2014 National Innovation Conference To Take Place in Toronto May 2-4

The Greek America Foundation in association with The Chang School at Ryerson University has announced its 3rd bi-annual National Innovation conference to take place in Toronto, Canada May 2-4.

The idea behind NIC, according to the GAF’s founder Gregory Pappas, is to gather “global thinkers, leaders, innovators and doers in a room to share their amazing stories with an audience thirsty for knowledge.”

The conference will include presentations by professionals who have exceeded in their field, several breaks for networking and opportunities to meet and mingle with industry leaders from film to philanthropy.

The line up of confirmed speakers so far includes:

Sisters Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne, the co-founders of Georgetown Cupcake, stars of the hit series DC Cupcakes on TLC, and best-selling authors of The Cupcake Diaries and Sweet Celebrations.

James Manos, an American television writer and producer who worked as a co-producer and writer on the first season of The Sopranos. In 1999 Manos won the Emmy Award in the Outstanding Writing for Dramatic Series category for his work on the “College” episode of The Sopranos.He then completed two seasons as Consulting Producer on The Shield. He developed, produced, and wrote the pilot of Dexter, the Showtime drama series.

Leon Logothetis, a TV personality, author and adventurer. Leon has appeared in various shows on National Geographic, The Travel Channel and other networks in over 100 countries throughout the world.

Andreas Souvaliotis, Founder of Green Rewards and later AIR MILES for Social Change, the world’s first national environmental and healthy lifestyle incentive programs.

Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, a native of Chicago born to first-generation Greek-Americans who grew up as an active participant in the life of the city’s historic Assumption Greek Orthodox Community. He went on to attend Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he obtained his graduate divinity degree “with high distinction” in 1987. Following graduation, he pursued post-graduate doctoral work in the philosophy program of Chicago’s Loyola University, concentrating in the area of metaphysics.

Thymos Project, a team of young filmmakers from Toronto who made their first film for the Greek America Foundation’s Short Film Contest in 2013. Thymos will present their new project, Apostasy, as part of the programming at NIC 2014 in Toronto.

Danialle Karmanos, a philanthropist and community activist committed to driving positive change in Detroit. She is the founder of Danialle Karmanos’ Work It Out (DKWIO), a 501(c)(3) organization that fights childhood obesity by providing kids with tools needed to make healthy choices.

Writing about NIC and the motivation behind organizing the conference, Gregory Pappas noted that Greeks invented innovation.

“Every day, I am fascinated to learn about the contributions more and more Greeks are making in contemporary societies throughout the United States, Canada and beyond.”

So, on the surface, NIC is an ideas conference and an opportunity for people who thrive on intellectual stimulation to gather, to network and to meet other like-minded people and to be inspired.

“Some fellow Greeks will ask, but why “innovation” and what does an organization promoting Greek culture and ideals have to do with innovation? My response is simple: We have everything to do with innovation. It’s in our cultural DNA- from the ancients who built temples in perfect alignment with the stars and who organized a complete deity structure to answer those unanswerable questions… to the Byzantines whose culture thrived and brought new inventions to the world… And yes, to an entire generation of contemporary Greeks, who against all odds, continue to dream, invent and create- in whichever corner of the globe they happen to be.
We Greeks own innovation and it’s time we take it back and make it our own again,” says Gregory Pappas.

NIC is modeled after the hugely successful TED and TEDMED conferences, which bring together world-class speakers who discuss projects and themes they are passionate about to an audience thirsty for knowledge.

Presenters will discuss various topics that are relevant to the global conversations going on today throughout the world. The presentations will be dynamic and interesting and many will incorporate the use of multimedia (video, photography, etc…) that will be masterfully interconnected with each presentation.

To learn more visit the National Innovation Conference website.