Timothy Ananiadis, Chairperson

Tim Ananiadis was born and raised in Greece and at the age of 17 went to Canada to study Business Administration at Ryerson University in Toronto, subsequently moving to the USA where he started his career in the hospitality industry.

Tim has over 40 years of international experience in the hospitality industry, beginning with Hyatt Hotels where he started his career at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, and subsequently holding the position of Director of Food and Beverage in several hotels (including Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Hilton Head, Nashville, Buffalo, and Columbus). In 1988 he moved to Chicago as the Corporate Director of Food and Beverage for Hyatt Hotels with main responsibilities being menu engineering, product development, recruitment, development and implementation of service standards and training, concept development and hotel pre-opening support.

As General Manager he held positions in the USA at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh, Hyatt Regency Coral Gables and Hyatt Regency Miami. In 1999 he joined Hyatt International as the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki in Greece and later moved to India as the General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai.

In 2003 he joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts returning to Greece as the General Manager/Managing Director of the Hotel Grande Bretagne. In 2006 through 2012 he was given the additional responsibility of Area Manager for Greece, Turkey & Cyprus overseeing 18 Starwood affiliated hotels. From 2013 the area responsibility included the Balkans until Marriott International merged with Starwood when he took over the responsibility of Marriott Business Council for Greece and Cyprus while remaining the Complex Managing Director of the Hotel Grande Bretagne and King George until October 2020. Presently, he is the Senior Hospitality Advisor to the Laskaridis family and on the board of Directors for Lampsa Hellenic Hotels and Luckman Park Estate both part of the Laskaridis Family.

Tim is an active member of a number of civic and non-profit organizations including Vice Chairman of The American Community Schools (ACS) of Athens, Vice President of the Athens Hotel Association, board member of the Greek Health Tourism Organization and Board of Directors for American Hellenic Institute. His business philosophy of an ideal hotel is one that provides a comfortable, friendly and efficient environment for its guests and associates while maximizing financial results through constant innovation, intuitive service and proactive management. His personal guiding principal is “be kind and treat your associates the way you expect them to treat your guests and they will definitely reward you”.

Tim currently splits his time between Athens and Miami with his wife Jennifer. They have three grown children residing in Dallas, Miami and Athens.

Pascal Apostolides, Vice Chairperson

Born in 1955 in Thessaloniki, Pascal holds a BSc degree in Chemistry, a BA in Economic Geography and a post graduate degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Manitoba in Canada, while he concluded his studies by receiving a MSc in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Stratchclyde in Glasgow. Moreover, graduated from Anatolia College high school in Thessaloniki.

His professional career began in September 1986 in the diagnostics department of Abbott in Thessaloniki and after a short period in Athens he worked for 7 years in the German affiliate and 4 years at the Abbott Park in Chicago.

In 2001 he returned to Greece as Managing Director of Abbott Laboratories Hellas and from January 2013 Pascal holds the position of the Managing Director of AbbVie, a new, independent, global biopharmaceutical company which retains in its portfolio innovative medicines for serious and chronic diseases, following Abbott’s separation in two individual companies.

From 2015 to 2018 he was President of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SfEE) in which he currently holds the position of General Secretary, while he is Member of the Board of Directors of the Pharma Innovation Forum (PIF), President of the Pharmaceutical Committee of Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), member of the Board of Directors of Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and member of the Executive Board of Trustees of the American Community Schools of Athens (ACS).

Iraklis Prokopakis, Treasurer

Iraklis Prokopakis is the Senior Vice President, Treasurer, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors of Danaos Corporation. Mr. Prokopakis joined Danaos in 1998 and has over 40 years of experience in the shipping industry.

Prior to entering the shipping industry, Mr. Prokopakis was a captain in the Hellenic Navy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Portsmouth University in the United Kingdom, a Master’s degree in Naval Architecture as well as a Risk Management one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and a post-graduate diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics. Mr. Prokopakis also has a Certificate in Companies Evaluation and in Operational Audit of Banks from the Management Centre Europe in Brussels and a Safety Risk Management Certificate from Det Norske Veritas. He is a member of the Board of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and the Owners' Committee of the Korean Register of Shipping.

Ada Gianneskis, Secretary

Ada Gianneskis grew up between Toronto, Canada and Athens, Greece. She is married and a mother of two.

Ms. Gianneskis is a marketing and communications executive with 20 years of experience and is currently the Communications Director of House Market SA (IKEA franchise for Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria), leading all commercial and corporate communications & marketing, interior design and Food business.

She has great marketing experience, having been both Advertising Manager and Marketing Manager of IKEA, and Brand Manager at Samsung and other electronic goods brands.

Ms. Gianneskis holds an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University, with specialization in sports marketing.

Additionally, she is a certified facilitator for Inter-IKEA (senior coach) and has facilitated a significant number of training workshops (for IKEA locally and internationally, but also the Fourlis Group, AUEB etc.). Teaching and facilitating is something she is very passionate about.

She is also a member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

During off time, she loves sports, cooking and travelling.

Artie Gyftopoulos, U.S. Trustee

Eleni Aravanis, Member

ACS Athens has been an integral part of Eleni’s life for the last five decades – her mother taught in the

Middle School for 30 years, her late brother and herself graduated from this institution, both her niece and nephew attended all their school years, and finally, her daughter is completing her 9th year in the academy. So, ACS is part of her identity and she has followed it loyally throughout all the phases of its evolution and now wants to be part of this evolution.

Following her graduation from ACS in the 80’s, she attained a B.A in Psychology from Boston University and an M.Sc. in Social Psychology from The London School of Economics and Political Science. Her career for the last 20 years lies in the area of market research. For the last five years, she has been Sr. Exclusive Consultant to IQVIA, an American multinational company, serving the combined industries of health information technology and clinical research, as well as to QualWorld, a French independent fieldwork provider specializing in qualitative market research for the healthcare industry. Prior to these positions, she worked for Creta Farms - the largest deli-meat company in Greece at the time - as Consumer Research Manager, handling all national and international consumer market research projects, as well as facilitating the expansion of the company to new markets. She has also held Director positions at Civitas-Ketchum, the largest PR company in Athens at the time, as well as for Research International (now Millward Brown), a global multinational market research company. All the positions that she has held during her career have had international exposure since a key objective in these roles was the management of International Clients and the coordination of international projects.

Between 2003 – 2006 she was a visiting professor at Panteio in the Department of Communication and has also taught numerous seminars at the Athens University of Economics and Business for Unilever, CSR Hellas, ESOMAR, and the Hellenic Institute of Marketing (EIM).

Her interest in becoming a member of the Board of Trustees lies not only in the long withstanding commitment she has had to the school but also in her belief that ACS is and can continue to be an exemplary example of an educational institution. Developing and executing strategy, mission, and vision has been part of her career responsibilities. Analyzing key issues, competitor positions, and trends, as well as developing a competitive brand identity for a long-standing institution like ACS Athens, will be a strong commitment and aspiration. In these ever-changing times, a redefinition of some goals and rebranding in attitude and essence may be necessary.

Additionally, continuously seeking to strive for excellence in student achievement and teaching is a must in today’s competitive environment. ACS holds all the necessary components to continue to be a model and exemplary education institution in the years to come, and she wishes to support this development.

Irene Hayes Christodoulou, Member

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s of Science, Major Speech/Minor English - Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
• Mortarboard Chapter graduate with honors
• Seminars on Organizational Changes and Marketing Management
• MS in Management/Minor Financial Accounting and Marketing Management – LaVerne University / graduated with top honors

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Banking:

  - Assistant Credit Manager

  - Economics Surveys: effects of M1, M2 and M3 on developing economy

  - Accountant: payroll, A/R

  - Due diligence portfolio investments and management clients capital advisory for new clients (Alexandria Bancorp). Investment portfolios worldwide.

• Public Relations, Advertising and Sales:

  - Business and finance magazine and consulting headhunter group

• Professor in Business Administration/Assistant Dean and Counselor:

  - For both Bachelors and Masters Degrees at LaVerne University, Indianapolis University and taught case work studies for the OECD on behalf of the School of Business, University of Greece.

  - Taught undergraduate and graduate studies at LaVerne and University of Indianapolis such as: Marketing Management, Financial Accounting, Business Communications, Organizational Behavior and Case Studies in Business Management.

• Financial Manager:

  - For the Papellinas Group of companies in their joint ventures with Elf Sanofi, France.

  - Matching Greek and American Accounting Standards to streamline financial data for joint venture and advising on strategies for improvement to both company and subsidiary’s directors.

• Retail:

  - Co-owned “My Wedding SA” representative of Vera Wang and Monique L’Huillier Brands in Greece and Cyprus. Buyer for merchandise in New York, Los Angeles, and London, England. After three years had to leave due to new obligations in Toronto, Canada.

• Currently:

  - On the Board of Directors of two companies in Toronto:

  1. Phase 3 Properties Ltd, and

  2. Minic Investments

  - Real estate holdings in Canada, Caribbean and Europe. Investments in a public capital group in Toronto with portfolios in North America, Europe and Caribbean, Equity, Insurance, private wealth and corporate investments.

Nicholas T. Gialamas, U.S. Trustee

Nick Gialamas is the Area President of HUB International, a global insurance brokerage firm headquartered in Chicago, IL. Before joining HUB, Gialamas served as Chief Executive Officer of Forest Financial Group, Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm he founded in 1998. During his tenure, Gialamas led the company through a period of transformation and sustainable growth. Forest Financial Group, Inc. was acquired by HUB International in December of 2015.

Nick is also the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Forest Capital Management, LLC a Chicago based registered investment advisory firm (RIA) focused on retirement investment services for institutional clients. Forest Capital Management, LLC has been operating since 2014.

Nick earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Marketing from Northern Illinois University (NIU). He is loyal to his alma mater and stays personally involved with the University, including guest speaking engagements at the College of Business. The NIU College of Business Department of Marketing has recognized Nick's contributions by presenting him with the Alumni of the Year Award.

Nick serves on the NIU Executive Club Board of Advisors, the NIU College of Business Board of Advisors, ACS Athens Board of Trustees, as well as the Board of Advisors for the Retirement Savings Foundation in Washington D.C..

Tina Stathopoulou Kanellou, Member

Tina has a son who has been a student at the school since 3rd grade.  He is currently in the 9th grade.  She has been the Vice President of the school PTO for the past two years.  Tina is interested in applying for a parent position on the ACS Athens BoT because she strongly believes that ACS is a school with a  clear vision, inclusive and caring, giving back to its students.  She would like to help and support its unique position in Greece and to be a representative voice on the Board to be able to assist in current improvements and future plans.

Tina has an MBA (Master of Business Administration) - Henley Management College, London, UK; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (major Marketing)- Deree College, Athens Greece

Since 2007 she has been running her own licensing agency (Partner Plus), representing well-known entertainment brands like Warner Bros, Universal, Hasbro, etc., for Greece and Cyprus, as well as having the rights for Romania and Bulgaria for some of these companies.

Tina’s company has been awarded by Hasbro and Universal as the best agent.

Prior to Partner Plus, Tina worked for:

2001-2007 - Walt Disney Greece as Head of the Retail Team for the Emerging market countries for Carrefour.  Setting the FMCG business in Greece for Disney brands.

1999-2001 - Pepsico International - Fritolay (Tasty foods) – Key Account Manager (Greece and Spain )

1993-1997  - Continent Hellas – Product Manager Textiles

Tina is a Gold Medalist in the long jump (Panhellenic Championship of indoor track (1986-1987).  She is fluent in Greek and English.

Anastasios Kaburakis, U.S. Trustee

Anastasios Kaburakis holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and a Law degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He held Faculty appointments at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Indiana University Bloomington, and Washington University Law School in St. Louis. He is currently a Professor of Management in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, at Saint Louis University. Prior to academia, he practiced law and is licensed through the Thessaloniki Bar Association. While in Greece, he coached basketball at the junior and professional club levels, the national teams of Greece, and served the Greek Basketball Federation, FIBA, and several European educational institutions on legal and policy matters.

He has published articles and presented research on International Comparative Sport Law, NCAA Compliance, particularly pertaining to International Student-Athletes, recruiting, amateurism, gambling, coaches’ contracts, institutional liability, and intellectual property applications in sport. He regularly consults international sport governing bodies, NCAA Division I governance committees, policy-drafting actors in member conferences and coaches’ associations, member institutions’ compliance and coaching staff members on international recruiting, amateurism policy, and legal issues in intercollegiate athletics settings. He serves as an advisor for various international sport consulting firms.

Nate Mann, U.S. Embassy

COL Nate Mann is currently serving as the U.S. Army Attache at U.S. Embassy Athens’ Defense Attache Office. Nate is a native of Buffalo, NY and has served in the U.S. Army for over 24 years. Nate is the son of two New York state public school educators and most recently served as a full-time instructor at the Joint Military Attache School in Washington DC.  Nate’s two daughters, Mikayla and Linnea Mann, attend ACS in the 10th and 6th grades respectively.

Demetri Paneras, U.S. Trustee

Global CIO, IPG Mediabrands

Demetri Paneras was Webmaster of the MIT Media Lab before managing the Internet presence of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. In 2005, Demetri joined Velti, the Mobile Marketing firm and first company out of Greece to list on the London AIM market (2006) and NASDAQ (2011). As CIO as well as SVP of the Performance Marketing business unit, Demetri managed up to 300 Velti staff while delivering profitability and cost control as the company grew from 60 to 1500 employees in 30 offices around the world. From 2007 to 2009 Demetri took time away from Velti as CTO for the relaunch of the Eleftheros Tipos media group by the Angelopoulos family. Following the 2014 acquisition of Velti’s global assets by GSO (a division of Blackstone) he managed mGage LLC, holding roles as CIO, SVP of Advertising Technology and GM for mGage Athens. In 2018 Demetri was an in-house contractor for SpaceX in Los Angeles, California. He currently lives in New York where he is the Global CIO for the Interpublic Group’s (NYSE:IPG) IPG Mediabrands.

Born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Demetri attended Pinewood and later Anatolia High School in Thessaloniki. He graduated from Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University and completed an M.Sc. (as well as ABD Ph.D. work) at Boston University in 1997. Demetri's three children are also members of the ACS family.

Kristen Roberts, U.S. Embassy

Kristin Roberts is a U.S. diplomat and strategic communications professional with nearly two decades of experience guiding governmental communications. She is currently the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece. Ms. Roberts is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Foundation in Greece and sits on the Board of the Foreign Service Families with Disabilities Alliance. She is a former State Representative to the American Foreign Service Governing Board (2019-2021).  

Ms. Roberts began her career with the U.S. Department of State in 2005.  She most recently served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and the Director of the Office of Policy in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). In this role, she developed and executed strategies for using exchanges, education, and public-private partnerships to promote national security objectives. 

Before joining ECA, Ms. Roberts provided public diplomacy support in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs to the U.S. Embassies in Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey and U.S. Missions to NATO and the European Union. Ms. Roberts also served as the press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she stood up a strategic communications apparatus for the host government. She oversaw the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington, DC. Prior to those postings, she worked in the State Department Operations Center, the 24/7 command center for crisis management and communications. Ms. Roberts has also served overseas at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and at the U.S. Mission to the European Union.

Prior to embarking on her career as a diplomat, Ms. Roberts was a practicing attorney and social worker in Seattle, Washington. With a history of working with marginalized communities, Ms. Roberts is an advocate for inclusive education and social justice issues.  Ms. Roberts earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington. She has studied Greek, Georgian, Russian, Urdu, and Swedish.  She is married to fellow Foreign Service Officer James Morris, and they have two children who attend ACS Athens.

Suheil H. Sabbagh, Honorary Chairperson & Member

Suheil H. Sabbagh holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Webber University, USA and is currently the President of Human Resources of a leading international and regional group in the construction section of Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC), of which he is a major shareholder.

On a personal level, he is involved in many humanitarian projects both in Greece and abroad and is a patron of many charity organizations. Mr. Sabbagh is married and has three children.

George Anthony Sifakis, Member

Prior to his current role as Ideagen’s Founding Global chairman and CEO, George served as  Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the  White House. Having served in the Administration of two US Presidents and founded Ideagen over a decade ago, George has crafted countless successful policies, strategic partnerships, global cross-sector collaboration, grassroots and executive communications strategies with the world's leading companies, NGOs, and public sector. George has served in all branches of the Federal  Government including as Executive, Legislative US Senate Committee Staffer at the Committee on Small Business, and Docket Clerk at the US Attorney's Office. 

As Director of Public Liaison at the White House, George was responsible for establishing and leading a team, coordinating engagement with Global Business Leaders, NGOs, and the Public Sector from across all sectors and issues on behalf of the President and Administration. George is a frequent speaker at global convenings on a myriad of topics focused on Business and Societal impact. George's role as Global Chairman and CEO of Ideagen Global, A Global Streaming TV,  Radio/Podcast, and Magazine Platform where the world's Global Leaders and CEOs from companies, NGOs, and public sector convene is focused on developing partnerships and solutions to the world's most vexing issues. 

George's philanthropic leadership includes service on boards including as President of the St.  George Greek Orthodox Monastery, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Board Member of  The Ideagen Foundation (2021), and VP of the Georgetown Visitation VFC. George is also a  member of the Forbes Business Council.  

Alexandria, Virginia, and Clearwater, Florida are home for George and his family, including his wife Adriana and three children, George II, Alexandra, and Evangelia. George is fluent in Modern Greek and enjoys learning how to play golf.

Constantine Stergides, Member

Constantine Stergides is a journalist by trade, but now manages his own company which specializes in "wine communications" (i.e. wine-related event management and publications).

Mr. Stergides has three daughters, two of whom are ACS graduates and are now students in the US (University of Washington and Bard College). His wife, Nathalie, is an architect, a contemporary dance instructor and, currently, a somatic-psychoeducation therapist.

Mr. Stergides' educational background includes: B.A. University of Washington, Political Science; M.A. University of Paris XII, Urban Planning; D.E.A. (Pre-doctorate) University of Paris XII, Urban Transportation; M.A. University of Paris Sorbonne, Journalism (Foreign Correspondence).

Amanda VanderStelt

Amanda VanderStelt is an educator at heart. A 2009 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Texas Christian University, Amanda graduated with a Bachelors of Early Childhood Education with specialties in English as a Second Language, as well as Gifted and Talented Curriculum. She went on to also receive a Masters of Education with a specialty in Online Education from The College of Saint Scholastica. 

Amanda has experience teaching internationally in Denmark, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. She also has teaching experience both at private and public schools in the United States. As both an educator and a parent, she has played an active role on curriculum development and implementation committees, Middle States Accreditation committees and working with the school communities to build safe schools for their diverse student populations. 

Amanda is married to Eric VanderStelt, a member of the United States State Department. They have served tours in Djibouti, Africa, London, United Kingdom and Athens, Greece. Together they have four young boys, three of which currently attend ACS Athens.

Mark Wolper, U.S. Trustee