Endy D. Zemenides, from the government practice of Chicago law firm Johnston, Greene, who also served as Campaign Manager for Alexi Giannoulias, will be HALC’s Executive Director. “We’re seeking to build upon the last forty years of Greek American advocacy, and we’re blending that knowledge with tools our community has never used. We will engage more Greek Americans than ever before,” he said.

As Alexi Giannoulias, former Illinois State Treasurer and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate and Board President of HALC said “I am excited to be a part of this innovative organization. HALC’s leadership program and its advocacy and education campaigns will help Greek Americans become more engaged and active citizens here at home.”

The organization will focus on three primary goals:

• Cultivating the next generation of Greek American leaders by engaging in a national citizen education effort and leadership training curriculum;
• pursuing true progress on the issues that matter most to the Greek American community by implementing comprehensive advocacy programs using the latest digital technologies;
• creating a large, engaged and truly committed grassroots network that can be activated for all of the community’s initiatives.

According to Nikos Mouyiaris, a board member of the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes and a founding board member of HALC, “the Greek American community has accomplished a lot, but much work still needs to be done. HALC will help the community take its influence on the national stage to the next level.”

As its threshold initiative, HALC is launching an online petition calling for the withdrawal of all occupying forces from Cyprus. Turkey has maintained some 40,000 troops on Cyprus since its invasion in 1974. HALC’s petition and corresponding social media campaign aim to draw international attention to this crime against the Cypriot people and demand action.

The petition can be found at www.hellenicleaders.com/freecyprus. HALC’s website can be found at www.hellenicleaders.com

In an interview with NEO’s Demetrios Rhompotis, Endy Zemenides had the following to say:

Why another Greek American organization? What would you do differently?

The primary logic in forming this organization is that much of the talent in our community – and most of the population – remains uninvolved in our community’s institutions. This is becoming even more pronounced in the younger generations.

This is not necessarily the fault of our existing institutions, which all have accomplishments and missions that we should be proud of, but the demands of 21st century America, as well as shifts in our community (no more immigration, a demographically and geographically more diverse social base) requires that we approach Greek Americans differently and be more creative in how we get them involved.

What are we doing differently? First of all, we are utilizing on-line tools in a manner that our community has not to date (see our website at www.hellenicleaders.com). This is key – especially for young professionals – not only because it has become the primary form of communication for many people, but because the demands of the workplace have made it harder for people to physically be somewhere, so we make it easier from them to participate via their computer, smart phone, IPad, etc. This also makes it easier to organize nationally, and not only in cities with concentrated Greek-American populations.

Obama made most of his campaign money from online contributions in 2008. What else?

Another major difference is that we are focusing on what we are offering our members, rather than just appealing to them for their support. Whether it be offering unique business networking opportunities (both within our community and with other communities), providing the training and opportunities to affect the political process, or giving people the opportunity to work with fellow Greek-Americans in a meaningful manner (and thus giving them a chance to develop strong professional ties and friendships with other Greek-Americans), we will be providing a product that is not widely available to most Greek-Americans.

Are you going to cooperate with existing organization, have you reached out to some of them, did you form partnerships?

Yes, we will cooperate with existing organizations. HALC is trying to fill gaps, not replace any other organization. We have already cooperated with AHI and the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes. We are in consistent contact with Manatos & Manatos, the Cyprus Federation and PSEKA. We are in communication with and planning collaborative efforts with groups in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Michigan, St. Louis. And we will work with every group that is seriously and vigorously promoting a Greek-American agenda. We are also cooperating with other communities. Already in Chicago we have undertaken initiatives with major Jewish-American organizations and are about to launch similar initiatives with African-American organizations, Latinos, Armenians, environmental organizations, and others.

This is a highly charged election year. Is HALC going to follow a bipartisan approach, will it be non partisan, will it try to help certain candidates?

HALC will be an advocacy organization. Our primary focus will be to advocate for initiatives that affect Cyprus, Greece, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This will be by definition a by-partisan approach, as support for our issues is – and should remain – bi-partisan. We aim to make it as widely bi-partisan as support for Israel for example. We will educate our community as to which candidates have been more supportive of our issues, and would expect that a well-informed community would direct its support accordingly.

If you are going to focus on a grass root campaign to achieve progress on Hellenic issues, then why the word "Leaders" in the organization's logo? Don't we need more soldiers? In fact aren't the same leaders working for the same issues all the time?

I think we are defining “Leadership” different than you are. We are not bestowing the title of leadership, but issuing a call to action for people to lead through action. We also seem to define grassroots differently than you may be. We are not recruiting passive members. While some may be far more active than others, there is a commitment to active citizenship for those involved with HALC. We seek to empower and enable a grassroots network to emerge as “Leaders” in their communities, in their professions, in their congressional district. We are confident that this approach will work. Instead of having a few people undertaking the enormous burden of having to deliver on all of the community’s issues all the time, we will involve more people in substantive manners than ever before and not only spread the burden, but cover more ground and more issues than ever before. These potential leaders will have the support of (a) a full time staff; (b) more established mentors who serve as National Board Members; (c) a Leadership Training Curriculum and (d) on-line tools that will make them as effective as they can possibly be. This support system will also ensure that their actions are consistent, coordinated and complimentary – and this will have the “soldier” effect that you allude to.

Have you already managed to attract people who haven't been active in our issues?

Yes, and we have managed to encourage those that have been marginally involved to becoming far more involved. Petition signatures, on-line debates, letters to the editor, letters to Congressmen and Senators have been coming from coast to coast and from people who had never written to a newspaper or Congressman before. The effect of thousands of new voices saying the same thing will soon be felt.