News Release on Behalf of Leadership 100
LEADERSHIP 100 35TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE CONCLUDES
$2.9 MILLION IN GRANTS APPROVED BY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(L to R) Ann Vassiliou, Marcella and John Volandes, Archbishop Demetrios, Stellene Volandes receiving the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence from Chairman Argyris Vassiliou. (Photo Credit: Dimitrios Panagos).
Leadership 100 concluded its 35th Anniversary Conference on February 23, 2019 with the Grand Banquet presentation of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence to George Veras, Chief Operating Officer & Executive Producer of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Stellene Volandes, Editor-in-Chief of Town and Country Magazine, the oldest continually published magazine in the country, according to Argyris Vassiliou, Chairman of Leadership 100.
(L to R) Chairman Emeritus John Payiavlas, Archbishop Demetrios and Chairman Argyris Vassiliou (far right) present George Veras with the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence. (Photo Credit: Dimitrios Panagos).
The Conference, livestreamed for the first time to a worldwide audience and attended by some 500 members and their guests, included a keynote address by Veras, a 10-time National Sports Emmy Award winner and Producer of seven Olympics, a forum led by Volandes, a Health and Wellness panel led by Chairman Emeritus George D. Behrakis with Dr. George Dangas of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and Dr. Harry T. Anastopoulos of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the Opening Forum led by the Director of The Center for Family Care, Rev. Fr. Alexander Goussetis, and Coordinator for Seminarian and Clergy Couple Care, Presvytera Kerry Pappas, and a program on Youth Ministry led by Dr. Ann Bezzerides, Director of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Office of Vocation and Ministry. The traditional Bible Study and Lecture were conducted by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios and an Anniversary Concert performed by Aphrodite Daniel’s Synphonia Entertainment featuring renowned Greek vocalist, Dimitris Basis, Daniel as vocalist, Achilleas Wastor, virtuoso pianist, and Yiannis Sinanis, bouzouki virtuoso, with a full musical program that also featured guest vocalist Eric Nicolas.
Dimitris Basis and Yiannis Sinanis perform at Synphonia Entertainment “Concert 35”. (Photo Credit: Dimitrios Panagos).
Dr. Ann Bezzerides Addresses Conference. (Photo Credit: Dimitrios Panagos).
At the annual meeting of the General Assembly, the Executive Committee reported its approval of $2,822,100 in new grants for the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. New grants approved and prior year grant commitments total $2,926,000. The total includes $1,000,000 for the Hellenic College / Holy Cross Scholarship Program, continuing Leadership 100’s long-term support of our seminarians with its third 10-year $1,000,000 annual commitment, as well as an additional grant of $500,000 for this year.
Presvytera Kerry Pappas and Fr. Alexander Goussetis Address Opening Forum (Photo Credit: Dimitrios Panagos).
The 18 other new grants included:
- The Small Parish Program – $330,000.
- Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries – $240,000 for the Metropolis Camping Ministries.
- Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries – $62,000 for the Introduction to Orthodox Christianity Video Series.
- Office of Ionian Village “Next” Program – $60,000.
- Archdiocesan National Ministries Survey totaling $100,000.
- Department of Religious Education – $47,500 for the Gospel Project to publish updated editions of two bi-lingual Gospel books for clergy use in the parishes.
- Direct Archdiocesan District – Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries – $45,000 for the Pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
- Department of Stewardship, Outreach and Evangelism – $44,000 for the Home Mission Parish Program.
- The Center for Family Care – $32,600 for the Clergy Peer Learning Groups (CPLG)
- Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations – $100,000 for Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA 10th Anniversary meeting.
- Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations – $25,000 for the Ecumenical Guidebook for Clergy.
- Department of Stewardship, Outreach and Evangelism – $25,000 for the National Outreach & Evangelism Conference 2019.
- Department of Stewardship, Outreach and Evangelism – $23,000 for the Reaching the Distantly Connected II.
- Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) – $48,000 for the Prison Ministry Lecture Circuit grant to expand its training for Orthodox priests, deacons, monks, nuns, and interested laity to all eight GOA Metropolises and the Direct Archdiocesan District and to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
- The AGES Initiative – $100,000 for the Digital Chant Stand (DCS) Expansion & Improvement grant to expand and improve the Digital Chant Stand, which serves to promote and sustain the Church’s liturgical and music ministry.
- The Liturgical Arts Academy (TLAA) – $40,000 to preserve and teach iconography, chanting and liturgical textiles in Orthodox worship through a week-long immersion seminar.
Prior year commitments included The Small Parish Program – $25,000 for the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Norwich, CT; Office of Ionian Village – $15,000 for the IV On-The-Go program; Center for Family Care – $8,500 for the Family Ministry Webinars project; The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University – $50,000 for the Affirming an Orthodox Christian Theology of Human Rights project; and Retired Clergy in Need Program – $5,400.
About: The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund Incorporated
In 1984, under the guidance of Archbishop Iakovos, The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund was created as an endowment fund of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese to provide an opportunity for Greek Orthodox leaders to support the life-sustaining ministries of the Church.
In 1998, The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund Incorporated was formed as a 501(c)(3) New York corporation that supports the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in advancement of Orthodoxy and Hellenism.
Leadership 100 members pledge $100,000, which is paid over a period of 10 years or less, except for young professional and junior members who pay the pledge on a graduated scale.
Since its inception in 1984, Leadership 100 has distributed more than $51 million in grants that have ranged from providing scholarship funds for individuals studying for the priesthood at Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology to supporting a variety of National Ministries. These have included Religious and Greek Education, Youth, Young Adult and Camping Ministries, Family and Marriage Services, Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Internet Ministries and Home Mission. Leadership 100 has also provided humanitarian assistance during national and international crises.
The Leadership 100 Executive Committee approves grants submitted by the Grant Committee after consultation with the Archbishop. The principal of the Fund remains permanently restricted and inviolate.
Today, with more than 1,000 members, Leadership 100 is a philanthropic driving force within the Church, the Greek American Community, and in the nation and the world that transforms institutions and lives
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