Annual Conference to Commemorate 40th Anniversary of Leadership 100

By NEO Magazine on December 28, 2023

The 33^rd Annual Leadership 100 Conference, which will take place February 29-March 3, 2024, at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Naples, Florida, will commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund, according to Demetrios G. Logothetis, Chairman. “We anticipate with great excitement the celebration of our 40^th Anniversary. In preparation we have arranged for the exhibit titled Leadership 100, 1984 to 2024, 40 Years of Philanthropic Service until February 2024 at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago and a video produced at the exhibit which will be shared with all attendees at our Conference.”

Archbishop Elpidophoros will deliver a lecture in acknowledgement of the 40^th Anniversary on Friday, March 1. Speakers include Deacon Marek Simon, Executive Director, and Maria Tsarnas and Chris Kontomaris, of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), General Andrew Poppas, Commanding General, US Army Forces Command, and Drs. Theodoros Teknos, President and Scientific Director at the UH Seidman Cancer Center and Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, and Leonidas Platanias, Director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, on Thursday, February 29; Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, Chief, Antiquities Trafficking Unit New York District Attorney’s Office, on Friday, March 1; and Matina Kolokotronis, Chief Operating Officer, Sacramento Kings, on Saturday, March 2.

Other events include Young Professionals Networking and Event and the Hellenic Glendi on Friday, March 1, the Annual Walk/Run and Golf and Tennis Tournaments and Awards on Saturday morning, March 2, the Obelisk and Icon Photo Presentation, Children’s Program, and Grand Banquet on Saturday evening, March 2, and the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at St. Katherine’s Church in Naples, Florida on Sunday, March 3.

Paulette Poulos Receives 2023 Phidippides Award

GAEPIS and its media outlet Cosmos FM, New York, 91.5 Hellenic Public Radio honored Paulette Poulos with the 2023 Phidippides award for passionate advocacy of Hellenism. “Currently serving as the Executive Director of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund, Paulette received this recognition with great pride. AXIA!,” said Stelios Taketzis Chairman of the GAEPIS Board of Directors. He also expressed gratitude to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, all attendees, the board, and the organizing team for their collective efforts in ensuring the success of the event.

Stelios Taketzis, Paulette Poulos, Fr. Eugene Pappas, and Archbishop Elpidophoros; PHOTO: DIMITRIOS PANAGOS

Archbishop Elpidophoros addressed the event, stating among else: “This evening’s celebration of our beloved Paulette Poulos with the Phidippides Award for Passionate Advocacy of Hellenism and Orthodoxy seems to me the most natural, if not consequential, awarding of this special prize in its history. I think I can safely say – everyone knows Paulette! And not only because of her stewardship of Leadership 100 for the last two decades as Executive Director. Paulette has been a fixture of solid gold in the life of the Omogeneia since before Leadership 100 even came into existence.”

In accepting the honor, Paulette Poulos addressed the gathering. She included in her remarks: “It is with great humility that I accept the 28^th Phidippides Award from Hellenic Public Radio Cosmos FM, the voice of our common Hellenic Heritage in the Tri-State area and beyond. Cosmos FM stands as a sentinel for Hellenism in America, advancing the mission of the Greek American Educational Information System, providing informative bilingual programming which advances our Greek culture, issues and concerns in America, Greece, Cyprus, and the Hellenic Diaspora since 1987.”

She added among else that “as the Executive Director of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund, I strive to carry on the legacy of my mentor (Archbisthop Iakovos) who so successfully led our Church and Community into a new era. I am deeply indebted to our beloved Spiritual Leader, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, who has picked up the torch and is leading our Church forward in the path of Orthodoxy and Hellenism… I am deeply indebted to the Leadership 100 family, especially to our current Chairman, Demetrios Logothetis and to our past Chairman, Argyris Vassiliou, whom we call RJ, and who is the Gala Chairman this evening.”

Michael N. Bapis Elected Vice Chairman

Michael N. Bapis, Managing Director, Private Wealth Advisor and Head of Sports and Entertainment with Vios Advisors at Rockefeller Capital Management, was elected Vice Chairman of Leadership 100 by the Board of Trustees at their meeting of November 3, 2023, succeeding James Pantelidis of Blessed Memory, according to Chairman Demetrios G. Logothetis. Bapis has been a member of the Executive Committee since February of 2022 and of the Board of Trustees for fourteen years and has served as Chairman of the Audit Committee. He currently serves as a member of both the Audit Committee and Grant Committee.

Michael Bapis

“Leadership 100 is very pleased to have Michael Bapis as our next Vice Chairman. He represents a new generation of leadership and brings exceptional professional experience, as well as a long history in a variety of roles with our organization. I am personally delighted to have him working beside me,” said Logothetis.

Bapis has over 20 years of wealth management and private banking experience and collectively oversees approximately $1.3 billion in assets under management with his firm. In his role as a Private Wealth Advisor and Head of Sports and Entertainment at Rockefeller, he assists clients and families, institutions and professional athletes and entertainers in achieving their financial goals and objectives by providing knowledgeable insight, tactical wealth management investment strategies and highly personalized client service.

As Chairman of The Ronald McDonald House of New York Greek Division, Bapis led successful fundraising efforts in support of the organization. He was named as the 2019 Honoree for the annual Tuesday’s Children Plandome Benefit, an award that recognizes a renowned individual in the community for their passion for volunteerism.

Bapis is a member of HANAC, The Hellenic Initiative, Hellenic Hearts, and Archangel Michael Church. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the American College of Greece and The Hellenic College- Holy Cross School of Theology, as well on the Investment Committee of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation.

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