TheLeader VOLUME XXV ISSUE2 Spring2024 - Flipbook - Page 4
MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
Dear Members,
The 33rd Annual Leadership 100
Conference, celebrating our 40th
Anniversary was a resounding success,
significantly marking 40 years of
sustainability and impact, a 40 per cent
increase in membership, and a 40 per
cent increase in participation! We have
acknowledged 100 new members since
our last conference and welcomed a
record 725 members and guests, notably
a substantial number of young
professionals. We also made
considerable progress in setting forth
our unified goals for the next 40 years
and beyond. We received many letters of
congratulations from you and others
and are already planning to build on our
success at our next conference in 2025.
The Conference began with the
Executive Committee and Board of
2
Trustees meetings on Wednesday,
February 28. In his Paternal
exhortation, His Eminence
Archbishop Elpidophoros of
America remarked, “I am, of
course, delighted to be with you
again here at the annual
Leadership 100 Conference – the
thirty-third in the forty-year
history of this incredible
organization. In fact, I would go so
far as to say that the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America
– as it stands today – would be
unthinkable without Leadership
100.” Among the actions of the Executive
Committee and Board was the adoption
of Leadership 100 +, a new initiative to
raise additional funding for grants from
our fulfilled members. Details will be
forthcoming from our next Executive
Committee meeting this spring.
We opened our program on Thursday,
February 29 with a video based on the
exhibit titled Leadership 100, 1984 to
2024, 40 Years of Philanthropic Service,
displayed at the National Hellenic
Museum in Chicago. John P. Calamos,
Sr., Museum Chairman and a prominent
member of Leadership 100, spoke of the
pivotal role of the museum in the history
and life of the Greek Community in
America and thanked Leadership 100 for
underwriting the exhibit, part of the
larger exhibit, Legacy, Renewal & Unity:
Celebrating 100 Years of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America. On
that same day, His Eminence Archbishop
Elpidophoros led us in congratulating
His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew
on his birthday.
The Archbishop delivered a lecture in
acknowledgement of the 40th
Anniversary on Friday, March 1st in
which he praised the important work of
Leadership 100. “Leadership 100 is a
potent endowment, because to ‘endow’
really is to empower, and that is what the
Fund has been doing for these past four
decades,” he stated. He further
emphasized the current and future role
of Leadership 100 in advancing
Orthodoxy and Hellenism, supporting
Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of
Theology, guiding youth, and young
adults, and creating a program for
expanding its philanthropy.
Following the Archbishop’s remarks, the
General Assembly was held where
reports were given to the members about
the work of Leadership 100 over the past
year. One of the highlights was the report
offered by Dr. Demetrios Katos, newly
appointed President of Hellenic
College/Holy Cross, who provided an
update on the status of the School, and
his vision for its future. Later that day,
His Eminence met with the Young
Professionals, chaired by Alexandra
Lambiris, for a private dialogue.
Archbishop Elpidophoros emphasized
the importance of youth and young adult
participation in our Church telling the
attendees, “You are the future of this
organization, and this organization is
