About Us
The Hellenic Initiative (THI)
Founded in 2012, The Hellenic Initiative – THI, is a global non-profit organization that brings together Diaspora Greeks and Philhellenes to invest in Greece through programs focused on economic development and crisis relief. Since its founding, THI has invested more than $22 million in Greece and has grown to be the largest Greek Diaspora organization in the world.
THI’s multifaceted approach to supporting Greece includes funding innovative startups and small enterprises, creating jobs, as well as providing direct aid to those affected by economic hardships and natural disasters. Through these actions, THI not only aims to address immediate needs but also to lay the groundwork for long-term prosperity and resilience in Greece. By leveraging the network, expertise and resources of the Greek Diaspora community, THI has become a pivotal force in Greece’s journey towards recovery and growth, inspiring hope and solidarity within and beyond the Hellenic world.
Find more information here
Implementation Partner:
Eurohoops Organization
WE CREATE BASKETBALL
Eurohoops stands as the foremost organization in Europe, working on spreading the love for sport and fostering sportsmanship. Through a range of online and offline initiatives, Eurohoops works on teaching basketball’s fundamentals to children, shaping the next generation while utilizing modern and secure sports venues. Eurohoops is active in designing and executing many social awareness programs and high-profile basketball and family events.
Backed by eurohoops.net, the largest basketball news website in Europe, operating in 5 languages: English, Greek, Spanish, Russian, and Turkish, educates fair play placing basketball itself in the spotlight.
Eurohoops Organization involves: the Eurohoops Academy with director the EuroLeague legend Theodore Papaloukas, the management of Eurohoops Dome, a high-end 3 courts’ basketball arena, safe and equipped with latest technology standards, a premium basketball center for basketball lovers offering premium facilities and the afterschool management of the basketball courts of the historic Leonteios School of Athens at Ano Patisia.
For more information https://organization.eurohoops.net/en/
Welcome message from Academy Executive Committee
Dear THI Friends,
It is with great enthusiasm and pride that we extend a warm welcome to all of you, visitors of the THI Summer Youth Academy website.
On behalf of the board of The Hellenic Initiative, our friends and supporters from across the Diaspora, and our THI Summer Youth Academy host committee, we are excited to announce the inaugural THI Summer Youth Academy for underprivileged youth, taking place this July in Athens, Greece. This program represents a significant milestone in our commitment to empowering youth through the transformative power of sports.
We are honored to have Ted Leonsis, a renowned United States professional sports owner, serving as this year’s Academy Honorary Chairperson. His dedication to youth development and passion for sports enrich our program with invaluable knowledge and expertise.
In collaboration with Eurohoops, Greece’s premier basketball organization, we embark on this journey to create a supportive environment where every participant can thrive both on and off the court.
We invite you to consider supporting our efforts through sponsorships and, moreover, encourage you to visit the camp and experience firsthand how our mentorship programs and basketball skills training can teach invaluable life lessons.
Together, Oli Mazi, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of Greek youth who confront adversity in challenging social environments.
Warm regards,
THI Summer Youth Academy Executive Committee
George P.
Stamas
Ted
Leonsis
Andrew N.
Liveris
Sir Stelios
Haji‐Ioannou
THI
Nikos
Koumettis
Nikos
Stathopoulos
Achilles
Constantakopoulos
Dean
Dakolias
Get Involved
Register Now
Put on your sneakers, bring your smile, and come enjoy the summer with us. Don't miss this incredible opportunity to participate in our basketball training, games, tournaments, mentorings, and creative activities.
George P. Stamas
George Stamas cofounded in 2011 The Hellenic Initiative, a worldwide philanthropic organization dedicated to economic development and social welfare in Greece, and has served as President of the Board of Directors since that time. Mr. Stamas is a partner in the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where he focuses on public company and private equity mergers and acquisitions and corporate securities transactions. He also counsels C-level executives and boards of directors on corporate governance matters. Mr. Stamas has received a Band 1 rating by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Corporate/M&A & Private Equity every year since 2004. Chambers USA’s comments have described Mr. Stamas as a “world class deal maker” who is “brilliant in a crisis” and has “a knack for finding middle ground when issues get contentious.” He is also ranked by Chambers Global as a leading attorney in Corporate/M&A. He has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance, Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, and listed by The Best Lawyers in America for 28 consecutive years. Mr. Stamas also has been honored by The Washington Post and he has been profiled by Crain’s New York as one of New York’s 200 most well-connected business people. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stamas was named by The American Lawyer as one of the leading 45 lawyers in America under the age of 45. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Stamas was a senior partner with Kirkland & Ellis. Mr. Stamas previously served as Vice Chair of the Board of Deutsche Banc Alex Brown, Inc.; as a founding board member of FTI Consulting (NYSE); as a venture partner of international venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates; and as a member of numerous public and private corporate boards. He is an executive board member of the New York private equity firm MidOcean Partners. Mr. Stamas is a partner of Monumental Partners, which controls the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards; an investor and a member of the board of aXiomatic, a leading eSports platform that controls Team Liquid; and a partner of the Baltimore Orioles. Mr. Stamas is also on the National Advisory Council of Youth Inc. (Recipient of the 2018 John C. Whitehead Leadership Award), and has previously served on numerous philanthropic and cultural boards, including The Shakespeare Theatre Company. He is a a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, and a director of Paris based Soparexo s.a., the parent corporation of Chateau Margaux.
Ted Leonsis
Ted Leonsis is founder, chairman, majority shareholder and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL’s 2018 Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Washington Mystics, AFL’s 2018 Arena Bowl Champion Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade, the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBA2K League’s Wizards District Gaming. Leonsis is a co-owner of aXiomatic, which has controlling interest in global esports franchise Team Liquid. Monumental also owns the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena and operates MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the Capitals’ training facility, and George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena. An integrated media, technology, sports and entertainment company, Monumental also runs Monumental Sports Network, a first-of-its-kind regional sports network for digital, mobile and over-the-top platforms. In addition, Leonsis is co-founder and a partner at Revolution Growth, a $1 billion set of investment funds via which he and his partners make a select group of speed-up capital investments in businesses each year. He sits on a variety of boards, including American Express and Groupon, and is the former vice chairman and president of AOL.
Andrew N. Liveris
Andrew Liveris AO is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company and former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont. A recognised global business leader with more than 42 years at Dow and experience in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management.
Andrew advocates the criticality of manufacturing worldwide. He is the author of ‘Make It in America’ and was tapped by the current U.S. Administration to help identify new ways to spur innovation, revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector and drive economic growth and prosperity as chair of the manufacturing council and a member of the apprenticeship of the future task force. Previously he served as Co-Chair of U.S. President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership steering committee and a member of the U.S. President’s Export Council.
Andrew is the Special Advisor to the Australian National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission and Chair of the Manufacturing Taskforce. He was recently appointed as Co-Chair of the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission, advising on how to accelerate the Territory’s economic rebound and growth. He is an Independent Member of the Australian government’s Industry Growth Centres Advisory Committee providing advice on the Industry Growth Centres initiative.
Andrew is a director at IBM, Saudi Aramco, Worley (Deputy Chairman), Lucid Motors (Chairman), NOVONIX and the Minderoo Foundation. He is on the advisory board of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Teneo (a global CEO consulting and advisory firm), and NEOM (an initiative driven by Saudi Vision 2030). He is Chairman of the Blackrock Long Term Capital and a special advisor to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Andrew serves as a trustee for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and is a member of the Concordia Leadership Council.
In 2018 the Andrew N Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership was established at the University of Queensland for students to garner a real-life understanding of global challenges and how to create positive change for society.
Achilles Constantakopoulos
Achilles Constantakopoulos is a graduate of Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. Since 1997 he has been leading TEMES S.A., developers of Costa Navarino, where he currently holds the position of Chairman. He is also the Chairman of IONIAN HOTEL ENTERPRISES S.A., owner of the Hilton Athens hotel. He is a member of the Board of Directors of AEGEAN AIRLINES S.A., CHIPITA S.A. and SETE (Greek Tourism Confederation). Mr. Constantakopoulos is President of the Captain Vassilis & Carmen Konstantakopoulos Foundation.
Sir Stelios Haji‐Ioannou
Sir Stelios is best known for creating the easy family of brands beginning with easyJet in 1994 when he was just 27 years old. Six years later he floated the airline on the www.londonstockexchange.com in order to fund the airline’s growth however he and his family remain the largest shareholders holding around 15% of the shares.
The stock market currently values easyJet PLC at about £3.1 billion. When the COVID pandemic struck the airline was carrying about 100 million passengers per year and numbers were substantially reduced but are now recovering.
Sir Stelios, was born in Athens, Greece on February 14, 1967, the son of the late Loucas Haji‐Ioannou, a self‐ made Greek‐Cypriot shipping magnate. Stelios started his business career working for his father at Troodos Shipping in Piraeus, Greece until aged 25 when he founded his own shipping firm, Stelmar tankers with financial help from his father. Stelmar floated on the NYSE.com in 2001 and was sold to a competitor in 2005 for about US$1.3bn.
In 2006, at the age of 39, Stelios received a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II. Since 2009 he has been the Honorary General Consul for the Republic of Cyprus in the Principality of Monaco – where he lives. He graduated from the www.doukas.gr High School in Athens in 1984, the London School of Economics (lse.ac.uk) in 1987 and in 1988 obtained a MSc from the City University (www.cass.city.ac.uk). All three academic institutions currently benefit from Stelios Philanthropic Foundation donations via scholarships – the individual recipients are known as Stelios Scholars! These number more than 260 to date. Since 2018 he has acted as Chair of the enterprise fellows of the Prince’s Trust in the UK, a charity set up by HRH The Prince of Wales. In 2016 he founded the www.Gustaviayachtclub.org where he is Commodore.
Nikos Koumettis
Nikos Koumettis is the President of the Europe Operating Unit at The Coca-Cola Company where he oversees 40 countries.
Nikos joined Coca-Cola in 2001 as General Manager for Greece and Cyprus, and since then, has built a wealth of experience in several international roles, including President of the Adriatic and the Balkans, President of Southeast Europe, President of the Canada Business Unit and President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
He began his career in Marketing and Sales, working for Kraft Jacobs Suchard, Elgeka and Papastratos / Phillip Morris.
Nikos is a member of the Board of Directors of Canada Goose International as well as a trustee of the American College in Greece and a Chair of the Board for Société BIC. He holds a Master of Science degree in International Marketing from Strathclyde Business School and a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the American College of Greece.
Nikos is passionate about youth empowerment. He is the co-founder – together with Global Shapers (Athens Hub) – of the social initiative ‘Regeneration’ which aims to strengthen the skills of young people in Greece and place talented graduates in the labor market.
Nikos is a Greek-Cypriot, born in Sudan and raised in Greece. He is married to Sarita Chaim and they have two children, Petros and Felicia. He is an avid skier and sailor.
Nikos Stathopoulos
Nikos is Chairman of Europe and Member of the Management Committee and Investment Committee of BC Partners, the leading international investment firm with Assets Under Management over $40bn. He joined BC Partners in 2005 and brings nearly three decades of experience in private equity across a number of sectors and geographies.
Prior to joining BC Partners, Nikos was a Partner at Apax Partners in London and prior to that worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in London.
Nikos is Chairman of the Board of United Group, Nova, Pet City, Alphabet Education, Cigierre, DentalPro, and Keesing and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Springer Nature and Advanced. He is also a member of the Global Advisory Board and Board of Dean’s Advisors of Harvard Business School, member of the Board of Regents of Boston College, the Board of Trustees of the American School in London, the Board of The Hellenic Initiative, member of the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Chairman of the BC Partners Foundation. Nikos holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in Business Administration from Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB).
Financial News voted Nikos in the Hall of Fame of Private Equity in 2016 and named him in the 50 most influential investors in Europe in 2023.
Dean Dakolias
Mr. Dakolias is a Managing Partner based in New York of the Fortress Credit Funds Business. Mr. Dakolias also serves on Fortress’s Management and Operating Committees. Prior to joining Fortress in 2001, Mr. Dakolias was a Managing Director, Chief Credit Officer and co-founder of American Commercial Capital LLC (a specialty finance company) and Coronado Advisors (an SEC registered broker dealer), both of which were sold to Wells Fargo & Co. in 2001. Mr. Dakolias was previously a director at RER Financial Group (“RER”) where he was responsible for the firm’s acquisition efforts as a principal and as a provider of third party due diligence and asset management. Mr. Dakolias serves on the Board of Trustees for Columbia University, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and the Millbrook School. Mr. Dakolias is also a co-founder and member of the Executive Committee of The Hellenic Initiative, as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Dakolias received a B.S. in Physics from Columbia University.