Press Release – May 3rd, 2012

New York – The Association of Greek American Professional Women (A.G.A.P.W.) is pleased to invite you to our annual celebration of “Mothers of the Greek Diaspora.”

Each year in May, on the occasion of Mother’s Day, AGAPW celebrates mothers of Greek descent by featuring the work of artists inspired by and dedicated to Greek mothers and mothers of the Greek Diaspora. This year we will have the honor of celebrating with artist and author Thea Halo and her mother Sano Themia Halo.

Please join us on Tuesday May 22nd, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Atrium Cafe, The Olympic Tower, 645 Fifth Avenue New York, for a reception and presentation by Thea Halo, who will read from her book, “Not Even My Name,” based on the life of her mother, Sano Themia Halo. Thea Halo will be available to sign her book “Not Even My Name“.

Dr. Zoe Erotopoulos of Fairfield University will introduce Thea Halo and will speak on the significance of her work.

Ms. Katerina Stefanatou will be the Master of Ceremonies.

This is a complimentary event.

For further information, please contact Dr. Olga Alexakos at oalexakos@nyc.rr.com.

We are looking forward to celebrating with you Greek family, culture, and history.

We are grateful to the Onassis Foundation USA for sponsoring the event.

Bios:

Thea Halo, is an author, independent researcher, and President of the Sano Themia Halo Pontian Heritage Foundation.
Ms Halo’s first career was as a painter. She attended The Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture in New York City, and City University of New York where she was awarded a fellowship. Her paintings have been shown in galleries and Museums in New York City and elsewhere.
Between 1990 and 1992, Ms Halo worked as an announcer for Public Radio and soon began to produce her own programs, which included a mini-historical series called Did You Know and a concurrent series of half hour interviews of notable people in the area. Ms Halo also wrote, produced, directed, and acted in a number of radio plays, which she adapted from short stories for Public Radio, and in 1992 began writing poetry and short stories, which soon led her to begin work on her mother’s memoir.
In 1996, Ms Halo wrote a column for a weekly newspaper, and in 1997 Ms Halo worked as a news correspondent for public radio station WBAI in New York City, gathering, writing and reporting the five to seven minute news stories in the public radio tradition.
From 2000-Present, Ms Halo has given numerous lectures on the Christian Genocides in the Ottoman Empire between 1914-1923, at Genocide conferences in the US, Europe and South America, and has presented papers at various universities, such as Yale.
In 2002, Ms Halo established the not-for-profit Sano Themia Halo Pontian Heritage Foundation in the US and a sister foundation with the same name in Greece in 2009. Among other activities, the foundation’s intent is to establish The Pontian Village Museum and Research Center in Greece. Ms Halo is the President of both foundations.
In 2007, Ms Halo co-sponsored an historic Resolution at the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), which passed overwhelmingly to recognize the Genocide of the Anatolian and Pontian Greeks and Assyrians from 1914-1923 as being comparable to the Genocide of the Armenians.
Awards include: The 2002 AHEPA Homer Award; The James Emanuel Poetry Prize; The Ester Unger Poetry Prize; The Weinberg Excellence in Writing Award; The Reyne Prize in Creative Writing; The Alice B. Sellers Fund Prize; The Bennett [Political Science] Essay Prize.

Dr. Zoe Erotopoulos was born in Greece and immigrated to the United States at a young age. She holds an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in French and Romance Philology from Columbia University in New York, NY. Dr. Erotopoulos has also studied in Aix-en-Provence, at the Sorbonne, and at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Her teaching experience ranges from elementary to advanced level courses in French, including literature and theater. Dr. Erotopoulos’ area of expertise is 17th century French theater. Throughout her academic career, she has taught at a number of institutions, including Columbia University, Reid Hall in Paris, and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She is presently teaching in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Dr. Erotopoulos is the author of French Verbs for Dummies and French for Dummies. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, Steve, and their three children, Despina, Olga, and Stathi.

Katerina Stefanatou was born in Montreal Canada from immigrant parents and moved to Athens, Greece in 1997. She holds a B.S. in Economics with a concentration on Socio-Economic Development from Sorbonne University in Paris, France and a Certificate in Global Affairs from NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Ms. Stefanatou currently holds the position of UNICEF Global Citizenship fellow at the U.S Fund for UNICEF where she focuses on raising awareness about UNICEF’s work and building global citizenship and youth leadership. Prior to that, she served with the Volunteer and Community Partnerships at the US Fund for UNICEF and was instrumental in launching and developing the UNICEF High School Club program through the creation of innovative initiatives and resources. From supporting and engaging students by providing them with unique opportunities to inspiring change and mobilization in America’s high schools and communities, during that time, Ms. Stefanatou sought to energize and empower youth which would grow into lifelong UNICEF supporters. While pursuing her studies in Paris, Ms. Stefanatou was the co-founder of ETU.HELL.A (Etudiants Hellènes Associés) a student run association aiming to foster a platform of support among students of Greek decent studying in Paris by hosting inter-cultural events, providing volunteer opportunities and overall administrative support to new students. During her studies Ms. Stefanatou spent two summers interning for the Department of Urban and Regional Development of Panteion University, Athens under the auspices of Professor Constantine Athanassopoulos where she conducted a social research study on Decentralization, Local self-­?Government and Economic Regional Growth in Greece.
Ms. Stefanatou is the sole recipient of the Honorary President’s Call to Service Award in 2011 and was one of the 97 volunteers nationwide to receive the Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2010, the President’s honor offered in recognition of volunteer service. She is also the recipient of the Olympic Certificate of Appreciation by the Olympic International Committee for her role of Accommodations Coordinator where she managed the accommodation of over 500 International Olympic Referees during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

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