Greek America Cultural and Educational Foundation Inc
Founded to promote, preserve and perpetuate Greek culture, history and ideals in North America.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our main problem is maintaining the relevance of our mission, which is rooted in Greek ideals, in a contemporary American society. In many ways, these ideals may seem anachronistic or archaic to many people who are disconnected from their heritage. Our aim is to attempt to make these ideals-- which are the very basis of our existence-- relevant and contemporary to both younger generations, as well as people who are demographically disconnected.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Greek America Corps
Greek America Corps is an initiative that has changed the lives of dozens of young North Americans by engaging them in meaningful volunteer programs with charities in Greece. These programs have connected them with their inner-selves — instilling in them the importance of volunteerism, service and philanthropy by allowing them to experience firsthand the smile on the face of someone they are serving.
There are three primary aspects to this initiative:
(1) Participants are exposed to the ideals of service, volunteerism and philanthropy — core ideals of the Greek America Foundation’s mission.
(2) Participants support our charity partners serving the most vulnerable population groups in the Greece, which has recently endured financial and humanitarian crises — not to mention the worst refugee crisis since World War II.
(3) Finally, our volunteers are exposed to modern Greek life and society through unique and immersive cultural experiences.
Project Hope for Greece
A fundraising effort that channels the power of our constituents and supporters and encourages them to get involved through a series of projects and programs that raise funds and awareness in order to bring hope to the people of Greece.
The project’s purpose is to inspire philanthropy among Greek North Americans and engage our network of friends and supporters to come together on a grassroots level and raise funds for deserving individuals and accredited charitable organizations in Greece. Project Hope for Greece capitalizes on the power of people and their ideas and encourages them to host an event or fundraiser that suits their personality, talent or skill.
Team Greek America
Team Greek America is a virtual team of runners, triathletes, cyclists and other athletes who want to compete for a greater cause. The ancient Greeks imported their wisdom on us that “Νους υγιής εν σώματι υγιεί,” meaning in English, “A sound mind also needs a sound body” in order for an individual to be complete.
Athletes who join Team Greek America create their own or participate in organized races to raise money for our Project Hope for Greece #ChildrenOfGreece campaign which supports five Greek children’s charities doing important work to help the country’s most vulnerable people.
The Gabby Awards
The Gabby Awards, an acronym standing for “Greek America’s Best and Brightest” stars, were created to celebrate the ancient Greek ideal of the pursuit of excellence in our daily lives. The awards honor those North American individuals who strive for excellence in their careers, philanthropic life and in the service of the public. The Gabby Awards are the pinnacle awards event for Greek North Americans and have attracted international support, media and recognition. The awards are hosted during a weekend and a series of events and cultural activities are also held. Proceeds from the awards support the charitable and philanthropic endeavors of the Greek America Foundation.
The most recent Gabby Awards took place in June 2017 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Forty Under 40 Awards
The Forty Under 40 Awards are the leading recognition for North Americans of Greek descent, 40 years old and under, celebrating the community’s top young talent in business, the arts, the sciences and other fields. The awards recognize those who have excelled in their professional endeavors while simultaneously showing care and concern for the world around them through philanthropic initiatives.
Excellence and philanthropy are two ideals espoused in the mission statement of the Greek America Foundation and our Forty Under 40 winners are the epitome of both. Previous winners have included Emmy Award-winning directors and actors, successful business leaders in diverse industries, artists, and leaders in the sciences and law.
Semester in Athens Scholarships
We offer rolling admission Semester in Athens Scholarships for study abroad at the Hellenic American University, a U.S.-accredited institution with two campuses in Nashua, New Hampshire and Athens, Greece. The Athens campus is located in the vibrant Kolonaki neighborhood. The university is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and credits are transferable to most North American schools.
Scholarships provide a full semester of study abroad tuition in Athens worth up to 15 credits, or about $4000. As part of the scholarship, students are expected to take two courses related to Greek culture, history or language. Room, board and travel to Greece is not included in the scholarship.
The purpose of the scholarship is to support growth and transformation through a study abroad experience in Greece and to promote understanding across Greek and American cultures. Greek heritage is not required — just a desire to learn more about contemporary Greece and its rich culture and history.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of attendees present at rallies/events
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
The Gabby Awards
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The last Gabby Awards was held in 2017 because the 2020 awards were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Number of donations made by board members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Greek America Corps
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our originally planned 2020 programs were cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. We were only permitted to enter Greece with a smaller group of volunteers. Our program in 2018 was cancelled.
Number of list subscribers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We optimized our online email list in 2019 by removing subscribers with minimal to zero activity.
Number of overall donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our primary focus is to make our ideals relevant so that people incorporate them into their everyday lives. These include charity and philanthropy and a love and passion for Greek heritage and culture.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We plan, organize and offer transformational cultural events which bring people together to celebrate the ideals espoused in our mission statement: Philanthropy, charity and the pursuit of excellence. We also create various fundraising projects and programs including our Greek America Corps, Project Hope for Greece and Team Greek America, among others. Our Semester in Athens Scholarships also offer North American college students the opportunity to study for a full semester in the heart of Greece's capital city, immersing themselves in another culture and way of life.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our organization has built a loyal base of thousands of supporters in the United States, Canada, Greece and elsewhere. Many of our followers are successful professionals in diverse fields including academics, finance, arts, sciences, public service and many others. Through our grassroots relationships with supporters, we are highly capable of disseminating our message and goals to a broader audience, especially within the Greek diaspora. We also have an extremely generous and talented Board of Directors with various expertise in business, law, medicine, technology and philanthropy. Our board's guidance will direct us in a positive direction and help maximize our impact.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our Semester in Athens scholarships were first granted in 2009 and since, dozens of students have benefited from a life-changing experience of studying at a U.S.-accredited institution of higher learning in the heart of the ancient Greek capital city.
In addition to these scholarships, a very successful Fellowship program evolved, giving college graduates an opportunity to spend a year in Greece following a career-based program. Together with Libra Group, we helped create an internship program that has sent dozens of students to important career-centric internships in all corners of the globe. That program has since continued and continues to impact lives — not only the students’ lives but the lives of their families and communities.
We’ve launched several projects from our desire to commend those who pursue excellence in all they do. The Gabby Awards and the Forty Under 40 Awards have since become the community’s pinnacle of achievement, not to mention important cultural events that have brought thousands of people in touch with their heritage.
In response to the deepening financial and humanitarian situation in Greece, in 2013 we launched Project Hope for Greece to support worthwhile charities assisting those in need. Taking advantage of the power of our grass-roots constituents, we created a program that enables people in all corners of the continent to make a difference.
Dozens of athletes have raised thousands of dollars for our Project Hope campaign by joining Team Greek America, our virtual fundraising team consisting of various athletes such as runners, bikers, swimmers, skaters and others.
In the summer of 2017, we launched Greek America Corps, our annual volunteer program which has since sent dozens of young North Americans to volunteer with our accredited charity partners in Greece.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We have made our Greek America Corps summer volunteer programs for young American/Canadian adults in Greece our primary programming. This is based on direct feedback we've received from the volunteers themselves (via in-person interviews and anonymous Google surveys), our donors and constituents and the non-profit organizations we serve in Greece. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from all of the aforementioned parties. Our volunteers have called our program "life-changing," our donors and followers have promoted our program to their own communities and the staff of our Greek non-profit partners have told us firsthand how impactful our support was on their work.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Greek America Cultural and Educational Foundation Inc
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Manos Sifakis
Customedialabs
Term: 2020 -
Mrs. Patricia Kassis Lambrecht
Lambrecht Family Donor Fund
Term: 2019 - 2020
George M. Logothetis
The Libra Group
John Varvatos
John Varvatos
Chris Papavasiliou
Paper Street Films
Angeline N. Beltsos
Vios Fertility Institute
Spiro J. Verras
Verras Law, P.A.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/11/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.