TheLeader_VOLUME_XXVII_ISSUE1_Spring2026 - Flipbook - Page 6
Leadership 100 Appoints
New Executive Director
Rev. Protopresbyter Panagiotis Papazafiropoulos,
newly appointed Executive Director of Leadership 100.
The Leadership 100 Executive Committee, meeting on
Friday morning, February 27, 2026, elected Rev.
Protopresbyter Panagiotis Papazafiropoulos as Executive
Director of Leadership 100, with the consensus of the
Board of Trustees, meeting Friday afternoon, according
to Michael N. Bapis, Chairman. He will officially take
office on June 1, 2026.
During his ministry at the Archdiocese, he was
responsible for the organization of the 2021 Apostolic
Visit of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew to the United States, the Centennial Clergy
Laity Congress in New York City, and the visit to the
United States of Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II of
Alexandria in 2022, among others.
“We are pleased with the choice of Father Panagiotis at
this critical juncture for Leadership 100 and our Beloved
Church. He brings deep experience, expertise, and
energy to the role of Executive Director. We are indebted
to our current Executive Director, Paulette Poulos, for
recommending him and grateful that she will stay on in a
new role for a transitional period to familiarize him with
our operations,” said Bapis.
Earlier in his ministry, Father Panagiotis served as Youth
Director of the Archdiocesan District, where he
organized youth ministries across athletics, camping
(Camp Saint Paul), and young adult programs. He
merged the two basketball programs into one League
(GOBL) that now has almost two thousand active players
throughout the Archdiocesan District. Through strategic
planning and operational streamlining, he strengthened
inter-ministry collaboration and generated annual
revenue surpluses.
Father Panagiotis comes to the role with more than 20
years of experience in ecclesiastical administration and
the financial sector. He currently serves the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America as the Director of the
Archbishop’s Office, where he oversees the day-to-day
operations of the Office of the Archbishop. Before his
ordination, he worked in consultative financial services
where he delivered tailored insurance solutions to
institutional clients and their families.
He served as Archdiocesan Assistant Chancellor and
Interim Chancellor, where he managed clergy
assignments, mediated conflicts, conducted sensitive
investigations, and oversaw the administrative transition
of the Chancellor’s Office after the Enthronement of His
Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
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Father Panagiotis is the Presiding Priest of St. Gerasimos
Greek Orthodox Church in New York, and he holds the
ecclesiastical rank (offikion) of Protopresbyter of the
Ecumenical Throne. This esteemed rank, bestowed only
by the Ecumenical Patriarch, is one of the then highest
honors conferred upon married clergy.
Father Panagiotis holds a B.A. from New York
University, a degree in Theology from the University of
Athens, a Master of Arts from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Theological Seminary, and a degree in Byzantine Music
from the National Conservatory of Greece. He is married
to Presvytera Christina, and together they are parents to
Marianna, Demetrios and Vasilios.
