The National Hellenic Society and Co-sponsors Manatos & Manatos hosted 17 college-aged, Greek-American students and young professionals for the 9th Annual Heritage America Program in Washington D.C. During the 3 day span Heritage Greece participants had in person and Zoom meetings 40+ prominent Greek American leaders from the public and private sector.
Day 1
Heritage America participants from all over the nation launched the Program at the Embassy of Greece and were greeted by her Excellency, Ambassador Ekaterini Nassika. Ambassador Nassika, embraced the opportunity to share her career path, described the challenges and opportunities she faces. Special guests included Georgios Loizou, Political Counsellor for the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus; Constantinos Constantinou, Political Counsellor for the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus; Myrianthi Spathi, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus; Colonel Odysseas Papaevangelou, Greece’s Defense Attaché; Colonel Ioannis Markakis, Air Attaché; Captain Nikolaos Lazakis, Naval Attaché; and LTC Evangelos Zacharis, Military Attaché.
Day 2
Heritage America participants were hosted on Capitol Hill by Nathan Stamps, Legislative Assistant for Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL); Alex Schroder, Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY); Jake Friedman, Legislative Assistant for Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH); and Colby Harriman, Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV). The students learned about the role and duties Congressional staff provide to the respective member of Congress they serve and encouraged the students to consider serving as a Congressional intern. The students had a behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill and heard from the Speaker of the House’s staff who shared insights of the Congressional legislative process.
The students were hosted to a working lunch at the legendary Monocle Restaurant, owned by Greek Americans Connie and Vasiliki Valonos and met with current Capitol Hill staffers and government relations professionals including: Alex Angelson, former Speaker of the House staffer; Michael Best Strategies Principal; Peter Karafotas, SoundExchange, Sr. VP of Government Relations; Lisa Kountoupes, former White House and Executive Branch senior staffer, partner of Kountoupes, Denham, Carr & Reid; Athina Lawson, Communications Director for Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson; Greg Steele, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Communications Director; and Bethany Poulos, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Marco Rubio. The student participants were provided with an insiders perspective of how policy gets done in Washington and the importance of Hellenic heritage as a bridge to getting things done with other Greek American policy makers irrespective of political affiliation.
Heritage America participants were hosted by Manny Rouvelas, Senior Partner at K&L Gates who enjoyed virtual meetings with the following series of speakers: George Stephanopoulos, ABC News Chief Anchor; John Calamos, Chairman of Calamos Investments and Chair of the National Hellenic Museum; C. Dean Metropoulos, Principal, Metropoulos & Co.; Manny Rouvelas, Partner at K&L Gates; and George Stamas, Partner at Gibson & Dunn and Co-Founder of the National Hellenic Society and The Hellenic Initiative.
The Heritage America participants traveled to the White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building for a meeting with Former Chief of Staff of the President, John Podesta, who is presently the White House Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation.
The participants ended their evening at Balos Estiatorio for a networking reception with Greek American thought leaders which included Alissa Davies, Google, Global Fintech Policy & Public Affairs Lead; Diana Doukas, Meta Platforms, Economic Opportunity & Advocacy; Mike Emanuel, Fox News Channel, Chief Washington Correspondent; Paul Glastris, Former Chief Speechwriter for President Clinton / Editor & Chief, Washington Monthly; Vassilis Koutsoumpas, WeFor, Co-founder / Greece Forbes 30 Under 30; Former White House Chief Technology Officer / Scale AI, Managing Director, Michael Kratsios; Laura Evans Manatos, Former Fox 5 News Anchor / Laura Evans Media, President and CEO; Vasilios Polymeropoulos, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Director of Medical Analytics; Joe Ragonese, Balos Estiatorio, Managing Partner; John Sakellariadis, Politico, Cybersecurity Reporter; Dimitri Sigounas, Adventist Healthcare Neurosurgery, Chair; and Sofia Skliros, Nestlé, Associate Brand Manager.
Day 3
Participants convened at K&L Gates for a second session of virtual meetings with: Athan Stephanopoulos, CNN Worldwide EVP and Chief Digital Officer; General Andrew Poppas, Commanding General of the US Army Forces Command; Michael Psaros, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, KPS Capital Partners; Admiral James Stavridis, Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Global Forcesand Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, George Tenet, Former CIA Director and Chairman, Allen and Company; His Excellency, Ambassador George Tsunis, U.S. Ambassador to Greece; Her Excellency, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis who serves as California’s Lieutenant Governor; and John Koudounis, President and CEO of Calamos Investments.
The Heritage America Program wrapped-up with a special bus tour of Washington DC architectural sites featuring Greek inspired architecture, art and symbolism. The students learned of the lasting nexus between ancient Greek democracy and present day America as inspired through the beautiful monuments in Washington DC.
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