What’s Next for Next Generation Students:
Master Classes with
Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
of HBO
of New Enterprise Associates
...and more!
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Highlights of some Recent Master Classes
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A Master Class at Google with
Jim Kolotouros
It’s a classic story: two PhD students from Stanford University decide their research project has possibilities, and go on to register a web domain, incorporate their business in a friend’s garage in Menlo Park, raise some money, move to Palo Alto — and in a decade see their start-up become the internet’s most-visited website, the most powerful brand in the world, and what Fortune magazine calls “the Number One Best Place to Work.”
What is it like to work at a company whose corporate philosophy states that “you can be serious without a suit,” and “work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun,” whose headquarters’ lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, and old server clusters, and where all the engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time (one day per week) on projects that interest them (keeping in mind that 50% of the company’s new product launches have originated from that 20% “Innovation Time Off”)? What can we all learn from a company like that — one which earned $6.52 billion last year on revenue of $23.65 billion, but whose founders and CEO have limited themselves to a base salary of only $1 for the past five years?
35 students joined us when we ventured inside
Google’s world headquarters to sit down with Google executive Jim Kolotouros, the Director of Distribution Partnerships at Google — who is himself a Stanford graduate, an Intel alumnus, and one-time Capitol Hill intern — and find out why
Google gets more than a thousand résumés every day, and to get the inside story on life in the “Googleplex,” home to a company with a current market capitalization of more than $160 billion, a herd of goats to keep the grass short, and a history of perpetrating April Fool’s jokes and hiding virtual Easter Eggs.
Master Class with
Jim Kolotouros
Googel Headquarters
Mountain View, CA
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About our Master Classes
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The Next Generation Initiative’s Master Classes for Young Leaders program is a continuing series of informal after-work “master classes” which bring next generation students together with leaders — and give them some insight into the pressing issues and concerns of the day, from the point of view of some of the brightest minds and influential leaders in their respective fields.
The Next Generation Initiative offers these Master Classes to all next generation undergraduate and graduate students on a FREE, first-come, first-served basis.
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More Highlights of Recent Master Classes
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A Master Class with
Ted Leonsis
“Reinvention” — it’s a word that students are hearing a lot these days, especially as the jobs many of them were working towards have vanished with the economic downturn. We know a few people they might want to talk to about “reinvention.”
How about one fascinating entrepreneur who started off his career as an intern in a U.S. Senate campaign, took a left turn into computers, then zig-zagged off into publishing, and founded an innovative marketing company which he went on to sell to a former video game company that had once been on the verge of bankruptcy, and had just changed its name to “America Online”? Throw in a near-fatal plane crash in the middle of all that — plus a stock market crash or two, and the near-meltdown of your sports franchise that had you practically begging fans to buy tickets — and you get an idea of what “reinventing” yourself a few times over the course your career might mean.
30 excited students joined us in his private suite at the Verizon Center for a lesson in “reinvention” from a master of the subject when we sat down with marketing legend Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman of Emeritus of AOL, owner of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and one of Washingtonian Magazine’s 2009 “High-tech Titans.” This Master Class was another installment in our our series of conversations with economic and financial insiders on how this crisis is still affecting — and transforming — entire industries, regions and nations.
Master Class with
Ted Leonsis
Verizon Center
Washington, DC
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A Master Class with
Amb. Demetrios Marantis
When you sit down across the table to negotiate some thorny issues with your second biggest trading partner, your best might hope might be for some gentlemanly give-and-take — something more than trading banalities about the weather, and something less than a no-holds-barred trade war.
What happens, though, when the dollar keeps falling, unemployment skyrockets — and your counterpart is in a precarious position (for you and for them) as the biggest holder of U.S. debt — all in the midst of the gravest challenge to the global economy since the Great Depression?
The President’s point man on U.S. trade with China took 18 Next Generation students behind closed doors when we sat down with the highest-ranking Greek American in the Obama administration, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis, to discuss the continuing fallout of the global financial crisis on trade relations with friends and competitors — and what it’s like to be responsible for U.S. trade negotiations with the People’s Republic of China (along with the rest of Asia and Africa), while leading the Trade Representative office’s global initiatives on trade and development, labor, and the environment.
Master Class with
Demetrios Marantis
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Washington, DC
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A Master Class with
Alexis Christoforous
A year ago the financial world was in freefall, in the midst of a global economic meltdown that many feared was leading the world to the brink of another Depression. What was it like to be in the middle of it all, reporting every day to the world from Wall Street — and trying to make sense of a complex crisis no one could see the end of?
24 students got the inside story when they joined us to sit down in New York with CBS News Business Correspondent Alexis Christoforous and discuss the continuing fallout of the global financial crisis — and what it’s like to have millions of people look to you every day as a credible source of reliable information about the arcane world of Wall Street, and how the unfolding changes in our economy affect Main Street.
This Master Class was another installment in our our 2009 series of conversations with economic and financial insiders on how this crisis is still affecting — and transforming — entire industries, regions and nations.
Master Class with
Alexis Christoforous
CBS News
New York
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“This Week” with
George Stephanopoulos
What’s it like putting together a major television news show? Frantic, hectic, nerve-wracking — and that’s if you’re behind the cameras in the control room and everything is going normally. Put yourself in front of the cameras, though, and in the anchor’s chair, where you’ve been writing and re-writing your copy up to the very last minute, with no room for error. Imagine going right down to the wire, sometimes not completely sure who or where your special guests will be, and never knowing exactly what they will say, but always knowing two things — news will definitely be made, and millions of people will be watching it.
So did two lucky groups of Next Generation students, who were with us on two Sundays this month when we joined ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos as he anchored ABC’s Sunday morning news program “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” live from the Newseum in Washington, DC.
“This Week” with
George Stephanopoulos
The Newseum
Washington, DC
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A Master Class with
Chris Saridakis
Your company publishes 84 daily newspapers in the US — including the biggest-selling daily newspaper in America — and nearly 850 other publications in the US, along with more than 200 in the UK. With a hundred years of experience in publishing, you’ve looked ahead and expanded your holdings to include 23 television stations in the US alone, and built one of the most popular news sites on the web. But then... A global recession hits, advertising plummets, and the internet threatens to upend your entire business model — all at once. What do you do?
With these questions (and more) in mind , the Next Generation journeyed to the corporate headquarter of Gannett in McLean, Virginia to see how one company is managing these difficult times for the newspaper business — and what that means for the news business, for business in general, and for a society used to a vigorous free press — when we sat down for a Master Class with Gannett’s Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis — the 40 year-old high-tech whiz-kid at the helm of Gannett’s digital unit, which reported $142 million in revenue in the second quarter of ’09, up from $20 million in the same quarter the year before.
A Master Class with
Chris Saridakis
Gannett Heaquarters
McLean, VA
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A Master Class with
Amb. Andreas Kakouris
Your homeland sits at the crossroads of the Mediterranean — and right in the crosshairs of the “clash between civilizations.” After years of fitful, hard-won progress, your latest bid for lasting peace in your war-ravaged nation hangs in the balance, threatened by the competing interests (and sometimes indifference) of powers beyond your control — including some of your own neighbors who might foresee gain in your failure to reach reconciliation and a stable future for your people.
How do you faithfully, effectively and even cheerfully represent your nation and its interests at such a dangerous time — among the spies, the suits, the striped-pants set and the other infamous denizens of the deep shark-tank that dwells at the heart of the political-military-industrial-diplomatic world of Washington, DC?
To see just how this kind of job can be done, done well — and even done with panache — 20 very talkative students, interns and graduates working on Capitol Hill, the White House and in agencies around town joined us to sit down for an unforgettable dinner with our delightful and very gracious host, H.E. Ambassador Andreas Kakouris, the Cypriot Ambassador to the United States.
A Master Class with
Amb. Andreas Kakouris
Residence of the Ambassador of Cyprus
Washington, DC
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A Master Class on the Supreme Court and the Senate confirmation process with
Amb. Tom Korologos
The main topic in the nation’s capital this week? President Obama’s first nomination to the Supreme Court. Every newspaper in America has been covering the story, the political maneuvering has been going on for weeks, the battle lines have been drawn — and the hearings are beginning this week.
24 lucky students joined us for a Master Class with Tom Korologos, the man widely known in Washington as the guru of the Senate confirmation process, to discuss the inside game that goes on when a President sends a Supreme Court nominee to the Hill – and when the Senate finally gets to weigh in on it. The immediate past Ambassador to Belgium, Amb. Korologos has shepherded the nominations of over 400 nominees — including four Supreme Court justices, as well as U.S. Ambassadors, Secretaries of State and many other officials — through the Senate over the years.
This amazing Master Class was hosted by a generous friend of the Next Generation Initiative, and Tom’s old friend from the opposite side of the aisle, Manny Rouvelas at the Washington offices of K&LGates.
A Master Class with
Tom Korologos
K&L Gates
Washington, DC
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A Master Class with
Barbara Spyridon Pope
How does a leader respond to dramatic developments across the world and challenges crises on the domestic front, when the public is growing impatient, time is growing short — and the news cycle even shorter?
25 students — including a group of outstanding students from the American Community School in Athens — joined us for an amazing Master Class on leadership with Barbara Spyridon Pope, as she shared her unique prespective as a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and a former Assistant Secretary of State.
How does a leader build a team, respond effectively to crises, manage the onslaught of the news media, work with friends and foes alike to further American goals, stand up and speak out when it’s the right think to do and your conscience tells you to do so — and still have time for a life with your family?
Students were treated to an inspiring Master Class that covered all this and more, as this engaging veteran of two changes of administration shared her own experiences about the unique opportunities, challenges and pressures that face leaders in the public arena.
A Master Class with
Barbara Spyridon Pope
K&L Gates
Washington, DC
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Maria Papathanassiou
of the European Institute
How do think-tanks work, and what shapes a career in the world of policy analysis and debate — in a time when the debate is hot and heavy?
The latest installment in our Summer Leadership Institute Series came when Next Generation students and our Athens Fellows got an introduction to the inner workings of a Washington think-tank, and how it works to illuminate strategic issues and shape public debate by bringing together academics, policy-makers and news-makers, when they sat down for a Master Class with Maria Papanathassiou, Senior Vice President of the European Institute and Managing Editor of European Affairs magazine.
A Master Class with
Maria Papathanasiou
The European Institute
Washington, DC
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A Conversation with former
Merck Chairman & CEO
Dr. Roy Vagelos
The economic crisis we are experiencing is dramatically restructuring the American business landscape. As corporate giants go under, and entire industries are transformed, what lies ahead for companies competing to stay ahead, here and around the world — and the students who will be joining their ranks soon?
To help us look ahead, we turned to a panel of experts — the successful CEO of a multinational corporation, a research scientist, a pioneering doctor who grew up during the Great Depression, the son of a Greek restaurant owner, and one of America’s leading philanthropists — all rolled into one: Dr. Roy Vagelos, the legendary former Chairman and CEO of global pharmaceutical giant Merck.
More than 120 students and special guests joined us in the University of Pennsylvania’s historic Houston Hall for this fascinating conversation with Dr. Vagelos, in a special event for Philadelphia-area Hellenic and Greek American university students, hosted by the members of the University of Pennsylvania Hellenic Student Association — along with their co-hosts, the members of the Hellenic Student Association at Drexel University, the Hellenic Cultural Association of Rutgers University, the Seton Hall University Hellenic Society, the Temple University Hellenic Society, and the Villanova University Hellenic Student Association.
A Conversation with
Dr. Roy Vagelos
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
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A Conversation with
Secretary General
Panos Livadas
A global recession is hitting nation after nation around the world, and Greece is no exception. How is the global financial crisis affecting Greece? What is Greece doing to fight back?
Students, CEOs, government officials and the press joined us for an inside look at how Greece is responding to this global crisis — and what Greece’s response means for the economies of the region, and for the stability of Southeastern Europe as a whole — when we met at the National Press Club on Friday, February 6th for a conversation with the American-educated Panos Livadas, Greece’s Secretary General of Information.
Co-hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and CBS News’ Thalia Assura, this special briefing from the man in charge of Greece’s communication strategy abroad during this crisis — and the Athens host of our Athens Fellowship programs since 2007 as well as the leader of one our Athens Fellowship program’s most popular Master Classes — introduced our 2009 series of conversations with economic and financial insiders on how this crisis is affecting — and transforming — entire industries, regions and nations.
A Conversation with
Secretary General Panos Livadas
National Press Club
Washington, DC
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A Conversation with
Tony Podesta
on the changes ahead
Change is coming to the nation’s capital. What does this watershed moment in our history mean for our nation — and for the world?
A packed conference room on K Street was the scene of the end-of-the-year, Washington-style wrap-up of our special election-year series of conversations with political insiders, movers and shakers about the 2008 elections. For the final installment in this series, Washington attorney Manny Rouvelas welcomed our students and a few special guests to the offices of K&L Gates for a riveting conversation with consummate political insider Tony Podesta, as he shared his perspective on the long-term effects of the 2008 elections, and his fascinating insights on how the incoming administration and Congress is gearing up to lead the country through these challenging times.
A Conversation with Tony Podesta
K&L Gates
Washington, DC
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A Conversation with
Gov. Michael Dukakis
on the 2008 elections
More than 200 students joined us in Boston for the final pre-election installment in our special election-year series of conversations with political insiders, movers and shakers — an intriguing, informal conversation with former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, detailing his thoughts and predictions about the 2008 election, and how it will be won or lost on the ground at the grassroots — from his unique point of view as a one-time presidential candidate, and someone who walks the walk and talks the talk as a precinct captain who goes door to door in his own Lowell Massachusetts precinct.
This special Master Class with Gov. Dukakis for Boston-area Hellenic and Greek American students, was co-sponsored by the Hellenic Society of Boston College, the Hellenic Association of Boston University, the Harvard Hellenic Society, the Hellenic Students Association of MIT, the Hellenic Society at Tufts University, and the Northeastern University Hellenic Club.
A Conversation with Michael Dukakis
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
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Paul Glastris of the
Washington Monthly
A hardy group of political junkies braved torrential rains to join us for a chance to grill one of the capital’s premier journalists, when we sat down after work on Thursday, September 25th for a conversation with the fascinating Paul Glastris, editor-in-chief of the famed Washington Monthly — the “maverick” magazine that was talking about “the change we need” long before this election cycle.
At the time, there were still 48 days to go to the election and the stock market hadn’t tanked, but Paul was able to give the group an amazingly good look at what was coming down the road — the kind of look ahead that only a veteran journalist and former presidential speechwriter could give.
Master Class with Paul Glastris
Washington Monthly
Washington, DC
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Mike Manatos and
Tom Manatos in the Capitol
The Next Generation got the inside scoop on September 4th when we went deep inside the Capitol itself, for a private conversation in the Office of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, with two young, energetic Washington insiders — Mike Manatos, an up-and-coming public policy lobbyist, and his brother Tom Manatos, an advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
This great conversation, which kicked off our Fall 2008 series of Master Classes, was the the third installment in our election-year series of “Conversations with Leaders” about the big choices young Americans will face this fall. (This was also the first in a series of Master Classes featuring leading figures on the Capital scene who just happen to be brothers.)
A Conversation in the Capitol
with Mike Manatos and Tom Manatos
U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC
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Mid Summer Meeting of
the Minds at the Monocle
The Trilateral Commission? The Bohemian Grove? The Bilderbergers? They’ve got nothing on our very own Mid-Summer Meeting of the Minds at that bastion of back-room bi-partisanship on the Hill, the Monocle, where generations of Great Americans have learned to loosen their neck-ties and leave their party lines behind.
Every year, we try to come together for one evening when some of our past, present and future Master Class leaders have a chance to drop their party lines and go off the record with our students — 35 of them this year — and join with their fellow Washington insiders for a friendly, mid-summer “meeting of the minds.”
Along with celebrating the second year of our Summer Leadership Institute series of Master Classes, this year’s “meeting” — under the honorary co-chairmanship of Sen. Paul Sarbanes and Sen. Olympia Snowe — was the second installment in our election-year series of “Conversations with Leaders” about the big choices young Americans will face this fall.
A Mid Summer Meeting of the Minds on Capitol Hill
The Monocle
Washington, DC
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Bill Antholis at the
Brookings Institution
Presidents, prime ministers, royalty and even religious figures — they’ve all made the pilgrimage to the Brookings, mother of all think tanks. And so have 17 Next Generation students and interns, who met at the Brookings Institution with Managing Director Bill Antholis, as he took us inside the storied halls of Washington’s oldest think tank to tell us how “policy wonks” like those at Brookings work to set the agenda for an entire nation (and then joined us for an impromptu dinner afterwards).
A Master Class with
Bill Antholis
The Brookings Institution
Washington, DC
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Amb. Andreas Kakouris
How do you represent a rapidly-changing nation at the crossroads of the Mediterranean — and a potential flashpoint in what some have called “the clash of civilizations?” 18 Next Generation interns and students learned this and more when they joined us for dinner with the very civilized and urbane Andreas Kakouris, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States to hear how delicate negotiations between contesting governments, adversarial political forces and shifting alliances can make your days long, and your job endlessly interesting.
Master Class with Amb. Andreas Kakouris
Washington, DC
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U.S. Representatives
John Sarbanes, Zack Space and Niki Tsongas
on Capitol Hill
As they near the end of their “freshman” term, three Members of Congress share the challenges they’ve faced during their first terms on Capitol Hill — in a follow-up to one of last year’s most popular Master Classes. Three outstanding new Members of Congress sat down with us on Tuesday, July 8th to talk about their first terms in Congress, the challenges they see ahead as they go back to face the voters in their districts this fall, and look back at how their roots in the Greek American community have shaped their approaches to public service — and answer a raft of questions from the 35 students and interns who joined us when we met on Capitol Hill with Rep. John Sarbanes (D) of Maryland, Rep. Zack Space (D) of Ohio and Niki Tsongas (D) of Massachusetts. (Unfortunately, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) of Florida was delayed by a cancelled flight from Tampa, and missed the class — but he promised the students a “make-up” class in the future!)
A Master Class on Capitol Hill with U.S. Representatives John Sarbanes, Zack Space and Niki Tsongas
Washington, DC
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Thalia Assuras at CBS News
Who wouldn’t want to see how a major broadcast news program works — and hear how a network correspondent covers the news? This class gave a group of 20 lucky students a chance to watch a live evening news program being broadcast — and meet a working news correspondent who has been covering major national and international stories since 1997 — when we went behind the scenes with CBS National Correspondent Thalia Assuras for a live broadcast of the CBS Evening News — and got the scoop on what its like to be a correspondent covering everything from White House intrigue to the battlefield in Iraq.
Thalia’s challenging overseas assignments include reporting from Iraq, where she covered the U.S. military action following the fall of Saddam Hussein — and was one of the first television journalists to report live from Tikrit only hours after his capture. Other international assignments include covering the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Bam, Iran and the Kosovo refugee crisis in Albania. She has also covered a wide range of domestic stories, including the 9/11 attacks in New York, the Elian Gonzalez controversy and Hurricane Floyd, and has interviewed world leaders ranging from President Bill Clinton to the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
A Master Class with Thalia Assuras
CBS News
Washington, DC
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Ever wondered how you get a top job at the White House? First you graduate (with honors) in three years from a local university, get your law degree, and then work really, really hard — first as an assistant DA in New York, next at the U.S. attorney’s office run by Rudi Guiliani, then at the Justice Department serving under Janet Reno, and then at the National Security Council with Condileeza Rice.
After all that — going from prosecuting mobsters to the fields of international law and then intelligence policy — you might be rewarded one day with what the Washington Post called the “low-ceilinged, windowless confines of a basement office in the West Wing” — but you’d be taking the place of two four-star generals as the President’s point person for handling one of the greatest challenges facing the nation, while heading the White House offices for both Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.
Imagine being one of the select group of fascinated Next Generation students who heard about all this and much more, when they sat down to have lunch with Fran Fragos Townsend at the famed Army-Navy Club in downtown Washington, DC.
A Master Class with Fran Fragos Townsend
Army-Navy Club
Washington, DC
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Amb. Alexandros Mallias
The Next Generation sat down with Greece’s number one man in America on the evening of March 31, as we kicked off our 2008 Master Classes for Young Leaders series with a very special event for Next Generation students only — an evening at the private residence of Greece’s Ambassador to the U.S., Alexandros Mallias.
The lucky group of outstanding students who joined us on March 31 had a rare chance to sit down for dinner with one of Washington’s leading diplomats – and saw for themselves how Greece is making a new name for itself, here and around the world.
We warned our students to be prepared, though — today’s Greece is not their grandfather’s Greece, and this young, dynamic, and forthright ambassador is definitely not their grandfather’s ambassador. They came prepared with some tough questions, and they had to answer some good questions themselves — in an enthusiastic give-and-take during this behind-the-scenes look at how a top diplomat handles the heat of international competition and confrontation.
A Master Class with Amb. Alexandros Mallias Washington, DC
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Highlights of
Previous Master Classes
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(Listed by Master Class leader in alphabetical order)
Dr. John Brademas at NYU
A Master Class with former Majority Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives and 10-term U.S. Congressman Dr. John Brademas, President Emeritus of New York University.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell at the Gates Foundation
A visit to the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle with Sylvia Mathews Burwell, former Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director and now President of Global Development Programs for the Gates Foundation.
Prof. Theodore Couloumbis at the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy
A Master Class on the current state of affairs in Greece and its relations with the E.U., with Prof. Theodore Couloumbis, at the major Athens think tank known in Greece by its acronym, ELIAMAP.
Gov. Michael Dukakis at Northeastern University
A Master Class with the former Governor of Massachusetts, and Democratic candidate for President Michael Dukakis, professor of political science at Northeastern University and visiting professor at UCLA.
Dr. George Hatsopoulos at MIT
A Master Class with the legendary inventor, entrepreneur and founder of high-tech giant Thermo-Electron, Dr. George Hatsopoulos, in his labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Maria Iliou at the American Film Institute
A visit with the award-winning film director Maria Iliou in conjunction with the Washington DC premiere of her moving documentary “The Journey: The Greek American Dream.”
Nikos Konstandaras at the Athens offices of Kathimerini newspaper
A Master Class with the Managing Editor of Greece’s second oldest newspaper, “Kathimerini,” Nikos Konstandaras, and the role a free press plays in a democracy, and the challenges it faces in the age of the internet.
Amb. Tom Korologos and Emanuel Rouvelas
A joint Master Class with two masters (and old friends) from opposite sides of the aisle previewing the 2008 primary season — Tom Korologos, former presidential advisor and immediate past U.S. Ambassador to Belgium — and Manny Rouvelas, former Senate counsel and advisor to two presidential transitions.
Ted Leonsis at AOL
A visit to the headquarters of AOL with high-tech industry leader and modern marketing genius Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman of AOL.
Dr. Panos Livadas at the Ministry of Information
A Master Class in the Greek Ministry of Information’s “war-room” with the Secretary General of Communication and Information, Dr. Panos Livadas, on how Greece has been working to “brand” itself, before, during and after the 2004 Olympics.
Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou at the Migration Policy Institute
A Master Class with Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou, the one of the world’s leading experts on one of the most critical issues facing our nation today — immigration — and President of the Institute right in the thick of the policy debate on four continents.
Aris Papadapoulos of Titan Cement
A lively and informal discussion over dinner on infrastructure and global investment with Aris Papadopoulos, the Harvard- and MIT-trained CEO of the billion-dollar U.S. subsidiary of one of Greece’s largest companies, Titan Cement.
Barbara Spyridon Pope at the State Department
A visit to the U.S. Department of State with former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and former Assistant Secretary of State, Barbara Spyridon Pope.
Prof. Plutarchos Sakellaris at the Ministry of Economy & Finance
A Master Class on the Greek economy and the growing role it plays in the regional and global economies, with the Chairman of the Greek government’s Council of Economic Advisors, Professor Plutarchos Sakellaris.
Rep. John Sarbanes and Rep. Zack Space on Capitol Hill
A Master Class on the Hill with two Members of Congress — Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, and Rep. Zack Space of Ohio — who shared their experiences as newly-elected “freshmen” Members of the 109th Congress.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes on Capitol Hill
A frank discussion over dinner with the legendary Greek-American leader, former six-term Sen. Paul Sarbanes, regarding the state of American politics today — and what challenges the next generation will be facing.
John Sitilides at the Woodrow Wilson Center
A Master Class with John Sitilides, the Chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Southeast Europe Project — and Washington’s leading expert on analyzing U.S. geopolitical, commercial, and security issues and interests in southeastern Europe and adjacent regions.
Symos Spyrou at the Athens Stock Exchange
An inside look at Athens’ new high-tech stock exchange — from the basement-level computer center on up — and a briefing on the challenges presented by the credit crisis, the trading of derivatives, and development of hedge funds and investment banks in Greece, with the Exchange’s Director of Strategic Planning and Investor Relations, Simos Spyrou.
George Stephanopoulos at ABC News
A behind-the-scenes visit with broadcast journalist George Stephanopoulos during a taping of his Sunday morning news show “This Week” at ABC News.
George Tenet at Georgetown University
A Master Class with the Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, George Tenet. Previously, Prof. Tenet served as Deputy Director, Acting Director, and from 1997 to 2004 as Director of Central Intelligence during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Nikolas Tsakos of Tsakos Shipping
A Master Class on the Greek dominance of world shipping — and how to track 50+ tankers around the world 24 hours a day — in the global operations center of the Tsakos Group of shipping companies, with the President and CEO of Tsakos Energy Navigation, Nikolas Tsakos.
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The Next Generation Initiative’s Master Class series for Young Leaders is sponsored by the members of Hellenext, an independent network of global Greeks who support the learning and leadership programs of the Next Generation Initiative, a non-profit 501(c)3 educational foundation.
About Our Recent
Master Class Leaders
Jim Kolotouros
Jim Kolotouros is the Director of Distribution Partnerships at Google. After receiving his undergraduate and MBA degrees from Stanford University in 1993 and 1997, respectively, he worked at Intel Corporation and Financial Engines before joining Google in April of 2003. During his seven-year tenure, Jim has managed and negotiated some of Google's most prominent partnerships with leading corporations and brands in the media and Internet space. While at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, he wrote cases for then-Intel Chairman Andrew Grove on the rising prominence of digital media in the Entertainment and Technology industries. He also interned for Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1990. In his spare time, Jim is a home winemaker and enjoys snowboarding, cooking and learning more about American history.
More Recent Master Class Leaders
Ted Leonsis
Ted Leonsis is best known in the high-tech world for his 14-year career with AOL during its greatest periods of growth and financial success — which includes serving as Vice Chairman as well as President of several business units including the AOL Services Company; AOL Studios; AOL Web Services; AOL Core Service and the AOL Audience Business.
Mr. Leonsis came to AOL when America Online purchased his pionering new media company, Redgate Communications, in 1993. The founder of six personal computer magazines, author of four books, and co-inventor of the board game “Only in New York”, Ted also worked on the introduction of the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. Early on in his career, Ted got his feet wet in the computer industry as a marketing executive with Harris Corp. and Wang Laboratories.
Today, Ted is making high-tech waves once again as founder and chairman of SnagFilms, a social media website that lets viewers watch and share documentary films, and chairman of both Revolution Money, a Web 2.0 payment platform and credit-card service, and Clearspring Technologies, a fast-growing widget syndication and social media company — in addition to being chairman and majority owner of Lincoln Holdings LLC, which holds 100% ownership rights in the NHL’s Washington Capitals hockey franchise and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and approximately 44% of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, DC’s Verizon Center and the Baltimore-Washington Ticketmaster franchise.
Ted Leonsis grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and Lowell, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Lowell High School in in 1973. Ted, who once served as mayor of Orchid, FL, got one of his first jobs out of school as an intern in the Senate campaign of another Greek American from Lowell — the late Paul Tsongas.
Among his many honors, including some from his alma mater, Georgetown University, Ted Leonsis has been named Washington’s Businessman of the Year, a Washingtonian of the Year, one of the 20 most influential people in sports, one of America’s most creative executives and a top 10 entrepreneur of the year.
Ted Leonsis is a founding board member of the Next Generation Initiative.
Amb. Demetrios Marantis
Demetrios Marantis serves as Deputy US Trade Representative. He is responsible for U.S. trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia and Africa. He also leads USTR global initiatives on trade and development, labor, and the environment.
Demetrios Marantis recently served as Chief International Trade Counsel (Majority) for the Senate Finance Committee under Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D - MT). Mr. Marantis joined the committee in February of 2005 after serving as Issues Director for Sen. John Edwards on the Kerry-Edwards 2004 presidential campaign.
Prior to the campaign, Mr. Marantis spent two years in Hanoi as Chief Legal Advisor for the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council. Between 1998 and 2002, Mr. Marantis served as Associate General Counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Mr. Marantis also worked for five years in the Washington, D.C. and Brussels, Belgium offices of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Demetrios holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.
Alexis Christoforous
Alexis Christoforous is a CBS News anchor and correspondent covering business and consumer news. Her reports are seen daily on over 200 CBS affiliate stations including WCBS in NY and KCBS in LA. She can also be heard on CBS Radio. She is a contributing correspondent for CBS' The Early Show and CBS Evening News Weekend. She can also be seen as a fill-in anchor for WCBS-TV in New York. Prior to her position at CBS, Ms. Christoforous was anchor for “MarketWatch Weekend”. Ms. Christoforous began her business news career at Bloomberg Television and Radio in 1994 where she anchored the PBS program “Bloomberg Morning News” and was Bloomberg's first reporter to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Ms. Christoforous has covered the stock market bull run of the early 1990s and the subsequent internet bubble burst of 2000, the economic impact of the 9/11 attacks, the wave of Wall Street scandals including Enron and WorldCom and most recently, the 2008-2009 recession. A native New Yorker, Ms. Christoforous is a graduate of Performing Arts High School where she studied theatre. She went on to graduate cum laude from New York University with a degree in English and Journalism.
George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos is Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News and anchor of ABC’s Sunday morning program, This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
Prior to joining ABC News, Mr. Stephanopoulos served in the White House as the Senior Adviser to the President for policy and strategy during the Clinton administration.
Before joining the Clinton campaign, Mr. Stephanopoulos was executive floor manager to U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.
George Stephanopoulos received a degree in political science from Columbia University. He also received a master’s degree in theology from Balliol College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. George Stephanopooulos is a founding board member of the Next Generation Initiative.
Chris Saridakis
Chris D. Saridakis was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Gannett in 2008, where his responsibilities include expanding and enriching the company’s global digital operations. Prior to taking this position, Saridakis was CEO of PointRoll beginning in 2005, after serving two years as that company’s COO.
Before coming to PointRoll, Saridakis was the Senior Vice President of DoubleClick, and general manager of the division responsible for the industry's leading ad serving platform, DART. Chris was among the first people in the technology business at DoubleClick and was instrumental in growing the business from six to over 2,000 clients and to over $250mm in annual revenues.
Before joining DoubleClick, he was director of new products and business development for enterprise solutions at Reuters America. He also worked at Lehman Brothers Inc, as the Assistant Vice President for the Central Funding Desk. Chris started his career at Marsh & McLennan Cos. in their Corporate Treasury & Risk Management division.
Amb. Andreas Kakouris
Ambassador Andreas Kakouris
has represented the Republic of Cyprus to the United States since 2006. Amb. Kakouris is concurrently accredited as High Commissioner of Cyprus to Canada. Previously, Mr. Kakouris served as the Ambassador to Ireland from 2002 to 2006. Mr. Kakouris’ diplomatic service includes positions as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Washington D.C. from 1996 to 2000, as well as serving at the Permanent Delegation of Cyprus to the EC/Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Brussels (1992-1996). Mr. Kakouris’ previous posts also includes service as the Consulate-General in New York in the 1980s where he was concurrently accredited to the Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the United Nations.
Andreas Kakouris was born in the United Kingdom and began his education at the University of Lancaster, where he was an honors graduate with a Bachelor Degree in Politics in 1981. He holds a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School International Affairs of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
Amb. Tom Korologos
One of Washington’s most influential “wise men,” Tom Korologos has served as a senior staff member in the U.S. Congress, as an assistant to two Presidents in the White House, during the Nixon and Ford administrations, as president of the Washington lobbying powerhouse Timmons & Company — and most recently during the Bush administration as a senior counselor with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, and as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from 2004 to 2007.
Tom started out as a journalist with the New York Herald Tribune, the Long Island Press, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Associated Press. He was a U.S. Air Force officer from 1956 to 1957. He earned his B.A. at the University of Utah and in 1958, an M.S. degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he received a Pulitzer Fellowship. Korologos fist came to Washington in 1962 to work for Sen. Wallace F. Bennett of Utah.
A second generation Greek American, Tom’s parents came from the Peloponnese to Utah, where his father worked as a bartender. Tom is married to Ann McLaughlin Korologos, who served as Secretary of Labor in the Reagan administration, and is the father of actress Paula Cale.
Barbara Spyridon Pope
Barbara Spyridon Pope served as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of State during the Bush administration. She
joined the Department after years as President of the Pope Group, a management consulting company. She has served as an expert consultant to the Department of Justice for Title VII and Title IX issues. She served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs under former President Bush and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. Also, a former Chief of Staff at the Small Business Administration, she began her career on Capitol Hill with late Senator Barry Goldwater. She is the recipient of the National "Breaking the Glass Ceiling" Award. Barbara Pope is a founding board member of the Next Generation Initiative.
Dr. P. Roy Vagelos
Dr. Pindaros Roy Vagelos, MD, joined Merck in 1975, first as Senior Vice President for Research, and then as CEO starting in 1984. Throughout his visionary leadership, until his retirement as Chairman of the Board in 1994, Merck was at the head of the pack of the world’s pharmaceutical industry. Not only was Dr. Vagelos the lead scientist in Merck’s development of the statin drugs, Lovastatin and Zocor, but he was also the key advocate in Merck’s decision to make Ivermectin freely available to the people of Africa and Central America for the treatment of river blindness, a chronic and debilitating disease spread by black flies.
Roy Vagelos grew up during the Depression as a son of Greek immigrants. After winning a partial scholarship, he left his family's small restaurant in Rahway, New Jersey to major in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1950, and earning his M.D. at Columbia University in 1954.
Dr. Vagelos is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He is chair of the board of directors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; a director of PepsiCo, and the Prudential Insurance Company.
Secretary General
Panos Livadas
Dr. Panos Livadas was appointed Secretary General of Information in March 2004. Among other duties, he is in charge of Greece's communications strategy abroad. Hailed in the press as “one of the more interesting representatives of the new Greece,” Dr. Livadas worked in the private sector both in the States and Greece before joining the government. Born in Athens in 1964, he graduated from the Athens College. He studied at the University of Florida and at Hofstra University, where he obtained his degree in Business Administration and Political Science. While in college, he interned in the U.S. Senate. In 1997, he graduated from the University of Athens with a Master in Political Science and Social Theory, following that up with a PhD in Political Science.
Tony Podesta
Dubbed by Wired magazine as one of Washington’s “best-connected dealmakers,” Tony Podesta is one of Washington, DC‘s top legislative and public affairs strategists. Tony is the chairman of the Podesta Group, the firm he founded as Podesta Associates with his brother John Podesta in 1988, and which is now one of the capital’s top lobbying and public affairs firms according to Fortune, Influence, and Legal Times. Tony Podesta served as the founding president of People for the American Way from 1981 to 1987, and as a member of Pres. Clinton's transition team in 1992. His public service includes counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Anthony Podesta was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He recieved his bachelor of arts degree with honors from the University of Illinois, a master of arts from MIT and his juris doctorate from Georgetown University. During the 1968 presidential campaign, he left school to work for Eugene McCarthy. Tony came to Washington in 1970 to work for Common Cause before becoming active in Edmund Muskie's 1972 presidential campaign.
Michael Dukakis
MIchael Dukakis is the former Governor of Massachusetts, and the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 1988. During his two terms as Governor, he presided over a high-tech boom and a period of prosperity in Massachusetts, which led him to be recognized by the National Governors Association as the nation’s most effective governor in 1986. Residents of the city of the Boston area remember him for the improvements he made to Boston's mass transit system. He was known as the only governor who rode the subway to work every day. After the end of his second term, he became a professor of political science at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, and visiting professor in the Department of Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs at UCLA. Michael Dukakis graduated from Swarthmore College in 1955, served in the U.S. Army 1955–1957, stationed in Korea, and then received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1960.
Goc. Dukakis is a founding board member of the Next Generation Initiative.
Paul Glastris
Paul Glastris is editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly magazine. From September 1998 to January, 2001, Paul was a special assistant and senior speechwriter to the President Bill Clinton. Before joining the White House, Glastris spent ten years as a correspondent and editor at U.S. News & World Report. As Bureau Chief in Berlin, Germany (1995/1996), he covered the former Yugoslavia during final months of the Bosnian War, and wrote stories from Germany, Russia, Greece, and Turkey.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a masters in radio, TV and film from Northwestern University.
Mike Manatos
After graduating from Princeton in 1990, Mike Manatos joined his father, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Andy Manatos, as a young lobbyist at Manatos & Manatos, a fast-paced public relations/public affairs firm located in Washington, DC, where his focus has primarily been on international issues with an emphasis on Greece and Cyprus. Like his brother Tom, Mike has been involved with politics and campaigns since childhood, after hearing stories about their grandfather’s days as Senate liaison for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
Tom Manatos
Tom Manatos took time off from his communications studies at Cornell in 2000 to be the second-youngest paid staffer at Gore-Lieberman headquarters in Nashville. He started working with Rep.Nancy Pelosi as an intern shortly after she became minority whip and has been with her since, working on outreach to veterans and military retirees, youth and young adults, the environmental community and disability community. His career on Capitol Hill began as a Senate Page.
The honorary
co-chairmen of
our bi-partisan
“Mid Summer Meeting
of the Minds”:
Sen. Paul Sarbanes
Sen. Olympia Snowe
Bill Antholis
William Antholis is managing director of the Brookings Institution. He has worked on foreign security and economic policy at the National Security Council and the State Department, and was director of studies at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Bill served as Director of the Office Policy Analysis at the State Department’s Bureau of Economic Affairs. Prior to that he served at the White House National Security and National Economic Councils as Director of International Economic Affairs.
Amb. Andreas Kakouris
Ambassador Andreas Kakouris
has represented the Republic of Cyprus to the United States since 2006. Amb. Kakouris is concurrently accredited as High Commissioner of Cyprus to Canada. Amb. Kakouris was born in the United Kingdom and began his education at the University of Lancaster, where he was an honors graduate with a Bachelor Degree in Politics in 1981. He holds a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School International Affairs of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. [more]
Rep. John Sarbanes
Congressman John P. Sarbanes represents Maryland’s Third Congressional District, which includes portions of Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County. [more]
Rep. Zack Space
Other than spending three years in law school at Ohio State University, Zack Space has lived his entire life in Ohio's 18th Congressional District. [more]
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Niki Tsongas represents the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts which includes the old industrial cities of Haverhill, Methuen, Lawrence and Lowell as well as the Boston suburbs of Concord, Acton, Wayland and Sudbury. She is the first woman from Massachusetts elected to the U.S. Congress in twenty-five years. [more]
Thalia Assuras
Thalia Assuras has been a national correspondent based in Washington, D.C., for CBS News’ The Early Show since January 2002. She also serves as one of the primary anchors of the Saturday edition of the CBS Evening News and as a CBS News correspondent, contributing to many broadcasts.
Thalia has been a CBS News correspondent since 1997, reporting for a variety of CBS News broadcasts.
She joined CBS News from ABC, where she was an anchor for “World News Now” and “World News This Morning” (1993-96) and a general assignment correspondent. Previously, she anchored “Canada AM,” CTV’s morning news broadcast, co-anchored “Canada AM Weekend” and substitute-anchored the “CTV Weekend News” (1992-93).
Thalia Assuras was born in London, Ontario, Canada. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an honors bachelor of science degree/ microbiology and immunology and with a master’s degree in journalism. Thalia Assurasis a member of the Next Generation Initiative’s Board of Advisors.
Fran Fragos Townsend
Frances Fragos Townsend was appointed Homeland Security Advisor by the President on May 28th, 2004. While at the White House, Ms. Townsend chaired the Homeland Security Council and reported to the President on United States Homeland Security policy and Combating Terrorism matters. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism.
Ms. Townsend came to the White House from the U. S. Coast Guard, where she had served as Assistant Commandant for Intelligence. Prior to that, Ms. Townsend spent 13 years at the U. S. Department of Justice in a variety of senior positions, her last assignment as Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy. Ms. Townsend began her prosecutorial career in 1985, serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York.
Amb. Alexandros Mallias
H.E. Alexandros Mallias, the Greek ambassador to the United States, has been at the forefront of Greece's stabilizing role in the Balkans, serving as Director of the Southeastern Europe (Balkan Affairs) Department at the Foreign Ministry in Athens in various capacities, and as Ambassador to Albania, head of the first Mission in FYROM, and head of the European Community Monitor Mission Regional Office in Sofia. He also served in Libya and at the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, as First Counselor for Political Affairs. Amb. Mallias is a member of the Next Generation Initiative’s Board of Advisors.