TheLeader_VOLUME_XXVII_ISSUE1_Spring2026 - Flipbook - Page 31
NEWS OF OUR MEMBERS
Members of the Payiavlas family joined
honoree John A. Payiavlas onstage as he
received his Lifetime Achievement Award and
a standing ovation at The Hellenic Initiative
New York Gala. At podium, (L-R) George
Stamas, Vice Chair, Michael Psaros, THI Board
Vice Chair and THI Co-Founder and President,
John Koudounis, THI Board.
Photo by Eleni Sakellis
and our Orthodox faith, philanthropia, philotimo and
philoxenia. For Greeks, giving is a way of life.
Payiavlas acknowledged both Fr. Alexander Karloutsos
and Paulette Poulos who served as Executive Directors of
Leadership 100 and thanked them for their exceptional
leadership.
“Our THI board and team, do not simply fund
programs,” Psaros said. “We shape them. We get
involved. We mentor, we measure, we ask tough
questions, and most importantly, we empower.”
One of the most emotional moments of the gala was the
presentation of the 2025 Hellenic Initiative Lifetime
Achievement Award to entrepreneur John Payiavlas.
A son of immigrants, Payiavlas was recognized for
building AVI Foodsystems into the largest privately
owned contract food service company in the United
States.
John Payiavlas in his acceptance speech thanked
THI’s board for honoring him and noted that “I
don’t think I deserve it, but I like it.” He spoke
movingly about his family, his immigrant parents
from Chios arriving in the U.S. in 1929, and how he
was born during the Great Depression in Warren,
Ohio, and grew up going to St. Demetrios Church
there. In his remarks, he spoke about family, unity,
and purpose, calling on Greeks and Philhellenes to
support institutions that strengthen Greece not only
today but for generations to come.
Payiavlas recounted how years ago he told his father he
was joining the Archdiocesan Council, and his father
replied, “son, you’ve done pretty well and Warren people
respect you, but you are going to New York with those
John and Marisa Payiavlas’ six grandchildren, Kristin,
Kailen, John, Constantine, Alexander, and Anthony
introduced their grandfather. Photo by Eleni Sakellis
lawyers and those doctors, you will not be able to keep
up with them. Stay in Warren where you belong.” He
added that he would tell his late father now, “Dad, there’s
900 people here, honoring me!
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