Which of Concordia’s Programming Pipelines resonates with you the most? In other words, which facet of Concordia’s work do you feel the closest attachment to?
For me, our work on refugees has been the most personally resonating. I am very proud of our Europe Summit, held in Athens last year, and the work that was done around this topic. The Summit hosted leadership from both IKEA Foundation and The HOME Project, resulting in an established partnership that is enabling the latter to double the scope of its work in providing shelter, education, and employment for more than 200 unaccompanied youth refugees across Athens. This is a huge milestone for both Concordia and for me, personally.
Conversations around the role of cross-sector collaboration in solving the refugee crisis remained a focal point at our 2017 Annual Summit, which hosted the Global Mayors Summit—the first dedicated meeting of mayors on migration and refugee policy and practice. Convening over 300 mayors, city representatives, private sector leaders, and nonprofit stakeholders, the program enabled city leaders to share their perspectives and priorities on migrant and refugee integration, rights protection, and empowerment with national and international decision makers. I look forward to continuing the discussions and establishing clear action steps at our eighth Annual Summit in New York this coming September.
Tell us about the origins of last year’s Concordia Europe Summit: what inspired you to host an event in Athens in the first place, and what was its significance? Does Concordia have plans to return to Athens?
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My Greek heritage played an important role in us bringing Concordia to Athens. The Concordia Europe Summit took place at a pivotal time for the continent, following significant shifts in regional leadership. Topics explored the role of partnerships in preserving a modern-day union, quelling the refugee crisis, and reigniting regional economic growth. By convening regional leadership to address these challenges and formulate practical solutions, we were proud to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas, and to broker new relationships across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. I am very happy with the outcome of the Summit and we are currently looking at hopefully returning to Athens in the summer of 2019.
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As Co-Founder, you’ve seen Concordia grow from an idea into a successful organization over the past 7 years. How do you see the organization growing and changing over the next 7 years?
It has been a very rewarding, challenging, and exciting 7 years. My hope for the next 7 years is that we have a fully-financially self-sustaining organization that has as much on-the-ground impact as possible and continues to institutionalize and operate with global best practices.
What do you think are the biggest opportunities that lie ahead for Concordia?
The opportunities ahead are very exciting for all of us at Concordia. We look forward to building out our Department of Partnership Development as we continue to broker lasting partnerships that have real on-the-ground impact. This is a big focal point for Concordia: not only will we continue to host international convenings that bring individuals from a wealth of backgrounds and opinions to the table, but we will work to make sure that these conversations are translated into tangible progress beyond our Summits, and our Department of Partnership Development is one way that this will be carried out. We will also continually look to engage our community on matters that are most important to them.
