Leadership 100 to Celebrate 30th Anniversary at Upcoming Conference

The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund will mark its 30th Anniversary at its 23rd Annual Conference, February 13-16, 2014 at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Naples, Florida, according to Charles H. Cotros, Chairman.

Since its beginnings in 1984 by Archbishop Iakovos of Blessed Memory along with its Founders, a small group of leading Greek Orthodox laymen, Leadership 100 has grown dramatically, principally in the last 15 years under the guidance of Archbishop Demetrios. Grants now exceed $35.6 million and its membership, whose philanthropy made this possible, has reached 925 Greek Orthodox leaders, men and women and young professionals who have carried on the tradition of advancing their Orthodox Faith and Hellenic Heritage.

In recognition of the Anniversary, Archbishop Demetrios will be honored for his extraordinary leadership of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and all its ministries and institutions as he marks 15 years as Archbishop of America. The Conference will highlight the future of philanthropy in America and the world with the presentation of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, to be accepted by Vasili Tsamis, Chief Operating Officer, who will outline the impressive world-wide mission of the Foundation and the role of philanthropy in the world economy. The Seleni Institute will also be presented with the prestigious Award, to be accepted by Nitzia Logothetis, Founder and Executive Chairwoman. She will describe the work of the Institute in addressing women’s health issues and the role of philanthropy and social change.

In addition, the Conference will receive a report on one of Leadership 100’s recent grants by Nicholas J. Furris, Senior Producer/Director of Greek Orthodox Telecommunications (GOTelecom). The grant to GOTelecom, a National Ministry under the Department of Communications of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, made possible 26 original programs to provide Orthodox Christians and viewers of other faiths with religious education on the Greek Orthodox Faith in the U.S.A. and around the world by means of a newly-developed GOTelecom TV, and Internet/cable television channel.

The Conference will also include the traditional Bible Study and Lecture by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, the festive Glendi on Friday, February 14, and the Grand Gala on Saturday evening, February 15, as well as a special program for children chaired by Elaine Cotronakis and activities for our young professionals. As usual, sports and other social activities will be available for all conferees. Dean Vali & Keffe will provide entertainment.

Business Forum

A Business Forum titled “A Vision for the Future of Business” will also take place during the conference from 4:00 to 5:30 pm on Friday, February 14, 2014. George S. Tsandikos, the Vice Chairman of Leadership 100, who is Managing Director of Rockefeller & Company in New York City, will moderate a panel of three of the most prominent members of Leadership 100, George D. Behrakis, John Catsimatidis, and C. Dean Metropoulos, who will examine the future prospects for business in America and in the world as a result of the economic dislocation of both the national economy and the global economy.

Behrakis is a pioneer in the pharmaceutical field and a renowned philanthropist in medicine and health, higher education and the arts. He has served on the Boards and supported numerous medical, educational, cultural and religious organizations, including Boston College, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Northeastern University, Harvard University, Tufts University Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also has served on the Board of Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology and continues to serve on the Executive Committees of the Archdiocesan Council and of Leadership 100, as Chairman Emeritus of the latter.

Catsimatidis is the Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group, which has holdings in oil refining, retail petroleum products, convenience stores, real estate, aviation, and supermarkets, with investments in both medical and industrial technology. In 2013, Catsimatidis sought the Republican nomination for Mayor of New York City. Starting as a relatively unknown businessman, Catsimatidis finished second with 41% of the vote against an establishment candidate. Catsimatidis’s civic and charitable interests include the Hellenic Times Scholarship Foundation, the New York Police Athletic League (PAL), the Boy Scouts, the Ellis Island Awards Foundation, the Law Enforcement Foundation, and the Juvenile Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Research Foundations. He is the co-founder and major supporter of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council, and sits on the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of Leadership 100.

C. Dean Metropoulos is currently Chairman and CEO of Metropoulos & Company, a boutique acquisition and management firm with offices in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. He has spent the past 25 years building, restructuring and growing numerous businesses in the U.S., Mexico and Europe. Many of these were subsequently taken public or sold to strategic corporations. Metropoulos & Company is very well known in the private equity, investment banking, and financial community, and is widely recognized as the leading investment firm in the consumer space, having acquired and repositioned more than 300 brands worldwide, and with more than 78 acquisitions involving over $48 billion in invested capital. Dean’s sons, Evan and Daren, also principals at Metropoulos & Company, are often credited with many of the unique marketing strategies that have re-launched and reestablished many of the iconic brands that the company has built and reinvigorated. A long time member of Leadership 100, he was recently elected President of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism.