Leadership 100 Celebrates 30 Years; Honors Seleni, SNF, Furris

The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, one of the most prominent charitable Greek organizations in America, celebrated its 30th year anniversary, February 13-16, 2014 at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Naples, Florida.

During the three-day conference, attended by some 400 members and their guests, the outgoing Chairman  Charles H. Cotros, passed the torch of his office to George S. Tsandikos, Vice Chairman, at the Grand Gala on Saturday, February 15.

The Conference highlighted the future of the Church and Philanthropy in America and the world with the presentation of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to Seleni Institute for programs addressing women’s health. The award was accepted by its Founder and Executive Chairwoman Nitzia Logothetis and her husband George. Seleni, based at a state-of-the-art facility in New York City, was created to better address the unique mental health needs of women and their families through funding research, raising and providing awareness and providing clinical care. (Related: Watch an interview with Nitzia Logothetis and learn more about Seleni)

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation was also honored with the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence, accepted by Vasili Tsamis, Chief Operating Officer, for worldwide innovative philanthropy.

Producer and Director Nicholas J. Furris also accepted The Award for Excellence for Greek Orthodox Telecommunications (GOTelecom), for the 26-program series, “Discovering Orthodox Christianity, funded with a Leadership 100 grant.

The Conference also included a Personal dialogue, “A Vision for the Future”, with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, conducted by Charles H. Cotros; a Business Forum, “A Vision for the Future of Business”, moderated by George S. Tsandikos, featuring George D. Behrakis, Chairman Emeritus of Leadership 100, John Catsimatidis, member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of Leadership 100, and C. Dean Metropoulos, a long-time member of Leadership 100 and the newly-elected President of Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy & Hellenism, all leading businessmen and philanthropists.

Watch our interviews from the 23^rd Annual Conference of Leadership 100 below:

The event featured a special message from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who commended Leadership 100 for its 30 years of service the Church and acknowledged His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios for his 15 years of service as Archbishop of America. The Archbishop was presented with a crystal encased replica of the design for St. Nicholas Church, which is to be built overlooking the September 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan.

The group also hosted a business forum presented by veteran entrepreneurs Dean Metropoulos, John Catsimatidis and George Behrakis.

Prior to the festivities, the Executive Committee approved $2,453,833.50 in new grants and prior commitments for 2014, bringing the total of grants distributed by Leadership 100 since its inception to $38,004,511.50.

In addition to George S. Tsandikos, who was elected Chairman, Argyris “R.J.” Vassiliou was elected Vice Chairman, Tom Jordan was elected Treasurer, and Kassandra Romas was re-elected Secretary. Four new members were elected to the Board of Trustees, including Froso Beys and Justin Bozonelis of the Direct Archdiocesan District; Dr. George Carayannopoulos of the Metropolis of Denver; and Gerry Ranglas of the Metropolis of San Francisco. James Logothetis was appointed as the new Chairman of the Audit Committee.