Leadership 100 Conference Kicks Off in Orlando, Florida

The 34th Leadership 100 Annual Conference kicked off on February 20, 2025 at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, in Orlando, Florida.

Conference speakers include the extraordinary Greek Americans: Col. Matthew Bogdanos, Chief, Antiquities Trafficking Unit, New York District Attorney’s Office; Harry Psaros Sr., Executive Neuroscience Specialist and Author; Nick Katsoris, Founder, President and Executive Director, The Loukoumi Make a Difference Foundation; Alexis Christoforous, ABC News Correspondent; and Eva Konstantakos, Director, Youth & Young Adult Ministries, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Other events include the Welcome Reception and New Member/First Timers Orientation, the Annual General Assembly, Young Professionals’ Breakfast and Private Dialogue with Archbishop Elpidophoros, the Hellenic Glendi, the Annual Walk/Run and Golf and Tennis Tournaments and Awards, the Obelisk and Icon Photo Presentation, Children’s Program, the Grand Banquet on Saturday evening, February 22, and the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Church in Maitland, Florida on Sunday, February 23.

Leadership 100 Conference Speakers

Colonel Matthew Bogdanos

Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, Chief, Antiquities Trafficking Unit, New York District Attorney’s Office, has served as Assistant District Attorney since 1988. He is an author, boxer, and a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bogdanos deployed to Afghanistan where he was awarded a Bronze Star for actions against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In 2003, while on active duty in the Marine Corps, he led an investigation into the looting of Iraq’s National Museum, and was subsequently awarded the National Humanities Medal for his efforts. Returning to the District Attorney’s Office in 2010, he created and still heads the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, “the only one of its kind in the world.” He had previously gained national attention for the prosecution of Sean Combs, who was acquitted of weapons and bribery charges in a 2001 trial stemming from a 1999 nightclub shootout.

Bogdanos attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in New Jersey and later Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in classical studies from Bucknell and a degree in law from Columbia University Law School. He also has a Master’s degree in Classical Studies from Columbia University and another Master’s in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

Bogdanos is one of a set of twins born and raised in New York to a Greek father, Konstantine, and a French mother, Claire. He is one of four children. Growing up he waited tables in his parents’ Greek restaurant, Deno’s Place, in lower Manhattan.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in January 1977, while still a freshman. In 1988, he resigned from active duty to join the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bogdanos returned to full-time active duty.

In 1996, Bogdanos led a counter-narcotics action on the Mexico–United States border. He was active during Operation Desert Storm and served in South Korea, Lithuania, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kosovo. In 2001, he was part of a law enforcement, counter-terrorism team deployed to Afghanistan, where he was awarded a Bronze Star for actions against Al-Qaeda for, according to the Bronze Star citation, “seizing unexpected opportunities and relying on his personal courage often at great personal risk.”

In March 2003, he was promoted to colonel and deployed to Iraq as head of his team. During his stint in Iraq, the Iraq Museum in Baghdad was sacked and thousands of valuable antiquities were stolen. For over five years Bogdanos led a team to recover the artifacts. Up to 2006, approximately 10,000 artifacts were recovered through his efforts. Antiquities recovered include the Warka Vase and The Mask of Warka. Bogdanos co-wrote a memoir with William Patrick, Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine’s Passion for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to Recover the World’s Greatest Stolen Treasures. The book chronicles his efforts to recover the missing Iraqi artifacts. In November 2005, he was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush for his efforts to recover the artifacts. He has also received the 2004 Public Service Award from the Hellenic Lawyers of America, the 2006 Distinguished Leadership Award from the Washington DC Historical Society, and a 2007 Proclamation from the City of New York, among other awards.

Deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 with NATO counter-insurgency forces, he was released back into the Marine Reserves in September 2010, and returned to the District Attorney’s Office.

When Cyrus Vance, Jr. became District Attorney in 2010, he authorized Bogdanos to prosecute antiquities trafficking, but with no additional resources assigned. For the next six years, he and Special Agent Brenton Easter, a federal agent with Homeland Security Investigations, worked dozens of cases, including one of the largest seizures of stolen antiquities in U.S. history, more than 2,600 idols valued at more than $143 million and seized from renowned New York dealer Subhash Kapoor who is on trial in India and awaiting extradition to New York.

By 2017, Bogdanos and Easter were making so many antiquities trafficking cases that Bogdanos was sleeping in his office. When supervisors alerted District Attorney Vance, he approved the creation of the first-of-its-kind Antiquities Trafficking Unit consisting of prosecutors, federal agents, New York City detectives, and specialized analysts. Since then, the Unit has grown to 16 personnel. Since 2010, Bogdanos and his team have convicted a dozen traffickers, seized more than 4,000 antiquities valued at more than $200 million, and repatriated more than 2,000 antiquities to almost two dozen countries. Among the seizures was a golden first-century-B.C. Egyptian coffin that the Metropolitan Museum of Art had acquired for $4 million and was made famous when Kim Kardashian posed for a photo next to it at the 2018 Met Gala.

As a Senior Trial Counsel in the District Attorney’s Office, Bogdanos still prosecutes homicides, what he describes as being “connected to the worst moment in people’s lives.”

Bogdanos is also a former middleweight boxer with almost 30 amateur fights and is still boxing, with a record of 10-2 since his 40th birthday. Along with another Assistant District Attorney, fellow U.S. Marine officer Al Peterson, he co-founded a Charity Boxing Foundation called Battle of the Barristers that has raised more than $1 million for wounded veterans and children at risk.

Neuroscience Specialist Harry Psaros

Harry Psaros, Executive Neuroscience Specialist Chronic Migraine, Health Coach, and Author, to Address Forum on Friday, February 21.

A devoted family man, Harry Psaros has been happily married to his wife Michelle for 24 years and is a proud father of two sons, Costa “Gus” and Maximos “Max.” Originally from the steel town of Weirton, WV, Psaros has called McDonald, PA home for the past two decades. With a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as minors in physics and philosophy, Psaros has a strong educational foundation. Further expanding his expertise, he obtained a certification as a health coach from the Institute of Integrated Nutrition. Professionally, Psaros serves as an Executive Neuroscience Account Specialist for AbbVie. Known affectionately by fans as the “Pitt Guru,” he is a top social media influencer for University of Pittsburgh athletics and the senior writer for Pittsburgh Sports Now. He is the author of From Struggle to Strength: A Father’s Journey with Autism and the Power of Hope and Positivity.

Psaros is on the Board of Directors for the Autism Caring Center, President of North Fayette Township’s Parks and Recreation Board, Vice President of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in Weirton, WV and one of the founders of North Fayette P.A.L.S. (an organization for special needs children). Harry and Michelle Psaros are fulfilled members of Leadership 100. Harry is an avid reader, enjoys strength training, running, martial arts and lives to serve others.

He has a saying, “If you are breathing air, you should be helping others.”

Nick Katsoris, The Loukoumi Make a Difference Foundation

In 2003, New York attorney Nick Katsoris was inspired to write a children’s book about a fluffy little lamb, named after the iconic candy, “Loukoumi”, that just wants to make the world a better place. After the New York Times wrote an article about the self-published book, “Loukoumi” hit number 4 on the Children’s Book bestseller list. There are now nine books in the series, including “Loukoumi’s Good Deeds” narrated by Jennifer Aniston, and through the book Katsoris began engaging children in good deed projects.

In 2014, Katsoris’s work earned him a National Make A Difference Award from the Points of Light organization and USA Weekend Magazine. Following the awards ceremony, which was broadcast on the TODAY Show, Nick was inspired to start The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation, a non-profit organization that now unites over 150,000 children in 30 countries worldwide to make a difference for causes they are passionate about.

This Loukoumi Good Deed movement has children making a difference for animal and homeless shelters, nursing homes, the environment, through sports and the arts, and other causes of interest to them. In their own voices, these children are changing the world, one good deed at a time. The result is that these children are also building self-esteem, improving their mental health, finding their purpose and overall happiness.

In March 2023, Katsoris became the Executive Director of the Foundation, where he now brings his Good Deed Curriculum to over 300 schools worldwide, through in person good deed delegations to schools around the world, and virtual programming with a Good Deed of the Month Zoom program and an International Good Deed Council where students collaborate on global good deed projects including students at schools in Greece, India, Northern Ireland and the UK, Italy, Germany, Ecuador, Tanzania, Uganda, Spain, Honduras, Puerto Rico, across the United States and Newfoundland Canada.

Through the Foundation, Katsoris has also established and sponsors The Loukoumi Foundation Treatment Room at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a teaching kitchen for the homeless at the Floating Hospital in New York City, after school programming at New York City Schools through the Variety Boys & Girls Club and the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council, the Make A Difference with Loukoumi Exhibit at the Westchester Children’s Museum and a Never Forget Letter Mailbox outside Town Hall in Gander Newfoundland Canada for families who lost loved ones on 9-11.

Katsoris has donated over 100,000 copies of his children’s books, is a motivational speaker including at the World Happiness Summit in Lake Como (2023), London (2024) and Miami (2025), at the Kiwanis International Convention, the Wellbeingr Forum in Athens on Mental Health Awareness Day, the Ideagen Global Impact Summit and other conferences.

He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Crain’s New York Business/Blue Cross Blue Shield Whole Health Hero Award, Tegna’s National Make A Difference All-Star Award, The Points of Light Award, the Visionary Humanitarian Award from the High Flyers Organization in Mumbai, India, the Community Dad Award from the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Educator of Distinction Award.

A graduate of Fordham College of Business Administration and Fordham Law School, Katsoris began his legal career as Law Clerk to The Hon. Nicholas Tsoucalas at the United States Court of International Trade. He then served as a litigation associate at the law firm of Cahill Gordon and Reindel. In 2005 he was appointed as General Counsel of The Red Apple Group in New York, a position he held for 28 years until March 10, 2023, when he was appointed as an Arbitrator at the American Arbitration Association and also took over the reigns as Executive Director of the Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation (www.LoukoumiFoundation.org).

Nick currently resides in Eastchester, New York, with his wife, Voula, a real estate attorney, and their children, Constantine and Julia.

The Leadership 100 conference will conclude on Sunday, February 23.