Elias Pappas: A Greek American Leading With Purpose
Every story begins somewhere, and for Elias Pappas, it begins with family. A father who worked three jobs, grandmothers who held the home together with quiet strength, and a parish community that shaped his earliest sense of belonging. Those roots prepared him for the moment he now describes as destiny, when one unexpected phone call during the pandemic set him on a path to Odyssey Charter School and brought his heritage and purpose into perfect alignment.
When Elias Pappas introduces himself, he doesn’t lead with credentials. He begins with identity. “My name is Elias Pappas. I am the CEO of Odyssey Charter School. I am a Greek-American.” For him, those words explain everything that follows, from the parish hall of St. Nicholas in Northridge to one of the most distinctive educational institutions in the country.
Pappas grew up in Van Nuys within the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church community in Northridge. He was baptized there, attended its K to 8 school, went to Sunday school, danced in the Greek troupe, played Goya basketball, worked festival booths, and eventually became the Greek dance director who took kids to FDF every year. He remembers the warmth of those halls, the plates of koulourakia coming out of the kitchen, and the feeling that everyone around him was helping raise the next generation. That parish, he says, has always held a big place in his heart.
His family brought the same spirit into their home. His father worked three jobs to give his children a strong education. His grandmother Maria spent long days as a seamstress but lived, as he puts it, a rich life. She always found a way to press a few dollars into his hand despite living on very little. His other grandmother cleaned staircases well into her later years. Their example taught him what dignity looks like when life demands everything from you.
After teaching AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and Spanish in private schools, Pappas accepted a position at Bright Star Secondary in Los Angeles. Many of his students faced long bus rides, unsafe neighborhoods, and daily struggles he had never experienced. Within three months, nearly forty percent were failing biology. It became a turning point. He realized these students didn’t need someone displaying expertise. They needed support, consistency, and an advocate. That moment reshaped his understanding of equity and revealed the depth of the burdens many students bring with them into the classroom.
Years later, while leading Rise High School in Los Angeles, he received a call from a headhunter about a Greek public charter school in Delaware. The idea seemed impossible. But when he visited Odyssey Charter School, something clicked. His heritage and his professional life had finally met in a way he had never imagined.
Accepting the role meant leaving behind forty-five years of community at St. Nicholas. His parents were founding members. His name appears in its early school records. His koumbaroi and godparents are all in Los Angeles. Still, he felt called to bring his experience to a school shaped by Hellenic values.
When he arrived at Odyssey during COVID, the school felt frozen in time. Assignments from months earlier were still taped to the walls. The community was scattered and uncertain. Pappas focused on rebuilding energy, structure, and purpose.
Under his leadership, Odyssey has become one of Delaware’s largest nonprofit educational institutions, serving more than 2,500 students and employing over 500 staff. He oversaw the expansion of the campus, the opening of the Omniplex sports complex, and the development of a standalone K to 8 Greek immersion school opening in 2027. Families returned. New programs took root. The school found its rhythm again.
To Pappas, teaching Greek is only the beginning. He believes in creating citizens who can reason, question, and think creatively, drawing from the ideas that shaped Western civilization. His philosophy comes from what he learned at home and in church: work hard, stay positive, pursue your purpose. Even setbacks, he says, are lessons meant to make you better. Everything flows.
Today, his work at Odyssey carries forward the legacy of his family, his parish, and the Greek American community that raised him. It reflects a lifetime of faith, generosity, and service, offered to the next generation with clarity and purpose.