A proud moment for the Greek America Foundation.
“The Foundation was how I first entered journalism a decade ago now. I am beyond grateful for how you believed in me and how you and the Greek America Foundation changed my life.”
Over the past decade, Athens-based journalist Alex Clapp— in his quest to uncover and share the truth— has come face to face with neo-nazis, drug cartels, billionaire oligarchs and some of the most dangerous people in the world.
From his focus area of Greece and the Balkans and across the Atlantic in South America, his stories have appeared in the world’s most prestigious publications and his dedication to uncovering complex narratives has earned him global recognition, including the Pulitzer Center Breakthrough Journalism Prize for his 2020 article on Europe’s largest heroin bust.
Rewind a decade ago… Alex was the recipient of Greek America Foundation’s post-baccalaureate fellowship/scholarship that funded a year-long internship in Greece working at a local newspaper, while simultaneously learning Greek. It was his first foray into journalism after studying classical languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania.
The post-baccalaureate fellowship was created by Dr. Jennifer Kellogg, who developed all of our academic programs, including our Semester in Athens scholarship and our Greek America Corps volunteer program.
Alex and I caught up in Athens a few weeks ago because he wanted to share the news of the forthcoming release of his first book.
“[The foundation] is directly responsible for my ability to write this book,” he told me during our conversation. “I am beyond grateful for how you believed in me and how you, and the Greek America Foundation changed my life.”
Alex’s first book is coming out in February 2025. It’s about the global waste trade— the strange business whereby, beginning in the 1980s, the richer countries of the world started shipping their toxic chemicals and plastic waste to the poorer countries of the world. For two years he traveled around the world, examining where American and European waste travels and why.
Waste Wars will be released in six languages— Greek included. And the topic couldn’t be more timely as heaps of trash begin to overwhelm the Greek islands and the topic of waste management becomes more and more prevalent in media throughout the world.
See a selection of Alex Clapp’s award-winning articles here.
Postscript: Incidentally, despite its impact on several students like Alex Clapp, a lack of funding led to the indefinite pause of the awarding of our post-baccalaureate fellowship/scholarship. Fortunately, our other academic programs continue to thrive although we hope, in terms of future, to raise the necessary funds to reinstate this program.