Press Release – March 12th, 2011

NEW YORK – On March 8th, The Association of Greek American Professional Women (AGAPW) held its signature Greek American Woman of the Year Award celebration on the occasion of International Women’s Day at a well-attended ceremony and reception, which took place at the Yale Club.
Dr. Olga Alexakos, Founder and President of AGAPW spoke about the mission of AGAPW and welcomed the guests.
Ms. Dorothy Poli master of ceremonies welcomed everybody and announced the special guests.
Pianist/Vocalist Ms. Emilee Floor played the piano and sang Greek and American songs.
Ambassador, General Consul of Greece Aghi Balta and Consul General of Cyprus Ms. Koula Sophianou presented the award to Mrs. Loula Loi Alafoyiannis, founder and president of Euro American Women’s Council.
Dr. Aphrodite Desiree Navab spoke about International Women’s Day, its history and what it means for us today.
Ms. Mina Elias, Chief of Staff of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney presented Mrs. Loi Alafoyiannis with a Congressional Recognition.
Ms. Keke Kyriakopoulos of AGAPW’s Board of Directors presented Mrs. Alafoyiannis with a New York State Assembly Citation on behalf of New York State Assembly member, Ms. Aravella Simotas and read remarks on behalf of Greek Parliamentarian Dionysia Theodora Avgerinopoulou and Prof. Fotini Pomonis.
Dr. Olga Alexakos, Founder and President of AGAPW introduced Mrs. Loi Alafoyiannis.
Additional remarks were made by Mrs. Alafoyiannis’friends Ms. Daisy Gallagher and Ms. Svetlana Kim.
Dr. Parakevi Giannakakou spoke about AGAPW’s scholarship program and presented AGAPW’s scholarship winner Nayia Moysidis.
AGAPW’s scholarship winner Ms. Nayia Moyisidis, an honors senior at Colombia University, read excerpts from her winning essay.
Ms. Vasiliki Tsanaktsidou closed the evening with a comedic performance.

We would like to express our gratitude to our honoree Mrs. Loula Loi Alafoyiannis, to our scholarship winner Ms. Nayia Moysidis, to all our special guests and all who contributed to make this the outstanding event it was: Ambassador, Consul General of Greece Ms. Aghi Balta; Consul General of Cyprus Ms. Koula Sophianou; Consul of Greece Mr. Kyriakopoulos; Mrs. Penny Tsilas, Ms. Mina Elias, Chief of Staff of Congresswoman Maloney; Assembly member Ms. Aravella Simotas; Mr. Dimitris Molohides, President Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada; Mr. George Tsilfidis, President Pontian Society of Norwick, Pontos; Mr. Paul Kotrotsios of Hermes Expo all our friends, sponsors and volunteers, and a special thanks to our master of ceremonies, Ms. Dorothy Poli.
A special thank you to the representatives of the media: National Herald, Greek News, Neo Magazine, Hellenic News.
Our gratitude to our sponsors.

A.G.A.P.W. is a new independently run organization, started by and run by women. AGAPW is a not for profit organization under Section 402 of the Non-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York. It is based in New York City and serves as a forum for information, resources, support and networking opportunities for Greek American women, who are working in various professional and business fields. The organization is seeking to expand career opportunities and promote community and leadership building among Greek American professional women by forging collaborations among ourselves and establishing partnerships with other organizations inside and outside the Greek American community. Please visit www.agapw.org.
For further information please contact Dr. Olga Alexakos at oalexakos@nyc.rr.com / 917-405-6833 or visit www.agapw.org.