has been a volunteer with the Greek America Foundation and in her home parish in Akron, Ohio. She was a member of the Pontian Dance Group in Canton, Ohio, and performed with the Pan-Pontian Youth Federation before launching her medical career.
In his second year as an undergraduate in electrical engineering at MIT, Ioannis (John) Kymissis began working at IBM Research as a co-op, completing assignments at IBM at the Watson Research Lab in New York and the Tokyo Research Laboratory in Yamato, Japan, and making contributions to lead-free solder, high-k printable dielectrics used in circuit board manufacturing, analysis of liquid crystal impurities, and a new display using polymer dispersed liquid crystals. He won several awards at IBM for his work.
Since completing an MEng degree at MIT in 1999 and beginning work on field emission displays, John has developed several technologies and characterization strategies relating to the application of organic field effect transistors.
After graduation, John stayed at MIT as a post-doc, working on projects including an active matrix organic semiconductor-based photodetector array, hot-wire CVD deposition systems, and use of viral templates for building electronics and quantum dots in EL and PL devices.
John spent a year at QDVision as the first non-founding employee, helping hire the initial staff, renovate the lab and set up the company before moving to New York City for an appointment at Columbia University. In addition to teaching semiconductor devices and conducting research, he has been working on the development of organic semiconductor devices, low thermal budget piezoelectric systems, using laser recrystallization to build new devices, and active matrix and miniature microphones using piezoelectric polymers.
Christina (Lagos) Triantaphyllis is chief officer of public policy & strategic initiatives at the Collaborative for Children, where she leads policy/advocacy efforts to strengthen Texas’ early learning system. Her first step toward developing into a philanthropist, policy changer and social activist was in high school, when she created Literacy Success: Reading Mentors, which provided literacy support for local youth.
Christina received a BA in biological sciences for global health policy from Rice University. While there, she and her husband Alex developed PAIR: Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees, whose mission is to empower refugee youth to reach their full potential. She remains involved as president of the board of directors.
While working in Lesotho in southern Africa to design a program for pediatric patients at an HIV/AIDS clinic, Christina changed her goal of being a healthcare provider to continuing her education in public health policy. She received her MS in public health (global health & population) from the Harvard School of Public Health as a Reynolds Scholar and spent months in Nepal for her master’s thesis, identifying predictors of newborn survival.
Christina began her career at the Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit organization that collaborates with leaders, organizations and philanthropists to break cycles of poverty. She became a case team leader, advising nonprofits and philanthropists, and made a major contribution to a landmark analysis on kindergarten readiness in America.
She continues to be involved globally, serving on the board of advisors for Rice 360, a global health institute that was a top-four finalist in the MacArthur Foundation 100&Change Competition.
Elena LaQuatra lost 100% of her hearing and balance after contracting bacterial meningitis at age 4, but did not let that stop her from becoming an award-winning choreographer and dancer, being cast in more than two dozen professional productions, winning Shakespeare monologue contests at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and three state titles in the Miss America and Miss USA systems, or being a member of the Mt. Lebanon Percussion Ensemble.
After earning a BA in broadcast communications, Elena was a digital video reporter for WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh and now is a reporter/anchor at WJET in Erie, Pennsylvania.
She has appeared in a Super Bowl commercial, been featured in a commercial for the Music Choice channel, had a pivotal role on MTV’s “Made,” and competed for Greece’s Next Top Model. She emceed the nationally televised “Groundhog Day” in Punxsutawney, and serves as the television host for Hyatt Place Pittsburgh.
Elena runs her own business, “It Factor Coaching,” to mentor young women and prepare them for pageant competition. She presents “Speaking Through My Deaf Ears” and other programs to audiences throughout the country. She has participated in videos for Cochlear Americas and served as national spokesperson for the AG Bell Association for Deaf. Her philanthropic work includes the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech, National Kidney Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation.
Andrew T. Lentz is a Greek Orthodox priest who embodies the spirit of Hellenism as a non-Hellene. He is currently the Assistant Priest at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, Ohio, and loves engaging the congregation in important discussions and raising social awareness of important issues.
Fr. Andy is a graduate of St. Ignatius High School; George Washington University in Washington, DC, where he received a BA in Political Science; and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology where he received a Master of Divinity degree. He also holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Fundraising Management from Indiana University.
Fr. Andy is a volunteer disaster relief chaplain for International Orthodox Christian Charities and uses his skill and discipline as a marathon runner to raise money and awareness for the IOCC and manages the Akron Metropolitan Committee’s annual fundraising efforts.
Fr. Andy loves Greek dancing. In college, he helped establish and train the Hellenic Student Association’s Dance Troupe. He competed in the Metropolis of San Francisco’s FDF as a member of Tou Timiou Stavrou. He has remained involved in teaching dance and supporting the troupes of the parish.
For the past three years, Fr. Andy has organized the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Professional Basketball Greek Community Night with all of the Greek churches in the region and orchestrated meetings for fans with NBA players of Greek heritage. The most notable event was with Giannis Antetokounmpo where video and news went viral on social media and appeared on 60 Minutes.
Georgia Loukas was president of the Philanthropic Organization of the Cretan Youth of Chicago, which helps preserve Cretan heritage. She was in the Cretan Dance Group of Chicago for years and has run several dance groups and taught many generations the art of Cretan dance.
In addition to contributing to preserving Cretan heritage, Georgia has her own interior design firm – Impact Design, which she opened in 2005. Impact Design is a full-service interior design firm that provides distinctive environments for high-end residential and hospitality boutique clients. The firm is committed to creating the space its clients have always dreamed of and transforming a vision for a home into a reality.
Impact Design has also received many accolades, including the Who’s Who of Chicago’s Best Design Experts for the Decade of Design by CS Interiors magazine and a Streeterville Chamber of Commerce growing young business that is “Making a Difference” in the community.
In addition to developing her own design firm, Georgia has given back to the design community through various avenues, from designing a custom chair for Designs for Dignity to donating her time as a liaison to the design world to help students redesign their schools.
Since founding Ellison Eyewear in 2014, Aristotle Loumis has been bringing his passion for quality design, entrepreneurism, and philanthropy not only to his hometown of Chicago, but across the globe. With an extensive background in business and marketing, Loumis is eager to disrupt the growing eyewear industry by introducing a lifetime client-service model that simultaneously supports an integrated social mission.
In order to exceed customer expectations and deliver top-notch manufacturing at honest prices, Aristotle resided in Italy and also his father’s home country of Greece for three years while he researched the highest quality materials and production available. Aristotle ultimately decided on a small, family-owned factory in Greece, where he spent time learning the process and becoming an expert in developing and producing his own designs.
Living his life at the intersection of entrepreneurism and philanthropy, Loumis knew that his company would need to be a part of a greater good. Not only is he disrupting the eyewear monopoly with honest pricing, but also integrating a social mission.
To date, Aristotle’s initiatives have resulted in over 20 jobs, and over seven figures in economic stimulation in Greece. Providing over 3,500 people in need their eyesight, building the first of many Ellison Market Place aiding in the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece, and building over 40 homes in Latin America.
Aristotle has garnered the attention of Greek-Lebanese Billionaire, Marcus Lemonis, receiving an investment, filming for CNBC’s “the profit,” and becoming a partner in his globally recognized Marcus Lemonis Fashion Group.
Loumis wasn’t always in the business of handcrafted, first-rate eyewear. Aristotle got his start in the field of dentistry, studying at University of Iowa. It was there that he began his Ellison journey and was one of four companies to be accepted into the accelerated entrepreneurship program at University of Iowa Venture School.
Aristotle is currently Youth Profession Chair at the Greek America Foundation and Project Hope for Greece. He is also a member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization Fellowship Program.
While singing in a professional high school choir in Pittsburgh, Alexandra Loutsion was encouraged to pursue a career in voice. Since graduating magnum cum laude from Ithaca College with a degree in vocal performance, a master’s in voice performance and a graduate certificate with highest honors from the University of Southern California, she has been recognized for her passionate performances and vocal versatility in the dramatic soprano repertoire.
Faith, family and love of her Greek heritage are the three cornerstones that help Alexandra balance as she travels throughout the United States, and manages rehearsal and coaching schedules in preparation for performances. She often volunteers to sing in the choirs of Greek Orthodox churches as she travels and is a choir member of St. Basil’s in Chicago when she is at home.
Alexandra helps future singers by giving given Master Classes, holding chat sessions at colleges and universities, and giving free voice lessons to students in need. While a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera, she performed for school-age children. She has donated performances to fundraising events and performed at the Gabby Awards in New York City and for the St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
Alexandra created and produced a two-hour program entitled “The Life and Times of Maria Callas” and debuted it as a scholarship fundraiser at the University of Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Greek Nationality Room Committee at Pitt. She hopes to launch the program in more venues.
Sylvia Maria Mancini is the communications director and co-owner of PCP Clothing Inc. She graduated from the University of Toronto with an honours bachelor of science as a psychology specialist with a focus on child psychology, child and adult development; abnormal psychology cognitive development; and exceptionality and human learning.
Sylvia has an extensive research background as manager of several laboratories at the University of Toronto that she applied in a year as a volunteer in a Section 23 school for students with severe physical and cognitive disabilities.
Despite her science background, Sylvia developed an interest in fashion through her passion for green technology and sustainability. With her business partner Pella, she made it her mission to add sustainability and ethical business practices to the PCP Clothing brand, pursue and maintain local Greek partnerships with manufacturers, and use and experiment with eco-friendly fabrics. She has implemented a full sustainability audit, and has been involved in low-waste initiatives such as using leftover fabrics for accessories.
Sylvia is the chapter director for H.U.B. Inc. Young Entrepreneurs. She lectures on entrepreneurism and implementing sustainable business practices, and supports international programs and classes to bring back traditional skills like hand looming, embroidery and hand beading, with a modern twist to bridge generational gaps.
Sylvia also works with Further the Girls to support women empowerment.
Like many Greek-Americans, Konstantine Marougas grew up in the restaurant business. His father pushed him to go to culinary school because he thought Konstantine was capable of more than maintaining the family business.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of Los Angeles and working at a local restaurant, Konstantine spent three years with the Patina Restaurant Group as a sous chef, expanding his skills in fine dining, catering and running a kitchen. In 2010, he partnered with a friend to open his first restaurant, Kentro Greek Kitchen, in Fullerton, California. When the vision of the partners diverged, Konstantine founded the Parea Restaurant Group. After consulting for a few years and assisting in launching many successful restaurant projects, Konstantine formulated the concepts for two new projects in Downey, California: Louks Greek Baby Donuts and PitaGR, due to open in 2018.
Konstantine has a selfless attitude toward helping organizations that could benefit from his skill set. When his church’s New Year’s Eve fundraising event was in jeopardy, he stepped in and not only developed a menu, but spent multiple New Year’s Eves cooking and running the kitchen. He volunteers for a nonprofit art gallery, Stay, by creating and executing menus for their fundraising events. He is working with a creative agency to create a culinary internship and apprentice program in partnership with the Downey Unified School District that will help children achieve their dreams.
At 19, Elias Mastakouris already embodies the values of his Spartan ancestors . While a sophomore at Yale University, pursuing a BA/MA in political science, he is director of the Peace & Dialogue Leadership Initiative (PDLI), a foreign policy YaleWest Point program studying Mediterranean basin conflicts, and the 2018 leader of a research trip to Israel and the Palestine territories to study the conflict and foster civil-military cooperation.
As a freshman, Elias served as chief of staff for Alder Brackeen of the New Haven City Board of Alders.
At age 16, Elias secured a congressional internship in Washington, DC, with Rep. Joseph Crowley, a member of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, and conducted research on the Iran Nuclear Deal. He interned with New York City Mayor’s Office of Budget Management, received the highest state office in the 2015 American Legion New York Boys State Program and a New York Kiwanis Governor Jim Hebron Memorial Scholarship, and founded the North Shore High School Debate Team.
Elias was president of the North Shore Key Club and won the Distinguished New York State Presidents Award; completed more than 500 hours of community service; and spearheaded two service projects, both winning first place at the Key Club International Conference.
In response to deaths of local children, Elias organized speakers to teach the community about opioid issues. He served as a tutor and mentor to low-income students from New Haven under the Squash Haven Program.
Leah Michalos has been a tireless volunteer for the Greek America Foundation since 2010, primarily as the director or producer of the awards. The work requires massive amounts of communication and the sacrifice of her personal time. From overseeing last-minute changes to audio backstage on Ellis Island, to coordinating communication between stage managers and the volunteer team at Carnegie Hall, she has directed the show with grace and clarity under immense pressure.
Professionally, Leah is a producer and managing director at The Directors Company, a nonprofit theater company dedicated to the work of emerging artists, and owns her own theatrical general management company, Michalos Management LLC. She sits on the Advisory Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts as part of her commitment to amplifying people’s voices through her art form, especially the overlooked or marginalized. She serves as program director for the S.T.A.R. Theater for Social Change, a youth theater program to train young actors to perform in schools that also teaches a health and sex education program in New York City public schools.
When Hurricane Sandy struck the tri-state area, Leah drove every day to some of the most devastated areas in Rockaway after organizing gas and food drives, and dug families out of their flooded homes.
Leah also engages with church and community leaders about topics at the intersection of Greek Orthodoxy and LGBTQ dialogue.
Marigo Sofia Mihalos graduated from Fordham University, Lincoln Center with a double major. After spending three years as a freelance publicist while being a full-time college student, she launched her own boutique public relations firm in her early 20s. Breaking into the PR industry and owning your own firm at such a young age is usually reserved for fictional TV characters, but Marigo made it work.
Her firm, MSM Public Relations, focused on clients in the fashion, entertainment and lifestyle sectors, and secured press in major outlets. During that time, Marigo also served as director of PR for Bonnie Fuller and her site, HollywoodLife.com.
Never content to settle for one type of success, Marigo landed a job as a celebrity talent booker for a number of daytime TV shows. She has also consulted on projects for Lionsgate’s Television Division.
Two years ago, Marigo pivoted again, into the world of radio, as director of talent relations for SIRIUS XM Radio, overseeing the talent booking for all talk and entertainment channels together with her team.
Marigo splits her time on both coasts and dedicates herself to creating lasting relationships. Her traditional Greek values have shaped who she is and where she's going. She fights every day to be different and to be better; she also fights for other people’s dreams, mentoring Greek young adults, pushing them to follow their dreams and never give up.
Harris Mylonas is a tenured associate professor of political science and international affairs at the George Washington University, incoming editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers, vice president of the Association for the Study of Nationalities, and vice chair of the Historical Study of States and Regimes Network of the Council for European Studies.
He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Modern Greek Studies, faculty advisor for the Hellenic Student Association at GWU and former faculty advisor of the Harvard College Hellenic Society. He established the Hellenic Society of Washington, DC, and works to advance the understanding of modern Greek history through the Hellenic Heritage Documentary Association.
Harris was an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies at Harvard University and associate dean of research at the Elliott School of International Affairs.
Harris is a prolific scholar. His first award winning book is The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities; his next is The Politics of Diaspora Management. His documentary Searching for Andreas: Political Leadership in Times of Crisis premiered at the 20th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
He graduated from Anatolia College High School; has a BA in political science and public administration from the University of Athens; came to the USA on a Fulbright scholarship; and earned an MA in political science from the University of Chicago, and an MA, MPhil and PhD in political science from Yale University.
Harris is a go-to resource for public servants, diplomats, politicians and the policy-making community, particularly in promoting Hellenism.
Pella Christina Papachristou is the design director and founder of PCP Clothing, a unisex label founded in 2014 in Greece. After earning her degree in fashion and textile design, she decided to follow in the footsteps of the family business and start her own label. PCP Clothing has developed into an international online presence and the inspiration for the modern 1980s-themed leggings, clothing line and accessories.
Because Pella and her co-owner and sister Sylvia believe that success means a responsibility to contribute back to society, they created Glitter Anarchy to Dzspread magic to the world.dz They work to reunite business and philanthropy by participating in campaigns to create awareness and raise money for woman’s issues such as breast cancer and helping children with disabilities. Pella curates gifts for Syrian refugee children and contributes clothing and time.
Pella also organizes annual beach cleanups and tree planting. She and Sylvia continuously improve their business manufacturing and sourcing practices to implement environmental practices.
The girls have partnered with the Toronto Fashion Academy. They support continuing education and are creating workshops and programs to teach and train millennials and all those who want to join the charge in restoring ethics, values and consciousness in the fashion industry.
Dr. Lambe Bobby Papoulias was in marketing at a dot com before turning to higher education. He is currently a business communication professor at California State University, Fullerton, where he teaches advanced business communications and business writing in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics. He was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Professor Award for his teaching and commitment to his students in the business honors program.
Bobby earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton; holds a doctorate degree from Pepperdine University in organizational leadership; and completed a certificate in digital marketing from Cornell University. As advocates of higher education, Bobby and his wife Nikki have created a scholarship for helping Greek-Americans pay for their college degree.
In addition to teaching, Bobby moonlights as an e-mail specialist and consultant at BobbyPap.com, where he hosts workshops in e-mail/business writing. He is currently writing and working on publishing his book, “E-mail Etiquette,” where he discusses the importance of e-mail communication in today’s digital age of business communication.
Bobby handles marketing and advertising for the Downey Greek Food Festival pro bono, including creating the marketing plan, brainstorming creative material, running analytical reporting, and managing their social media. He has been recognized by the mayor of Downey for his marketing role in the festival.
In his free time, Bobby runs his chihuahua Feta’s Facebook page, Find Feta, and website, FindFeta.com, where Feta’s 20,000+ followers attempt to find him hiding in photos. As Feta’s popularity was growing, Dogster.com, an online dog focused website, featured Find Feta as a cover page story. When Bobby is not working on Find Feta, he enjoys attending Los Angeles Lakers basketball games, where he has held season tickets for over a decade.
When Anthoula (Antha) Poleondakis was in her mid-20s, her father died unexpectedly; six months later, she lost her mother. She chose to raise her two younger siblings while building a career at Merrill Lynch. She is now a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch with almost $600 million in client assets and holds a Certified Financial Planner CFP® designation and Certified Investment Management Analyst CIMA ® Designation, which she received after completing her educational component at the Wharton Business School.
Antha has been flying planes since she was 14 and scuba-certified since 13. She mountaineers, has summited Mt. Rainier and is training for Mt. Everest base camp.
Antha sits on multiple nonprofit boards and has won awards for her work in the community. A strong advocate for women and girls, Antha has spoken on radio shows, to nonprofit groups, and mentors young women in her community.
Inspired by the community spirit of her civic-minded parents, Eliana Theodorou has worked on civil rights and social issues throughout her life. She is finishing her third year at New York University School of Law. She is an executive editor of New York University Law Review and a recipient of the school’s Dean’s Scholarship and the Hellenic Lawyer’s Association Scholarship.
During law school, Eliana worked for Beldock, Levine & Hoffman, a private civil rights firm that represents the estate of Eric Garner, represented the Central Park 5, and was counsel on the stop-and-frisk litigation Floyd v. City of New York. As part of NYU’s Family Defense Clinic, she assists in the representation of low-income parents in child neglect proceedings and protects their civil rights to parent their children. She recently began working with Survived and Punished, an organizing collective that seeks to end the criminalization of survivors of gender-based violence.
Eliana is particularly passionate about protecting the rights of grassroots activists so they can do important, on-the-ground organizing work.
Before law school, Eliana worked for a women's rights nonprofit for several years, where she testified before the New York City Council on the issue of campus sexual assault and co-authored a chapter in the Lawyer's Manual on Domestic Violence, published by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Department.
In college, Eliana was one of the founders of the Hellenic organization at Wesleyan University.
Polidoros Trejos graduated from the University of Texas with finance and business honors degrees before starting his career as an energy investment banker, primarily with Lehman Brothers. On resigning from Lehman, he joined Technoserve, an international nonprofit that promotes business solutions to poverty in the developing world, as the first volunteer consultant in the new Ethiopia office. He created financial analyses and helped negotiate with local Ethiopian banks to secure up to $4 million for 20 coffee unions to buy coffee-washing machines and coffee cherry.
Joining Sanchez Oil & Gas as a vice president of finance, Polidoros shepherded the company through its $220 million initial public offering and helped transform Sanchez from producing 600 barrels of oil per day to ~55,000 barrels per day through major acquisitions and arranging acquisition financing.
In 2016, Polidoros and three partners founded Fortuna Resources, an oil and gas company, which they grew to 8,500 net acres and 400 barrels of oil per day from scratch before selling it in December 2016. They established Fortuna 2 in 2017 and have grown it to over 400 barrels of oil per day, more than 4,000 net acres in the Delaware Basin and more than 18,000 net acres in the Central Basin Platform.
Polidoros has served the University of Texas as an alumni interviewer for applicants to the Business Honors Program and advisory board member to the Financial Analyst Program, and established the Paraskevi and Polidoros Trejos Endowed Excellence Fund in Business Honors to provide business students with scholarships.
Alex Triantaphyllis has spent the last several years serving as director of immigration and economic opportunity at the nonprofit BakerRipley (formerly Neighborhood Centers), where he started a small business development program and led the immigration team. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Alex has been active in the Welcoming Houston initiative, the Mayor’s Task Force on Equity and many other community efforts in his hometown. With his wife Christina, Alex co-founded PAIR: Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees, a nonprofit that provides educational mentorship to refugee youth in Houston.
Alex graduated from Rice University with a BA in political science and Hispanic studies; completed coursework for a master’s in economics in Argentina at the Universidad de San Andres; and graduated from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After working in finance at Goldman Sachs and consulting at McKinsey, he returned to advocating for community members in the Houston area.
Alex recently ran for Congress in Texas’s 7th congressional district with a grassroots campaign attracting national headlines. His platform included protecting a woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions; ensuring every child can attend a great public school; providing every American with access to healthcare; and welcoming the immigrant community to participate in the American Dream.
Vasileios Tsianos is a Management Consultant at Strategy Corp. Concurrently, he is an advisor to the CEO of Stanbury Holdings (a private equity operating partner with East Africa focus), and raises capital for OARK (a Denmark-based, patented, medical technology company). Previously, he was Vice President for Corporate Development at Keela.co, Associate at Carrot Rewards, and Investment Banking Analyst at IJW & Co.
Vasileios completed his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto and his Masters in Finance at IE Business School, where he developed the first quantitative methodology for development of large-scale Debt-for-Environment Swaps in renewable energy sources transition. He is one of the youngest to be awarded the Professional Risk Manager designation of PRMIA.
Vasileios has served as director of the Hellenic Canadian Board of Trade; co-led the initiative to create a Modern Greece Studies program at the University of Toronto; published opinion pieces in the London School of Economics’ EuroCrisis and the Huffington Post; and advised political candidates for leadership in Canada, Greece and the United Nations.
Vasileios has raised more than $3 million for philanthropic and business ventures; he is one of the youngest people to be invited to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, G20 summit, Clinton Global Initiative and UN Climate Summit; and received climate leadership training from former Vice President Al Gore. His recognitions include 100 Future Global Leaders (the Web Summit), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Royal Economic Society, and a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum.
As Vice-President of Marketing and Information Technology at Astra Foods, John Vasiliou has been instrumental in helping transform his family owned business into the leading name behind the growing Philly-Style meat products sector. He spearheads Astra Foods’ involvement in many food tradeshows, conferences, and expos around the country. Since its inception John has been intimately involved every fall in planning the annual "Philadelphia Cheesesteak Festival"... the largest Cheesesteak festival in the world, visited by over 20,00 people per day each year. He also created the "Astra Foods Cheesesteak Challenge," where professional competitive eaters from all around the country compete in a timed contest for the Cheesesteak crown.
John is also owner of a real estate development company in Philadelphia and a principal in a frozen dough manufacturing company in Chicago. He graduated from the prestigious Stern School of Business at New York University.
John started a partnership between Astra Foods and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church that feeds people at a local homeless shelter in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania with a "Cheesesteak Dinner." Over 400 cheesesteak sandwiches have been served once a month for the past 15 months.
John has been committed to St. Demetrios Church since a young man. Since 2008, he has been chairman of the "Upper Darby Greek Food Festival," the largest fundraiser for the church. He also serves as Vice-President of the Parish Council.
In 2007, John co-founded the Philadelphia Greek Basketball League (PGBL), which gives fellow Greeks adults a way to stay connected through sports after their GOYA years. He also created "PGBL Cares," the community outreach part of the PGBL, which provides a scholarship each year, donates to the Red Cross, and has gathered toys for the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia. In 2015, John also started the annual "Greek Heritage Night" with the Philadelphia 76ers which brings together hundreds of Greek-Americans every year. This event is recognized by the Philadelphia 76ers as the largest cultural event during their season.
John serves as a mentor for Greek American high school students by providing internship opportunities at Astra Foods, was a former church youth advisor, and has coached boys GOYA basketball. Most recently in 2017 John was honored by the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) during their annual conference, with the "Public Service Award" for his deep commitment to Hellenism and Orthodoxy.
John is married to Renee Koumatos Vasiliou and the couple resides in Center City Philadelphia.
Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks is president and CEO of Earth Friendly Products, founded in 1967 by her Greek immigrant father and a model of green manufacturing for more than 50 years. Kelly has transformed her family’s business to reach new heights of sustainability and innovation, and reach millions of new consumers.
Kelly grew up in the family business but spent several years working elsewhere to bring back new expertise. She modernized the family business, opened new facilities and grew sales seven-fold. It is now the only company in the world that is carbon- and water-neutral, and Platinum-level Zero Waste certified.
Kelly is also a leader in sustainable employment practices, promotes a culture of diversity and empowerment within her company, and is proud that over 50% of her C-suite and top executives are women.
A graduate of UCLA and Chapman University, Kelly has been internationally recognized for her leadership and influential voice in the green movement and has received many awards for her sustainable leadership.
Kelly served as executive director of the American Hellenic Council of California in the 1990s, and remains active as a resource and advocate. She served on the board of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad and supports Hellenic initiatives, including the Hellenic-American Medical and Dental Society of Southern California, National Hellenic Society, OXI Day Foundation (Washington, DC), Greek American Rehabilitation Centre (Chicago), Hippocratic Cancer Research Foundation of Northwestern University, and Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.
Madaline Zannes is a legal tech professional and innovation advocate. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School with a Juris Doctor degree, and York University with honors degrees in Kinesiology & Health Sciences, and English. Before moving towards the legal realm, she worked in health and medicine, volunteering her time in York University’s Faculty of Health labs, researching exercise physiology, angiogenesis, vascular remodeling and gene regulation. She also worked alongside physiotherapists in the clinical setting to help athletes reach peak performance.
A social media influencer with focus on personal growth and success advocacy, Madaline has traveled and connected with legal colleagues and entertainment professionals internationally. She is a networking machine who works to elevate others. With a keen eye for trends, she has helped colleagues implement next-generation technologies in their businesses for growth and scale.
Cited as one of the top legal influencers to follow in 2018 by Disruptor Daily, Madaline spreads awareness of global and social issues.
Madaline helps colleagues move toward life-changing employment opportunities and on her own time enjoys involvement in activities such as donation drives, and avian rescue and rehabilitation. Madaline has had her work published on popular news websites such as HuffPost, Inman News, legal blogs, and her legal tech website ZannesLaw.com.
Madaline enjoys mentoring youth and students to succeed at school and in the workplace. She has motivated many with the guidance to help young and old in terms of motivation, personal growth and goal-setting.
George N. Zapantis runs his own boutique midtown Manhattan-based law practice, focusing in commercial real estate.
As vice president of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce, George dedicates countless hours to assisting other young professionals in networking and career advancement. He planned networking cocktail receptions that attracted more than 100 young professionals and the Young Professionals Gala for several years; organized a speaker series; put together holiday toy drives; and grew membership in the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals that has more than 4,500 members.
George is treasurer of the Hellenic Lawyers Association, the largest organization of attorneys of Hellenic descent in the U.S., and has been an active member since joining as a law student. He has been involved in planning and hosting CLEs, Judiciary Nights, scholarship dinners, networking events and law student mentorship.
George also volunteers for the Hellenic Initiative as a New Leader, helping to spread the word about the work of the organization. He pays tribute to his heritage as an active member of the Kefalos Society, and was an original member of Holy Trinity Cathedral’s Young Professional Committee.
George is a member of the American Hellenic Institute and has participated in Advocacy Trips to Washington, DC, with the Hellenic American Leadership Council, AHEPA and other groups to educate members of Congress about Greek issues. He volunteers time and fundraising support for political candidates, including Greek Americans.