Leadership/Board

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, Nicholas and Elena. The family resides in Moorestown, 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, HR Director at the Food Bank Of South Jersey, they have a son, Constantine 11. The family resides in Cinnaminson, NJ.

Telly Vasiliades' involvement in the Greek-American community started at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, as a Sunday school teacher. He also wrote and directed school plays involving the church's youth, several hundred, that comprised the Greek and Sunday schools.

He served in the Pan Macedonian Society as secretary and chair of the scholarship committee and secretary to the Federation of Hellenic American Societies and Greek Orthodox Churches of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. One of the founding members of the "Hellenic Times," a periodical to the Greek Community under the Federation's auspices. He also served as the paper's first English Editor.

A Drexel University graduate in the physical sciences, Telly worked briefly as a researcher for the United States Department of the Navy but has since been involved in the food business.

He is the proud father to Theodore, a new medical student, and Anastasia, a senior at Tyler School of Art. Presently, Telly is pursuing entrepreneurship in wellness, and he is also an ambitious gourmet cook and an aspiring gardener.

Despena "Desie" Boston was born in Philadelphia and attended Drexel University’s business school with a concentration in accounting. She is the co-founder/owner of two award-winning unique women’s retail/manufacturing boutiques in Philadelphia for twenty 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, with experience from overseeing operations and consulting for a local wholesale jewelry designer currently available in more than 500 national and international boutiques.

She is also involved with Emily’s Entourage, a non-profit organization focused on speeding research for new treatments and a cure for people with rare mutations of Cystic Fibrosis, by raising funds for research and awareness to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. The organization has raised millions of dollars to fund critical research.

Desie recently has joined Senior Living Specialists of Philly. Connected with people in the senior living community and helping families who are overwhelmed with the maze of senior care options. Connecting with families and working with the communities provides her immense personal fulfillment.

Desie served as President of the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia from 2018-2020 and has had Nikolaos Yiantsos as a mentor in assisting her for the past six years in the organization’s quest to preserve Greek American Hellenism. She is the proud mother of Ilias.

Artemis “Tami” Demetris Tsingiropoulos is a graduate of Temple University, with a BA degree in communications (radio, television, and film). Her work experience spans from the editorial assistant for TV Guide Magazine, account executive for Benchmark Advertising, including producer of radio and TV commercials, voiceover talent, and account and retail executive positions in the fragrance/beauty industry, including Unilever, Inc., Procter & Gamble, Inc., and Coty Prestige Inc., overseeing fashion house brands Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Tiffany, Chloe &, Burberry to name a few. She is a passionate leader with demonstrated success in selling consumer goods and concepts.

Tami, daughter of Jack and Dolly Demetris, whose ancestors are from Constantinople/Smyrna and Mytilene, was born and raised in Radnor, Pennsylvania. She has been a lifelong member of St. Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church in Broomall, Pennsylvania, where she has volunteered as a Sunday School teacher for seventeen years, track team coach for five years, girls GOYA basketball coach for four years, and numerous other volunteer positions. She is also a proud member of the “POWER” of Professional Woman organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was an ambassador for the International Women’s Organization in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she lived for two years.

She is very proud of her volunteer work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala committee. She has also been involved with the Walk to Cure Diabetes, forming a team on behalf of her son, Aristotle, which she helped raise over $17,000.

An active CrossFit participant, Tami was also a trainer for the Corporate Athlete Program for Proctor & Gamble employees, conducting training and coaching classes to improve employees physically, mentally, and spiritually. She also enjoys concerts, music of all kinds, various sports, beautiful beaches, and a good book. She is the mother to two boys, Athan and Aristotle. Her home away from home is on the Island of Paros in Greece.

She served as Vice-President of the Greek American Heritage Society of Philadelphia for the years 2018-2020, and as President in 2021 and 2022.

Constantinos (Costa) Mitoulis is a Senior Vice-President and Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) Senior Client Executive for Citi, who works with corporate treasury departments to achieve superior client experience and operational efficiency. Costa has over fifteen years of banking experience working with Global Fortune 500 companies specializing in end-to-end Global Client Experience, Relationship Management, and Project Management.

Costa's community involvement has included teaching the Greek language and folk dance and volunteering at various Greek Orthodox churches in the Delaware Valley. Costa is a longstanding member of the USA's Pan-Macedonian Association. He served as National Youth President and served in several posts, including president of the Macedonian chapters (Pavlos Melas and The Youth of Alexander the Great).

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.

Desanne Grigos Nazirides was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Ithaca College, majoring in communications. As a young child, Desanne’s loving grandparents provided an early education in the finer points of running a full-service diner. Upon graduation, Desanne focused on various key positions that included a regionally focused food distributor serving the vertical casino market, a nationally focused home mortgage lender, managing family diner business in multiple capabilities, and most recently, as a successful business development consultant for a national skincare provider.

Desanne’s family has been part of the St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church of Philadelphia community for more than eighty years, with three generations helping to preserve the heritage established by their peers. The Grigos family owned and operated the Aramingo Diner that served the Philadelphia community for over fifty years.

Desanne is married to Lou, and they have one son, Michael. The family resides in New Jersey and are active members of the St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Community.

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.

Agnoula (Yiantsos) Marcantonis was born and raised in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, to Ekaterini and Ioannis Yiantsos, both from the small village of Ermakia in Kozani, Greece. Her strong spiritual roots and love of Greek dance were fostered at Annunciation/Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Cheltenham High School, Agnoula completed her BA in English and Criminal Justice at Temple University.

In 1998, she began teaching Greek dance at St. Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church in Broomall, Pennsylvania, and her love of the youth only grew from there. After coaching her way through many Sights & Sounds sponsored by the local Greek Orthodox churches, and FDF competitions, she taught at various other churches and Greek schools, becoming a GOYA advisor and is the current secretary for the Delaware Valley Youth Commission.

In 1999 her career with the Pan-Macedonian Society began as she represented them twice in the “Miss Eleftheria Pageant,” winning the first runner-up in 2000. Performing with the Macedonian Spirit dance troupe for over ten years and holding various board positions, the society has provided her with lifelong friendships.

Through all her experiences in Greek society, Agnoula’s heart is with the youth of our community, wanting to help them never forget their roots. She’s looking forward to seeing this vision through her works with the Greek American Heritage Society.

Together with her husband of fifteen years, Dr. George Marcantonis, and her three children, Eleni, Katerina, and Christina, they currently reside outside of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and are members of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Wilmington.

Christine "Chrissy" Katsapis is a native Philadelphian and attended Drexel University’s LeBow School of Business, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

She currently serves as Manager, College Partnerships with Villanova University’s College of Professional Studies, leading strategic partnership development, professional education programming, and military outreach efforts. She also sits on their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and is a volunteer student advisor and mentor.

Before that, she was Senior Director of Marketing for Comcast’s advertising sales division. She led sales marketing, brand strategy, and communications efforts and held many marketing and leadership roles within the organization.

She has been actively involved and held offices with several professional and non-profit associations and advisory boards, including Maids of Athena, Daughters of Penelope, Women’s Business Development Center, Devereaux Foundation, Women in Cable Television, and Drexel Alumni Marketing Group. She also served as a volunteer mentor with the Philadelphia Advertising Club and was a member of their TEENS and STUDENTS Committee.

A member of St. Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church in Broomall, Pennsylvania, Chrissy currently serves as GOYA Advisor, taught 3rd Grade Sunday School for thirteen years, and held many chair and committee positions.

She is a proud aunt to a niece and a nephew, godmother of four, and loves travel, gardening, cooking, reading, and TV binge-watching!

Cheri Christakis was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and, after many youthful adventures, settled in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. She has been an active part of the Greek community since marrying Christos Christakis of Thessaloniki, whom she met while he was an engineering student at Villanova. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Eastern University in 1976 and studied Theoretical Sociology and Research Design at Kent State in Ohio.

She has been a mental health counselor, a delivery driver, florist, theatrical stage manager, costumier, framer, and an active volunteer for all of her children's schools. She has published many ad books and promotional materials for her church, her children's sports teams, and the Greek organizations of AHEPA and the Pan-Macedonian Association. She sings in the choir, rings handbells, and is currently the Chairperson of the Board of Christian Education at the Baptist Church in the Great Valley. She serves on the executive board of the Pan-Macedonian Society of Philadelphia and ChildPromise, a charitable organization providing support for children and youth in the foster care system.

Christos and Cheri have four grown children, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. She and Christos are very pleased to be founding members of GAHSP and proud of the work of preserving the stories and photos of Greeks in the Philadelphia area.

Georgia Chletcos graduated with a degree in Business from Drexel University. Upon graduation, she began her banking career with "The Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS)" in Commercial Lending and later "Mellon Bank," for ten years. A rising star in the banking field, she spent the next ten years of her career working for a mortgage company developing a private label mortgage product for lending institutions.

Georgia's love of Greek music, along with her entrepreneurial style, led her to start her own event and production company, "Pathos Inc.," in 1996. Georgia has been recognized for her professionalism in organization and her eye for detail by many of Greece's top performers, including George Dalaras, Anna Vissi, and Glykeria, to name a few.

In 2006 recognizing the opportunity to work with her father and brother and continue a family business of sixty-plus years, she began a second career with New York Life Insurance Company. Georgia quickly learned and excelled in her new job. She has been recognized by the New York Life Insurance Company and the Life Insurance industry with various honors including, "Agent of the Year," Women in Financial Services, and the International organization of The Million Dollar Round Table.

Georgia has been a volunteer in the Greek community for over forty years. She has held various leadership roles and has been recognized for her outstanding service to many organizations, including the Maids of Athena, The AHEPA Cooley's Anemia Foundation, The Daughters of Penelope, The Hellenic University Club of Philadelphia, and the Federation of Hellenic American Societies of Philadelphia. Georgia most recently was the 2019 Greek Independence Parade chairman in Philadelphia sponsored by FHAS.

She is the proud daughter of the late Ernest Chletcos and Katherine Chletcos, sister to Peter Chletcos, and sister-in-law to Margot Chletcos.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.