ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ
The single most important goal is this: Open the Federation to younger generations and to American-born Hellenes.
By Nick Stamatakis
As the election of the officers of the new Executive Board of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York approaches, I would like to share some thoughts on where we stand today and the road ahead.
First and foremost, it is encouraging that elections have finally taken place and that a new 21-member Council has been elected. This follows a difficult five-year period marked by internal disputes, legal battles, and organizational paralysis. The Federation now has an opportunity to move forward, rebuild trust, and focus on its mission.
The immediate task is not only the election of a President and officers, but also the establishment of guiding principles for leadership and a clear vision for the Federation’s future.
- If you are over 85 years old and you have spent your life around the Federation, you have no place to be the new President. Are you listening, Mr. Vournas? Especially, when you seek and get the endorsement of the disgraced publisher of TNH, who has a long history of being a negative factor in the Federation’s affairs, and especially his “shady” relationship with the late Petros Galatoulas. You are welcome to advise younger leaders, and, as I have suggested to you in the past, you can encourage your daughter to get involved actively. But you cannot pretend that you can lead the Federation into the future at this age. At almost your age (this happened today!!), even the Archbishop of Canada resigned!! At age 75, all GOA priests are forced to retire!!
- If you are struggling (financially or otherwise) and you are “experimenting” with this or that and have not figured out what to do with yourself at age 40 or so, please do not pretend you can lead the Federation to the future. Anyone aspiring to lead the Federation must demonstrate personal and professional stability, credibility, and a proven record of accomplishment. Leadership of a major community institution requires not only good intentions but also the ability to inspire confidence, build consensus, and execute a vision.
- If you are not fully bilingual, please do not waste our time. The Federation serves a community that is increasingly American-born and professionally diverse. Effective leadership requires the ability to communicate comfortably and persuasively in both languages.
The Road to the Future
Above all else, there is one singular goal that should guide the Federation’s next chapter:
Open the Federation to younger generations and to American-born Hellenes.
Everything else is secondary.
To achieve this, the Federation must actively reach out to and welcome the professional, academic, and cultural organizations that represent our community’s future. We should be inviting associations of doctors, lawyers, educators, academics, business professionals, students, and young leaders to become active participants in Federation life.
The era when the community was organized primarily around the village and regional associations is gradually coming to an end. Many of these organizations have made enormous contributions and continue to play an important role. Larger regional organizations—such as those representing Crete, Arcadia, Laconia, the Dodecanese, Chios, Macedonia, and others—will remain important pillars of the community.
However, demographic and social realities have changed. Today’s Greek Americans increasingly identify with their professions, cultural interests, educational institutions, and broader Hellenic identity rather than exclusively with their local origins. The Federation must adapt to that reality.
If you do not understand that the Federation’s highest priority is bringing in fresh blood, new organizations, and younger leadership, then you should not be seeking to lead it.
If your goal is to hold a title for ten or fifteen years, rather than recruit new organizations and empower future leaders, then it is time to step aside.
If you intend to serve as President for more than a single two-year term, you should reconsider whether your ambitions serve the Federation or yourself.
And if your plan is to undermine fellow officers, engage in factional politics, or place personal interests above the organization’s mission, then please stay home. The Federation has had enough division. What it needs now is unity, cooperation, and collective action.
The Federation’s future depends not on preserving old structures, but on building new ones. It depends on opening doors rather than guarding them.
There are many additional ideas worth discussing—from revitalizing committees to maximizing the Stathakeion’s potential through renovation, expansion, and new programming. Those conversations are important and necessary.
But first, we must agree on a simple principle:
The Federation must belong to the next generation as much as it belongs to those who built it.
PS. I had explained many times over the last few years that these elections are “constitutional” – in other words the rule that you cannot be President if you have not served in the Board before should not apply. Unfortunately the “old timers” who in their sick imagination “deserve” to be president, could not accept such logic…
June 23, 2026, www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
Nick, I commend you for writing this article.
You call for a vision for the future. I wholeheartedly agree with your advice that the Federation must open up to younger generations, but I do not share your optimism. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think it is already too late.
Every worthwhile organization has a “succession plan” that recognizes rising leaders, individuals who have leadership potential. It provides training and support over several years, with opportunities to contribute and to succeed. This benefits the mission and goals of the organization.
Consider a lawyers’ organization I am familiar with that holds elections for “incoming officers” a year before they take over. They shadow the incumbent for a year before taking charge.
You cannot have a ghetto mentality when the organization’s issues are so critically important.
Here, the dinosaurs of the Federation have no vision and no goals, long-term or otherwise. Their decades-old participation is not for the purpose of uplifting our community but for uplifting themselves.
They can elbow out anybody they want. The younger people I know consider these ghetto mentalities to be repulsive. These washed-out old men give new people the kiss of death.
Why would any young person want to be affiliated with them?
What new person is eager to contribute time and resources to dead wood?
Leonidis, Mr. Nick asked some intelligent questions that need answering. You both agree that the organization needs younger people who are not set in their ways.
I think the first thing to do is to send a questionnaire out to both the younger people and the stodgy oldsters to learn what their upcoming goals are. Nick’s question’s are a great start.
Once you form a group of younger educated individuals and learn what is important to them then invite the dead wood to debate. The Federation is about We the People. It is not going to be a mafioso organization anymore.
I know very little about the Federation other than what I read here. I hope AHEPA is not part of it. Excuse my ignorance in this matter. But I am promoting hope.
Συγχαρητήρια Νίκο για το άρθρο.
Είπες την αλήθεια αλλά δεν τους ειδρωνει το αυτή τους .