Leadership/Board

Desie Boston was born in Philadelphia and attended Drexel University’s business school with a concentration in Accounting. Desie is the co-founder/owner of two award-winning unique women’s retail/manufacturing boutiques in Philadelphia for 20 years. The boutiques were nationally recognized by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and WWD.

Desie is an entrepreneur with a vision and organizational skills, oversees operations, and consults and manages for a local wholesale jewelry designer, which is currently available in more than 500 national and international boutiques.

Desie is also involved with Emily’s Entourage, an Accelerating Cystic Fibrosis research to save lives and raise money and awareness to help find a cure for CF with a focus on rare mutations through the power of community.

Desie is married to Bill Storti who works for Arris International’s Global Procurement Group; they have one child: Ilias 22. The family resides in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

Artemis Tsingiropoulos is a member of the St. Luke Greek Orthodox community and a former GOYA athlete. She has coached her church track team and basketball teams. A mother of two boys and wife to George for 25 years, she is an avid runner and sports lover.

Nikolaos Yiantsos was born on 23 July 1960 in Ermakia Kozani Greece to Kosmas and Agnoula Yiantsos. His family immigrated to the Philadelphia area in September of 1971. He attended Spring Garden College where he studied engineering. After College, he worked for Square D Company in their plant and building automation group. In 1989 he was recruited by Rockwell Automation as an account manager. In the last nine years, Nick has been working with the US Navy automating the fleet with commercial off the shelf products.

Nick’s community involvement includes Vice-president and President of the Parish Council, St George Greek Orthodox Church, Media Pennsylvania. Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, Chairman of the Facility Committee. Nick is a longstanding member of the Pan-Macedonian Association of the USA where he served as a District Governor and Chairman of the Scholarship Committee and National Youth President. He also served as several posts including president of Pavlos Melas the Philadelphia Macedonian Chapter. He is a founding Board Member and past Vice President of the Aristotle Academy Greek School in Media PA. Nick has also served on the Federation of Hellenic American Societies annual parade as cochairman and MC. He is a founding Board Member, former President, and now Treasurer of the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia.

Nick is married to Anna Yiantsos School Teacher at Odyssey Charter School, they have two children, Achileas 20 and Olga 17. The family resides in Mullica Hill New Jersey.

Chris has been a lifelong member of St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Church in Cherry Hill, NJ, where his parents Christos and Eleni (Elaine) Kotsakis were founding members. In addition to owning his own cross-platform IT consultancy, Prometheus IT Solutions, which is geared towards creative professionals, Chris has enjoyed a long professional freelance illustration career. Chris’ illustration work has been described as “visually stunning,” and has received numerous awards throughout the years. In 1992, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the University of The Arts in Philadelphia with high honors. He has worked in all fields of illustration including advertising, editorial, and publishing, with numerous clients through the years, including Scholastic, Inc., Dell Publishing, Fleer, Leapfrog, Digitas, and The National Storytelling Foundation. He has also done advertising work for Marvel and DC Comics. A life-long comic art enthusiast and frequent guest of Artists’ Alleys at Comic Conventions, Chris co-founded Artistacon in 2016, a unique conference designed to help aspiring creatives by connecting them with industry professionals for a weekend of education and mentorship.

Chris’ community involvement includes a multitude of volunteer positions in his church, including many years serving as a Sunday School teacher, and assisting with Sights and Sounds as a coordinator and judge. He is a member of several business associations, including the Greek-American Chamber of Commerce.

Chris is married to Janet Kotsakis, Executive Assistant at the Food Bank of South Jersey, they have a son, Constantine 5. The family resides in Cinnaminson, NJ.

Eleftherios Kostans is a veteran international photographer who has worked for a variety of organizations, agencies, and publications. His work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, People, Odyssey, and Wired magazines.

While serving as a contract photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer for ten years, Kostans became a correspondent for Sipa-Press Agency in New York, where he covered regional, national, and global news. As a staff photographer at Swarthmore College, his magazine work was recognized by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He currently contributes to a variety of educational institutions, media groups, films, and other projects.

Kostans’ personal work in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region focuses on Hellenism. His documentary photographs of the Pontian Muslim Greek community in northern Turkey were the first such work about this ancient Greek culture to be exhibited at the Greek Consulate in New York. This sustained body of work was also featured in a special report by BBC Radio 3. He has also worked on films such as In the Footsteps of the Argonauts and is a regular contributor to Amastris, the Greek magazine that features news, history, and photography about the ancient Black Sea Pontian culture.

Named by the Greek American News as an up-and-coming artist in 2001, Kostans has been interviewed by both Greek and Turkish television and radio and has been featured in Greek News and DailyFrappe.com for his groundbreaking work on Black Sea culture. His work has been exhibited from Istanbul to North America and at many community events, where it educates youth and reminds the greater Greek community about the wide reach of Hellenism in the Black Sea region.

He has been awarded grants from the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association of Washington DC, and the Pan-Macedonian Association and Pieria Society of Philadelphia.

Kostans is a co-founder of Cosmos Philly, a community-based Web TV, and media program. He develops stories and directs news and documentary films about the Greek community of Philadelphia and Hellenism at a global level.

Harry J. Karapalides, Esq., is an active attorney practicing law in Pennsylvania for over thirty-one years, having offices in Upper Darby, Delaware County. He has been involved with the Greek-American community in all aspects, including serving as legal counsel to St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Upper Darby; the Greek Museum; Pan-Macedonian Association of USA and Canada; Hellenic American National Council; and, as president of the Federation of Hellenic American Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley; Pan-Macedonian Society of Philadelphia, Pavlos Melas Chapter; and, AHEPA, Thermopylae Chapter 445.

He is a graduate of Widener University and Widener University School of Law. Harry is a former solicitor of Millbourne Borough, Delaware County and former Chairman of the Delaware County Personnel Grievance Committee. He is also, a guest lecturer at local college classes, social, and civic organizations and a panelist for the Delaware County Bar Association. Harry is a published author of historical novels and non-fiction work, magazine articles, and internet articles and blogs.

Anthony Beldecos worked before and during law school, in several positions with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and with the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Since 1980 Mr. Beldecos has provided business, real estate and estate planning legal services in Pennsylvania and New Jersey which have established him as an effective representative in these technically complicated areas of law. His clients range from individual proprietors to businesses with hundreds of employees. Mr. Beldecos’ practice includes forming corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies. He also represents clients in matters relating to real estate acquisitions, sales and financing, Pennsylvania and New Jersey liquor licensing, estate planning/probate and commercial leases. He negotiates and prepares shareholder and partnership agreements, and represents clients in business transfers, corporate reorganizations, and commercial landlord-tenant litigation. Mr. Beldecos is associated with numerous non-profit Greek community organizations.

Gregory Vlassopoulos Jr. is a Public Sector Business Development Manager with Office Depot’s Tri-State Region. Graduating from Temple University class of 1995 BS Kinesiology, Greg spent the first three years out of college managing fitness centers overall operations for 2 area health centers before migrating to the audiovisual industry. After seven years in onsite event management, Greg crossed into the Audio Visual Information Technology integration sector working in multiple capacities including Account Manager, Sr. Business Development Executive, Unified Communication Specialist and Director of Education Solutions.

Vlassopoulos is an Information and Communication Technology subject matter expert with a hyper focus on unified communication and collaborative, immersive technologies with extensive experience in interactive/hybrid learning solutions in blended learning and IT cloud applications. Recently, Vlassopoulos has been assigned to a special joint IBM-Office Depot initiative for the development of an education industry revolutionary data aggregation / cognitive computing personalized learning application with the IBM Watson Group.

In a commitment to community, Vlassopoulos’ involvement beyond serving as a board member for the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia include Saint George Cathedral of Philadelphia Parish Council member 2005-2007, Albert M Greenfield School Technology Committee Chair 2010–present, AHEPA Thermopylae Chapter 445 President 2003-5 and 2013-present, Delaware County Technical Schools Local Advisory Council 2013 – present, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society National and Philadelphia Chapter member/contributing editor/presenter and Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout of Honor - 1988.

Vlassopoulos was born in Upper Darby PA, attended the Springfield School District of Delaware County, and presently resides with his wife and two daughters in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Michael Pahides has provided consulting services as Managing Director of Center of Effort LLC, for regional workforce initiatives such as the Greater Philadelphia Manufacturing Accelerator, the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation, the 21 Century Partnership for STEM Education and the Rotorcraft Industry Partnership. COE LLC provides strategic, tactical and project planning and management services.

Pahides served as Senior Vice President of Economic Development and Education for the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC), where he worked with both the supply and the demand sides of the region’s workforce development and education system. He developed regional, state and national partnerships between education and industry to create the systemic change necessary to address market failures and promote regional development.

In his prior roles at DVIRC, Pahides provided leadership for planning, developing and directing advanced manufacturing and STEM related educational programs designed to address the needs of a skilled manufacturing workforce. He has experience in critical regional industry sectors such as printing, plastics, chemical, life sciences, building science, construction, biotech, rotorcraft, industrial systems, machine tool technology and advanced manufacturing. Mike’s work involved understanding the impact of technology change on work processes and job design and then creating the educational and training programs that would support incumbent workers as they transition into new positions and entry level workers as they were prepared for new jobs.

Prior to working at the DVIRC, Mike held Human Resource positions with GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company, and Rohm and Haas, a specialty chemical company. He earned a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development from Villanova University. His BS degree in Psychology was awarded from Eastern University, St. Davids, PA.

Pahides has been active in community and church related organizations serving in various leadership positions. He is a lifelong resident of Delaware County and currently resides in Upper Providence Township with his wife, Matilda and their two sons, Michael Evan and Stephen Michael.

Philip Voutsakis is originally from the Philadelphia area and is a graduate Villanova University School of Business. He works in the commercial real estate investment industry and currently is an acquisitions analyst at Hayden Real Estate Investments in West Conshohocken, PA.

Voutsakis has been involved with various nonprofit boards. He previously served as president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Pan-Macedonian Association Youth. He has served as a board member of the Greek American Heritage Society and a junior board member of the DiLella Center for Real Estate at Villanova since 2013.

Born in Xanthi, Greece, on October 17, 1961, Elias Pantelidis graduated from Anatolia College in Thessaloniki in 1979 and came to the United States on a scholarship from Haverford College (Haverford, PA), where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Classics. He also took classes at the Philosophical School of the Aristoteleion University of Thessaloniki, where he studied under Professors Maronitis and Kazazis, among others, and several graduate courses on TESOL at Temple University.

Since 1992 he has been involved with Greek language schools in the Philadelphia region: as director of the Saint Demetrios School at Upper Darby (1992-95); as a teacher at the Saint Luke Greek School (1995-2002, 2011-present); as a teacher and assistant director at the Hellenic American Academy of Aristotle (1996-1999); and as director of the Academy of Aristotle at Saint George from September 1999 to the present. In addition, he has been in charge of other Greek school programs in the region, he has also served as the first president of the Greek Teachers Association of Philadelphia and has organized activities for the Center for Hellenic Studies at Temple University.

The Academy of Aristotle is an independent afternoon Greek language school located in Media, PA. It operates three times a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and currently has over 130 students in levels ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to 10th Grade, as well as adult classes. It teaches the Greek language, but also Greek history, geography, religion, and culture. As director of the Academy, Mr. Pantelidis is in charge of the academic program and a staff of over 15 teachers and assistants. He teaches a variety of classes and is also responsible for the school choir and all school plays. The choir learns an average of 40 Greek songs a year and the plays he has directed number over a hundred. He also organizes additional cultural activities, including Greek films, lectures, and educational trips.

He served as the Executive Secretary for the Federation of Hellenic-American Societies of Philadelphia and the Greater Delaware Valley from 1995 until 2011, helping organize the annual Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade and numerous other activities and publications.

Christos Christakis was born in 1952 in Thessaloniki to Dr. Aristidis and Athena Christakis. He was raised in Servia, Kozani, his father’s hometown, and returned to Thessaloniki in 1968 to finish high school. He came to the USA in 1970 to study Civil Engineering at Villanova University. He received his BCE in 1975 and his Master of Structural Engineering in 1982 from Villanova. From 1976 to 1979, he also finished graduate work in Architecture at Kent State University, with a teaching assistantship, and received a Master of Architecture. He became a Professional Engineer in 1982.

Christos married Cheryl Flood in 1979. They settled in the Philadelphia area and raised four children, Aristides, Benjamin, Athena, and Christopher. Christos worked for a few well known architectural/engineering firms in Cleveland Ohio and Philadelphia and in 1987 opened his own company with another partner. This company became CVM Engineers and Construction Managers in 1995. Chris sold his interest in that company in 2011 to found his own company, with his children, Christakis Design and Construction, in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Christos has served in leadership positions in the Pan-Macedonian Society, the Federation of Hellenic American Societies of Philadelphia, and AHEPA #445. He is currently a vice president of the Hellenic American National Council (HANC). Christos is a founding member and serves on the board of the Greek American National Heritage Society of Philadelphia.

Chris and Cheri live in Paoli, Pennsylvania. They are the proud grandparents of Christos Charles Christakis, and Lucy Ella Christakis, from Ben and Ashley Nicholas Christakis.

Simeon Pantelidis is a graduate of the Penn State University School of Communications in 2014, where his senior year he was president of the Problem Child Literary club. Growing up, he attended the Academy of Aristotle Greek school in St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Media, PA. He continues to be involved with the Academy of Aristotle in a teaching and organizational role.

Dora Giannakarios Preston was born in Sydney Australia to Greek immigrant parents Harry and Dimitra Giannakarios. The family moved to the Philadelphia area in September of 1975. Dora attended Drexel University in Philadelphia PA, where she studied interior design and architecture.

Dora is certified by Entrepreneur Fast Trac II, Women’s Business Development Center as well as Construction Management Certification from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

After College, Dora worked as a Designer and Project Manager for an architectural firm working on corporate, pharmaceutical and medical facilities from planning, construction relocation and move in roles.

Dora continued to develop her skills by working as Project Manager for a healthcare consulting firm specializing in equipment planning and management. In 1998 Dora found Medical Equipment Resources Ltd. She is considered an expert in medical equipment planning and management, renovation, expansion and new construction projects.

Dora has been involved with the Greek-American community from St. George Greek Orthodox Church board member, chair of the annual festival fundraiser, board member of League of Women Voters of Delaware County and Longwood Garden Docent. She is also a volunteer firefighter for South Media Firehouse and resides in Moylan Pennsylvania.

Pete Papadeas was born and raised in Delaware County. He is a 1982 graduate of Upper Darby High School.

For more than 20 years, Pete has operated two pizza restaurants in South Jersey with his son, Chris.

Pete has been a lifelong member of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Upper Darby, PA, and served on the parish council from 2005-2008. Pete and his wife are also members of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.

Pete was elected President of the Federation of Hellenic-American Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley in 2008 and 2009. The Federation’s central role is organizing and growing the annual Greek Independence Day Parade in Philadelphia. Pete remained involved as Chairman of the Board and Past-President in subsequent years and currently serves as its Treasurer.

Pete is married to Susan Papadeas and they reside in Drexel Hill, PA and Margate, NJ.

John Vasiliou is Vice-President of Marketing at Astra Foods, Philadelphia’s leading manufacturer of Philly-Style meat products. A graduate of New York University’s Stern School of Business, John worked during his college years at the International Securities Exchange, the first entirely electronic options market in the United States. He also spent time in Washington DC interning for the United States Senator Paul Sarbanes, who at the time was Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In 2003, upon graduating from NYU, John went straight into the family business and had helped manage the day to day activities, in addition to handling all marketing and information technology responsibilities for Astra Foods.

From a young age, John has always had a deep commitment to service to the Greek-American Community of Philadelphia. He is an active member of AHEPA Chapter #515, The Pan-Macedonian Society, The American Hellenic Institute, Hellenic Hearts, Board Member of the Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia, former President of The Hellenic Heritage Association of NYU, Parish Council member of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Chairman of the Upper Darby Greek Festival, Co-Founder and Co-Commissioner of the Philadelphia Greek Basketball League, Board Member of the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia, and has served as Master of Ceremonies for several Metropolis of New Jersey events such as the Ambassador Awards and the Clergy Laity.

John was recently married to Renee Koumatos Vasiliou in September of 2016, and the couple resides in Center City, Philadelphia.

Alexandra Kroger, née Kougentakis, is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and first fell in love with Philadelphia when she came here for college, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. After 11 years of continuing the career path that she began at Penn, in renewable energy policy, business, and in government, Alexandra made her way back to Philadelphia in 2018 to pursue an opportunity with Philadelphia’s sole renewable energy cooperative organization, The Energy Co-op.

Alexandra’s guiding principle, for which she credits her mother Anna Tzagournis, is community engagement and giving. In Philadelphia, she brings this spirit to bear on her main passions – volunteering for worthy causes as a member of the organization Volunteering Untapped, career mentorship and development for women in the clean energy arena as president of the Philadelphia chapter of Women in Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy, and of course, her Greek upbringing and culture as a board member of the Greek-American Heritage Society.

Nicholas Voutsakis serves with pride as a volunteer in the Greek American Community. Before becoming involved with GAHSP in 2011, he spent 16 years on St. George Media’s parish council. As a 25-year AHEPAn, he’s currently serving his fourth year on AHEPA District Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Voutsakis spent 17 years as Chief Technology and Chief Information Security Officer with The Glenmede Trust Company in Philadelphia. In the last three years, Nick founded WealthTech Alliance a technology consulting firm to The Wealth Management Industry. Before earning post MBA certificates from Harvard Graduate School of Business and The Gartner Group CIO Academy, Nick achieved his MBA in Finance from Saint Joseph’s University Haub School of Business and a Bachelor’s of Science from Villanova University’s School of Business. Nick enjoys traveling abroad, the study of his Greek Genealogy and listening to contemporary music. He resides with his wife of 28 years and their three children in Media, Pennsylvania.

George Burlotos was born in Passaic, NJ, in 1923. As a child, his mother was ill with tuberculosis, so from 1929 until 1939, he lived mainly with relatives in Elika (Laconia) and Marousi, Greece. He returned from Greece as a 16-year-old teenager and attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, NJ. He thoroughly enjoyed the arts, played the violin and participated in school theater productions.

In 1943, four days after graduation, he entered the U.S. Navy and served with the Amphibious Seabee forces in the South Pacific including the invasion of Okinawa. He saw considerable action on Okinawa. He received the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon with a Bronze Star for the Okinawa Campaign and the WWII Victory Medal. Upon discharge in 1946, he attended Temple University at night for five years and operated The Fruit Basket and George’s Restaurant in Camden and Cherry Hill, NJ, for several decades.

In 1949 George created the Pan-Hellenic Hour, a live radio program on WKDN in Camden, NJ. George continued the radio program for 35 years until 1984 when he started the “Greek Spirit,” a television broadcast under his direction and production. As its main correspondent and on-air personality, George is one of the most widely recognized and respected members of the Greek-American community. For more than 65 years, George Burlotos has promoted Hellenism in the Delaware Valley mainly via his weekly program; The Greek Spirit is on WYBE Sunday evenings from 9 to 10 pm. George videotapes and presents functions such as special liturgies, doxologies, dances, performing dance groups and special events throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding tri-state area; as well as musical events and news from Greece.

George married Matina Laskaris of Wilmington, Delaware in 1953 and is the proud father of four children (Eleni, James, Nikonia, and Alexander) and nine grandchildren. Matina passed away in 1995.

Through the years, George was also involved in many professional, community and Greek organizations. George was the Chairman of the Cherry Hill Economic Development Board, the Chamber of Commerce and served as Vice-President of Lawn Del Savings Association. He served the Greek community as a founding member and past president of St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Church in Cherry Hill, NJ. He is a lifetime AHEPA member, serving as past president and district governor of the N.J. and Delaware District #5. He is also a proud member of the Eleftheria VFW Post 6633 Greek-American Veterans Association.

Dr. Elias Anthony Iliadis was born on 3 July 1965 in Neptune, New Jersey to Anthony and Sophia Iliadis, formerly of Piraeus Greece and grew up in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Dr. Iliadis attended medical school at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick. After completing his Internship and Residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Iliadis completed his Cardiology Fellowship at Rush Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago and advanced training in Interventional Cardiology at University of Michigan Medical Centers. Dr. Iliadis is currently Director of Peripheral Vascular Interventions, Medical Director of Non-invasive Vascular Laboratories and Associate Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Cooper University Hospital, Camden NJ.

Dr. Iliadis’ community involvement includes Chairman of the Education Committee, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Parish Council, St Thomas Greek Orthodox Church, Cherry Hill New Jersey. He is a longstanding member of the Hellenic Medical Society of New York and was a Scholarship recipient. He is a founding Board Member and past President of the Hellenic Medical Society of Philadelphia. He serves as Secretary of the Federation of Hellenic Medical Societies of North America and is a current board member and prior assistant treasurer of the World Hellenic Biomedical Association. More recently, Dr. Iliadis was asked to serve on the Board of the Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia and the New Jersey Vice President of the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia.

Dr. Iliadis is married to Katherine Dedes Iliadis, RPH; they have three children: Sophia 18, Nicholas 15 and Elena 12. The family resides in Moorestown, New Jersey.