Eleni Stathatou holds, a master’s degree in Marketing Management & Communication with New Technologies from the Athens University of Economics & Business, a master’s degree in Tourism Marketing and Management from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, a bachelor’s degree, in Philosophy from the National & Kapodistrian University of Economics. She also holds International Certification (ICC), e-learning and professional certifications from Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) and other recognized organizations.
With 36 years of distinguished performance in the National Bank of Greece, 26 of which in senior positions, she worked in the field of credit operations, foreign operations (imports and exports), transactions and deposits in euro and foreign currency and the last 5 in the position of Deputy Director in the International Trade Division of the Bank for the centralized management of documentary credits, documentary collections, or clear collections and international trade (e.g. forfeiting).
She has extensive experience as a seminar speaker since 1988 (in the National Bank and in private institutions), specialized in issues of international trade, operations in euro and foreign currency (trading, deposits).
She speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish.
Dr. Maria Boile is Associate Professor of “Port and Inland Terminal Policy and Management” and Director of the MSc program in Shipping at the University of Piraeus, Department of Maritime Studies, Head of Unit on Transport Economics and Environment, Maritime and Air Transport, at the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), and Affiliated Faculty member at the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), Rutgers University. She has a diploma in Civil (Transportation) Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, M.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University, US, and Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, US.
Her research interests and expertise are in the areas of passenger and freight intermodal transport system modeling, freight and maritime logistics, port and inland terminal operations and management. She has participated in over 70 sponsored research projects in the U.S., Europe and Latin America, leading over half of them. She has authored and co-authored over 170 technical articles and 12 book chapters. Her teaching and research work has received prestigious awards. She has worked as a consultant in numerous transport and logistics projects.
Danae Bezantakou is CEO of Navigator Shipping Consultants, shareholder of KEFI S.A. and MATILDA HOTEL in Zakynthos Island. She is also President of iforU-Greek Mentoring Network, which empowers women’s entrepreneurship through mentoring & networking and Concept Founder of YES FORUM – the leading platform of open dialogue in the Greek Shipping and Sea Tourism Industries among principals, executives and university students, recent graduates and young executives.
Danae represented Greece twice in International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) “Women in Leadership” organized by Hilary Clinton, in March 2011 & “On Demand Opportunity: Alumni Association Development” in December 2017. She has been nominated to be one of the European Young Leaders (2014), her name was included in the “Purpose Economy Europe 100 List 2014”, as well as in the 40under40 list of Fortune Greece. She is founding member and the 1st President of the Hellenic U.S. Alumni Association of State Department Programs during the period 2015-2018.
Danae was appointed as Young Global Leader from World Economic Forum for the years 2015-2020, holds Global Dignity’s Greek Country Chair and has been nominated to join the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. Her dedication to the growth of Entrepreneurship made her to be named as a Role Model in the campaign #Makingithappen organized by the U.S. Embassy to Greece. She regularly participates as a speaker, judge or mentor in competitions, school and university lectures and events related to entrepreneurship. She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Surrey. She has a 10 year old daughter.
Sotirios (Sotiris) Theofanis is currently the Chairman of the BoD and Chief Executive Officer of the privatized Thessaloniki Port Authority SA and Member of the BoD of the South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Ltd.
An internationally acknowledged expert, academic and manager in the fields of freight transportation; logistics; and ports.
Former Expert; Head of Unit; and acting Director for Ports with the Ministry of Merchant Marine, Greece (1985-1999). Former Chief Executive Officer of Thessaloniki Port Authority SA, Greece (1999-2002) and Chairman of the BoD and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Piraeus Port Authority SA, Greece (2002-2004), he led the efforts for the restructuring and listing of the two port companies in the Athens Stock Exchange.
Former Director, Freight and Maritime Program (FMP) and Director of Strategic Planning (2006-2012) at the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA, he is currently Fellow and Visiting Professor with the same University. He is also Senior Visiting Lecturer with Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI), Israel, Chairman of the National Port Training Institute and member of the ESPO (European Sea Ports Organization) Executive Committee, where he has been selected as the Port Professional of the Month in April 2019.
Dr. Antonis Kalis is working with SignalGeneriX Ltd, as head of its R&D activities. He has previously been employed as an adjunct professor in Carnegie Mellon University, an Associate Professor in Athens Information Technology, and a visiting scientist in the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya. He has numerous journal and conference publications, IEEE tutorials and invited talks (e.g. in Bell Labs, Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Trento, University of Piraeus, etc.), a US patent, a Marconi paper award nomination, and the 2000 Chester Sall Memorial award of the Consumer Electronics Society.
From May 2012 to November 2018 he has served as the technical director of Lynceus and Lynceus2Market, two EU projects on large passenger ship safety, coordinating research, development, manufacturing and integration activities, and acting as the projects’ spokesman in several occasions, including a Euronews Futuris documentary and a TEDx invited talk. The system developed through these projects was awarded the prestigious Lloyd’s List Global Innovation Award in 2014 and is in operation in one of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships since May 2018.
An economist specialized in Finance and Accounting. A Fulbright scholar, he studied in the United States and holds a post graduate degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. He is a member of ΦΒΚ (Phi Beta Kappa), ΒΓΣ (Beta Gamma Sigma) and ΒΑΨ (Beta Alpha Psi) honorary societies. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he is a member of the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) with extensive experience in management positions in several sectors of the economy such as financial information, maritime and energy. His professional career begins in 1992 working in Cyprus as an auditor for Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). In 1995 he moves to Greece as an Area Finance Manager for Dow Jones Telerate, where he also held the position of the President of the Board of Directors. In 2001 and for the next 5 years, he works in the marine sector for Royal Olympic Cruises and Capital Maritime & Trading. Since 2006 he works for the Hellenic Petroleum Group, originally as the Group Controller, later as the Finance General Director of EKO ABEE, and the Retail Finance Manager. Today he is the General Manager of Domestic and International Retail for the Hellenic Petroleum Group, Chief Executive Officer for Hellenic Fuels and Lubricants and Chairman at the Hellenic Petroleum Marketing Companies Association (SEEPE).He participates actively on several BoD’s of Hellenic Petroleum companies in Greece and abroad as well as on a number of group committees regarding investments, credit assessment and remuneration.
Vasileios Kechagias, Mechanical & Materials Engineer with MSc and PhD in Materials Technology from Aristotle University, cofounder and CEO of SUPERALLOYS Company, was born in Thessaloniki in 29-7-1971. He is specialized for many years in the field of large-scale industrial maintenance projects and machine elements manufacturing, using advanced materials and processes for Marine Cement, Power Generation, Oil and Defense Industry. Due to his particular expertise and know-how in the urgent Mechanical Maintenance sector, he developed a strong extroverted activity with special technical projects and direct export of mechanical products, to the wider Balkan region, Europe, America, Middle East and Asia. He is also participating and managing R&D programs in advanced materials and processes, in cooperation with research teams of universities. He is member in the board of directors of SEVE, in the board of directors, in the Chamber of Small & Medium sized Industries of Thessaloniki while in the period 2013-2016 he was member in the board of directors in Alexander Innovation Zone.
Being already 40 years in shipping industry. Since 1977 working in Golden Union Shipping Group.
In 1984 was appointed as Purchasing Manager. In 1989 was appointed to set up and develop Golden Cargo as Managing Director.
Jan 2018 elected 2nd Vice President at Piraeus Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Propeller Club member and Chios Marine Club board member.
Born and raised in Vrontados- Chios. Graduate the City of London Polytechnic (London University). Holds a BSc in Maritime Economics and MSc in Logistics.
George D. Pateras, born in London, UK and the father of 3 adult children, is the Deputy Chairman, Contships Management Inc. and since 2016 the Chairman of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping.
He studied Engineering and Economics and holds a BSc in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, MS in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from MIT and a PhD from Plymouth University.
He is a Board member of the Hellenic War Risks Association and the Bahamas Shipowners Association, Chairman of the Hellenic Shipping War Risks Insurance S.A., Vice Chairman, NATO, PBOS now TG(OS) (2000-) and permanent advisor (AMSCC) of the Hellenic Ministry of Defense.
Dr. Pateras has also served as the Chairman of the Bahamas Shipowners’ Association (20112015) and as a Board member of the Hellenic Seamen’s Pension Fund (1984-1993), Olympic Aviation (1991-1993), the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (1986-2015), the Union of Greek Shipowners (1983-2004), HELMEPA (1996-1998), the BSA representative on International Chamber of Shipping (2011-2015) and Managing Director of Aegeus Shipping S.A. (1981-2018)
Helen Polychronopoulou, is currently the Executive Vice President of Environmental Protection Engineering (EPE) SA and the Business Development Manager of ERMA FIRST ESK ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS SA, designing and producing the ERMA FIRST ballast water treatment systems. She is also the co-founder and co-owner of HELENGI ENGINEERING Ltd, with expertise in a range of applications for the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Moreover, she is a member of the Board of Directors of GLOBAL NAVIGATION SOLUTIONS GREECE.
She has studied chemistry and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of environmental protection, marine equipment, shipping and ship parts industry. She has been the Director of the Research and Development department of EPE SA, where she has developed innovative equipment for the management and treatment of liquid waste and potable water. Then, she moved to the Business Development department where she successfully undertook projects for the expansion of the company in new markets, by introducing new products and services. Currently, she is involved in expanding the new markets being the President of the Hellenic Marine Equipment Manufacturers & Exporters – HEMEXPO.
She is also a member of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA), member of the Mediterranean Committee of China Classification Society (CCS) and member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology (HIMT). Helen has recently been honored as the “Greek Pioneer Entrepreneur of the year 2015”, awarded by Ernst & Young. Finally, she has been a member of the Greek IMO Delegation at MEPC and D&E sub-committees, the Vice President of the Association of Environmental Protection Companies in Greece (PASEPPE) and the national representative for the European Business Environment Awards.
