Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President of the “Greece 2021” Committee, will be the special guest at the second The Hellenic Initiative (THI) Australia’s Digital Conversation Series event being held on Tuesday, 15 December 2020 at 6pm (AEDT).
Ms Angelopoulos will be joined by John Mangos, Australian news presenter, for a one-hour live webinar discussing the bicentenary commemorations.
Next year, Greece will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the start of the War of Independence, which led to the creation of the modern Greek state.
Registration for this event is essential. As spaces are limited, please register to secure your participation.
“Let the dances last” – Greece 2021
Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki
Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki is an Ambassador-at-large of the Hellenic Republic. She studied law and has practiced law for a number of years.
She has been involved in public service since 1986, initially elected as a City councillor for the Athens Municipal Council and later as a member of the Greek Parliament, where she was first elected as an MP in 1989 and re-elected in 1990. Following her marriage to Theodore Angelopoulos, Gianna resigned her seat in Parliament to focus on family and business.
In 1996, she led the country’s successful campaign to host the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2000, she was called upon to come to the rescue and assume the Presidency of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee where she spearheaded the drive to organise the 2004 Olympic Games, ensuring the project was a resounding success. In her book, My Greek Drama, which was published in May 2013 and became a top-ten New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, she recounted her experience on how she overcame obstacles in an asphyxiating time frame to make up for slow progress and gridlocked bureaucracy that had jeopardized the Athens Games prior to her taking the helm of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee.
At Harvard, Ms Angelopoulos has served as vice-chairman of the Dean’s Council of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government since 1994 and now also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Business and Government. In 2011, she established the Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Program at the HKS to bring distinguished leaders to Harvard in order to interact with students, share lessons learned and reflect upon the next phase of their public service. Distinguished personalities including President Felipe Calderon of Mexico, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, President and Nobel Laureate Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon have participated in the program to date.
In October 2019, she established the Gianna Angelopoulos Programme for Science Technology and Innovation (GAPSTI) at Cambridge University, which nurtures exceptionally talented early-career scientists, from postgraduate study and research to the successful commercialisation of their ideas, through a structured training and research programme enhanced by industrial collaboration and entrepreneurial activities.
In 2019, Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appointed her as President of the “Greece 2021” Committee for the celebrations of the bicentennial anniversary of the commencement of the Greek Revolution in 1821.
Ms Angelopoulos is the founder and sponsor of the Angelopoulos CGIU Fellowship Program, through which 100 young Greek entrepreneurs have benefited, as well as a leading philanthropist for projects in Greece and around the globe. She is a proud mother of three grown children and has three granddaughters.
John Mangos
John Mangos has had a 40-year career in journalism where he spent the past thirty-seven years working in television news. He is currently a contributor to the Nine Network’s Today show and a regular guest on ABC local radio.
John was one of the founding senior anchors at Skynews Australia where he presented news and current affairs for 15 years. John started his career with the Nine Network where his roles included general news, state politics in NSW, the Federal Parliamentary Gallery, and Nine’s bureau chief in the United States.
Since 1995, John has operated his own media training consultancy which has seen him work closely with and coach some of Australia’s leading business and political figures.
More THI Australia news on GCT:
- THI Australia supports Tipping Point Program in 10 regional schools in Greece
- THI Australia renews support to Boroume Farmer’s Market Program
- THI Australia renews grant to Emfasis Foundation
- THI Australia announces €54,000 grant to Doctors of the World Greece
- Emfasis Foundation receives grant from THI Australia to help the homeless during COVID-19
- THI Australia funds paediatric facilities in Eastern Peloponnese
- THI Australia renews grant to SOS Family Support Program
