Alpha Omega Council Hosted 2024 Honors Gala

Alpha Omega Council hosted the 2024 Honors Gala, its premiere event & primary fundraiser, at the InterContinental Boston. Nearly 300 guests were invited to enjoy dinner & drinks, experience live music and dancing, and witness the awards presentation. Nicholas R. Larigakis was Honored as 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Loren J. Samons II was presented the 2024 Philhellene Award, Anthe Mitrakos was presented the 2024 Emerging Leader Award.

The event began with welcome remarks by Honors Gala Chairman Paul Tsitsopoulos, followed by an invocation by Chancellor of the Metropolis Rev. Theodore J. Barbas, and additional welcome remarks by Master of Ceremonies Cathy Papoulias-Sakellaris, who is the spouse of last year’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Honoree, George P. Sakellaris. The National Anthems of the Hellenic Republic & United States were offered by Melodia Collection, which continued into remarks by Symeon Tegos, Consul General of Greece in Boston.

2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Nicholas Larigakis, Pres. & CEO of American Hellenic Institute with Alpha Omega Council President Harry J. Vlachos Esq. and Master of Ceremonies Cathy Papoulias-Sakellaris (photo: Areti Bratsis)

Recently-appointed Alpha Omega Council President Harry J. Vlachos, Esq. offered remarks and recognized the Peter Agris Memorial Journalism Scholarship recipients, who were recognized in memory of Alpha Omega Council’s late founder. Recipients included young Greek American aspiring journalists, such as Nicholas Antonakas, Mariana Apostolatos, Ileana Exaras, Katherine Dorothy Manatos, Anastasia Petridis and Eleni Tecos.

Each year, Alpha Omega Council recognizes outstanding individuals who have excelled in their accomplishments from the worlds of government, business, philanthropy, and the arts and sciences. These men and women are honored at the Annual Honors Gala through the presentation of three exceptional awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Philhellene Award, and Emerging Leader Award.

Alpha Omega Council President Harry J. Vlachos, Esq. announced the recipients of these awards sharing, “The three honorees chosen for our Honors Gala this year represent a distinguished tradition that reaches back to the founding of the Alpha Omega Council 48 years ago. This organization, now comprised of 103 dedicated members, is on the cusp of celebrating a half-century of excellence.” 

Recipients included:

• 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award: The 2024 Alpha Omega Council Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree was Nicholas R. Larigakis, the President and CEO of American Hellenic Institute (AHI). Mr. Larigakis was recognized for his nearly 40 years of leadership of AHI and his continued dedication and excellence in educating, promoting, and strengthening relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus.
• 2024 Philhellene Award: The 2024 Philhellene Award was presented to Loren J. Samons II, Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. Tribute was paid to Prof. Samons for his decades of leadership as an internationally-recognized scholar and expert on ancient Greek history and literature, Hellenic culture, and classical studies, as well as for his passion for Athenian democracy.
• 2024 Emerging Leader Award: The 2024 Emerging Leader Award was  presented to Anthe Mitrakos, a journalist, communications professional, entrepreneur, and advocate for Hellenic culture, history and art. Mitrakos is also a past recipient of the Peter Agris Memorial Journalism Scholarship in 2008.

Leon Andris, Board Member of the American Hellenic Institute, introduced the 2024 Lifetime Achievement award to leader Nicholas Larigakis. All recipients provided remarks in honor of their awards. Closing remarks were offered by Costa Speliakos, Vice President, Alpha Omega Council and the benediction was given by Rev. Theodore J. Barbas, Chancellor of the Metropolis. The evening concluded with a celebration by live Greek music and dancing featuring Georgios Karatzas and Athenian Entertainment Orchestra.

Remarks by 2024 Philhellene Award Recipient Prof. Loren J. Samons II, Scholar of Classics (photo: Areti Bratsis)

During last year’s successful 2023 Honors Gala, the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Honoree was George P. Sakellaris, the President, CEO, and chairman of Ameresco, Inc.; the 2023 Philhellene Award was presented to Carolyn B. Maloney, former US Representative from the State of New York and co-founder of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus; and the 2023 Emerging Leader Award was presented to Dr. Vanessa Farsadaki, a preeminent leader in Space Medicine, a medical doctor.

Alpha Omega Council is a non-profit philanthropic organization, based in Boston, Massachusetts, and, its mission is to promote patriotism to the United States and to cultivate the ideals of Hellenism, by supporting various scholarly, athletic, medical, charitable, scientific, literary, religious and educational activities throughout New England and the United States. The Alpha Omega Council is comprised of Americans of Hellenic ancestry in Business, Education, Academia, Medicine, Law, Politics, Science and other fields. Since its inception, the Alpha Omega Council has contributed or pledged over $3,000,000 to various philanthropic causes, not including the annual Peter Agris Memorial Journalism Scholarship Award. It also hosts various annual fundraising events including the Boston Marathon Wreath Ceremony, Greek Heritage Night, Golf Classic, Honors Gala and more. For more information on Alpha Omega Council, their website is alphaomegacouncil.org.