21^st Annual Conference will be held in West Palm Beach Florida on February 9-12.

New York.- By Vicki James Yiannias

Leadership 100, a driving force that seeds and nurtures new programs that advance Orthodoxy and Hellenism, is holding its 21st Annual Conference on February 9-12, 2012, in Manalapan, Florida.  “We’re looking forward to an exciting Conference,” says Conference Chairman Constantine G. Caras.

The outgoing chairman of Leadership 100 Constantine Caras.

Leadership 100 Executive Director Paulette Poulos, who is herself a dynamic element behind the driving force of Leadership 100 concurs.  “It’s going to be an exciting Conference; we’re all looking forward to it, says Ms. Poulos, “It’s going to be a great few days of immersion in Orthodoxy and Hellenism.  Basically the Conference is an opportunity for Leadership 100 members to gather to share in Orthodox Christian fellowship.  That’s what we do.”

The Conference, which highlights a concert and Business, Media, and Interfaith Forums, will be held at the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach, a five-Star oceanfront resort noted for its refined beauty, graceful atmosphere, and impeccable service.

Almost 400 people coming from all parts of the Metropolises are expected, an “unbelievable number”, according to Poulos, who credits Chairman Constantine G. Caras and Conference Chair Cathy Papoulias-Sakellaris, who have been working together with her “to make sure this Conference is a great success”.

Ms. Poulos notes that there are a lot of young people participating in this Conference. Indeed, “young” is becoming an operative word in Leadership 100: 105 of its 872 members (increased from the initial 100), are Partners–young professionals who progress in their contributions as they progress in their careers.  And 5 are Junior Partners enrolled by their parents.

“It’s going to be an important Conference because we’re going to focus on the youth,” says Mr. Caras, “As always, we’re trying to focus on the youth.  We’re going to talk about initiatives for helping the youth…helping keep our youth in the Church, which is really what we’re all about.  The reason we’re in Leadership is to make sure that our children and grandchildren stay in the Church.  It’s as simple as that.”

These young members will be given special attention in a separate meeting with Andrew N. Liveris, who since 2006 is President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company, a $54 billion global specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics company based in Midland, Michigan.  Mr. Liveris will conduct the Business Forum, speaking on “Leadership in Difficult Economic Times: The Outlook for America, Greece and the World”.

At the Conference, Mr. Liveris will be presented with this year’s distinguished Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence.  Nicole Petallides, Anchor at FOX Business Network since 2007, and FBN’s main NYSE correspondent reporting live daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange will be the other recipient of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence.  At the Opening Breakfast on Saturday Petallides will speak at the Special Program on Business and the Media and a presentation on the Parthenon Marbles.

Before all that happens, however, there will be a concert performance–arranged by Cathy Papoulias-Sakellaris–on Friday, February 10 by internationally acclaimed Mario Frangoulias, the Greek tenor beloved by Greek Americans.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will present a lecture and traditional and popular Bible Study, and Rev. Fr. Charles Joanides, director of the Office of Interfaith Marriage of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America will conduct the Interfaith Marriage Forum on the subject “The Intermarriage Challenge: An Opportunity for Outreach”.    The author of the books, When You Intermarry: A Resource for Inter-Christian, Intercultural Couples, Parents and Families; Ministering to Intermarried Couples: A Resource for Clergy and Lay Workers; Attending to Your Marriage: A Resource for Christian Couples; and The Journey of Marriage: A Premarital Education Program, as well as numerous articles, Father Joanides teaches marital and family therapy at Nyack College in The School of Human Services Alliance Graduate School of Counseling.

Created in 1984 under the guidance of Archbishop Iakovos, Leadership 100–now renamed The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund in recognition of his vision–Leadership 100 is a separately incorporated endowment fund supporting the priority needs of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America but broadly dedicated to advancing the Orthodox faith and Hellenic ideals in America.

“I’m thrilled to be at Leadership 100,” says Ms. Poulos, “After the passing of Archbishop Iakovos, Archbishop Demetrios allowed me to come in to Leadership 100, and I feel very blessed because I’m working with wonderful people that I’ve known throughout my years with the Church, which has been since 1965.  So it’s like I’ve never really been away, and I’m able to help, in a small way, to raise money for the Church.”

Ms. Poulos explains that Archbishop Iakovos’ purpose was “to take the burden off the local communities and allow us to raise money to be used for National Ministries.  So Leadership 100 is directly linked with the Archdiocese; the monies we raise are used primarily for the Greek Orthodox Church, for the Archdiocese and its National Ministries.”  Leadership 100 disburses grants ranging from scholarship funds for individuals studying for the priesthood, building an information infrastructure and Internet Ministries for the Archdiocese, promoting the National Ministries and providing assistance to emergencies such as September 11, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes, and medical needs.

“We’ve done some terrific things and we look forward to continuing our programs…again, focused on the youth,” says Caras,

2012 Recipients of Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence

Andrew N. Liveris, who was born in Darwin, Australia, and resides in Midland, Michigan with his wife Paula, with whom he has thee grown children, was appointed in June by U.S. President Barack Obama as Co-Chair of the newly formed Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. Last July, Liveris launched Dow’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan for America (AMP).  AMP calls for action on a number of fronts to lower structural costs that are hindering U.S. manufacturing, and to establish a policy framework that will enable economic growth.  In January 2011, Liveris published Make It In America: The Case for Re-Inventing the Economy, which articulates AMP in detail

Mr. Liveris serves on the Board of Directors of IBM, and he is President and Chairman of the Board of the International Council of Chemical Associations, Vice Chairman of the Business Council, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Roundtable.  Liveris is also a member of the President’s Export Council, the US-India CEO Forum, The Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the American Australian Association.  He serves on the Board of Trustees for The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, United States Council for International Business, and Tufts University.

Nicole Anais Petallides, a graduate of American University, was born in Queens, New York, the daughter of John Petallides and Fannie Holliday (founder and chief operating officer of the newspapers Proini and The Greek American).  She is married to Manhattan Prosthodontist Nicholas Tsiolas.

Nicole and Jenna Lee were the first two anchors on the air when the FOX Business Network made its debut.  Prior to joining FBN, she was an anchor at Bloomberg Television where she reported from the New York Stock Exchange for the nationally syndicated Bloomberg Business Report and Bloomberg Market Update.  While at Bloomberg, Petallides also covered weekend news and served as a business news anchor for CW-11’s WPIX morning news program in New York.

Before joining Bloomberg, Nicole served as an assistant producer for CNBC, where she produced daily floor reports from the NYSE.  Prior to CNBC, she was a segment producer for Dow Jones Television’s The Wall Street Journal Report with Consuelo Mack and international programs Asian Business News and European Business News.   Petallides has also contributed to FOX affiliate WNYW’s morning show Good Day New York, NY1 News, CNN, and News 12 Long Island.