On a global scale about equality between people, regardless of gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation, the much-discussed tripartite Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity remains a big question.
Moderator
Iliana Magra, Journalist
Experts
Maria Syrengela, Deputy Minister for the Demography and Family Policy
Angeliki Alvanoudi, Professor of Linguistics and Lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature of AUTH
Nancy Zachariadou, Director of the Cultural & Social Activities Unit, Piraeus Bank
George Nikoletakis, CEO 100mentors
Moving into the second decade of the 21st century, and despite the debate unfolding on a global scale about equality between people, regardless of gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation, the much-discussed tripartite Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity remains a big question. In the fight for a society and a professional environment without gender-based violence, without stereotypes but with access to education for everyone and everything, with equal opportunities for personal and professional development, institutional bodies, organizations, and companies are leading the way. However, the latest report of the European Institute for Gender Equality, which annually evaluates the relative performance of the E.U. and its member states, proves there is still a long way ahead.
- What obstacles do you identify in realizing the vision for a society of equal people?
- What actions are being taken at the global and Greek levels paying off?
- How can women be supported to claim the position corresponding to their value and potential?
- How can their equal access to employment, business activity, and resources be strengthened?
- With which practices and tools can the new generations be sensitized regarding the choice of the profession about social stereotypes?
- How can innovation and technology help transmit the message of an equal society?
- How does the EQUALL program of Piraeus contribute to the upskilling and reskilling of women in the business and agricultural sectors?
Iliana Magra is a journalist with the leading Greek daily newspaper, "Kathimerini,” for which she has covered a wide variety of stories, which include female and child abuse, the pandemic, the Kolonos case, the Afrogreeks of Xanthi, and the war in Ukraine. At the same time, she broke the story of what was allegedly happening in Kivotos tou Kosmou (Ark of the World) and was the sole Greek journalist that was part of Pope Francis' mission in Cyprus and Greece.
Previously, and up to her resignation in 2020, she was reporting on international stories for The New York Times from the paper's London bureau, where she was a staff journalist for four years. She has also written for the British newspapers The Sunday Times and The Financial Times.
Maria Syrengela is the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, responsible for the Demography and Family Policy.
Before her current assignment, she was appointed Secretary-General for Family Policy and Gender Equality (July 2019-January 2021). She still serves as Vice President of the Women of the European People Party (EPP Women). She also was vice president of KETHI (Research Center for Gender Equality) from 2013 to March 2015.
From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Syrengela held the post of Vice-President of the YEPP (Youth of the European People’s Party). She served as YEPP Representative in the Western Balkan Democracy Initiative and the Southeastern European Forum at the same time.
She was formerly a member of the Executive Bureau of ONNED (youth organization of the New Democracy), in charge of International Relations (2001 -2004), and a member of the Central Committee of the party (1998 -2005). Additionally, she was a candidate with the New Democracy in the 2004 European Elections.
She graduated from the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens. She also holds a master’s degree in business administration for Executives from the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). Her thesis focuses on the Policy and Strategy of New Public Management.
Furthermore, Maria Syrengela has served in key positions, both in the private and public sectors, specializing in human resources, and she is a Member of the Economic Chamber of Greece. She speaks English, French, and Turkish.
She is married to Fotis Kyriakopoulos, a Civil Engineer, and the mother of two children, Vasilis and Konstantinos.
Angeliki Alvanoudi is a sociolinguist specializing in language and gender, language in interaction, and language contact. She is currently lecturing at the School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and she is a Research Associate at the Institute of Modern Greek Studies (Manolis Triandaphyllidis Foundation). In April 2013, she graduated with a Ph.D. from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In her doctoral dissertation, she explored the cultural and cognitive aspects of grammatical gender in Greek. In May 2013, she took up a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship at James Cook University, Australia. She worked as Postgraduate Tutor at the Hellenic Open University (2018-2022).
She has written the books Grammatical Gender in Interaction: Cultural and Cognitive Aspects, published with Brill in 2015, and Modern Greek in Diaspora: An Australian Perspective, published with Palgrave Pivot in 2019. She has published articles in international scholarly-refereed outlets, including the Journal of Greek Linguistics, Text & Talk, Pragmatics, the Journal of Pragmatics, Gender and Language, the Journal of Language and Discrimination, the Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages and Oceanic Linguistics.
Nancy Zachariadou has been working at Piraeus Bank for 25 years. For the last two years, she has joined the Group Cultural and Social Initiatives Unit, contributing to developing and implementing strategies, action plans, and initiatives that generate measurable social impact. Before this position, she worked for ten years in the Customer Experience and Loyalty Unit, acquiring significant experience in customer experience and qualitative and quantitative research. Her career journey started in the crucial area of retail banking, where she worked for 13 years, reaching the highest branch management level.
Graduating from Arsakeia – Tositseia Schools in 1990, she completed her studies in French Literature at the National Kapodestrian University of Athens. She received her MBA from ALBA Graduate Business School, the American College of Greece, Athens.
She participates in numerous conferences and fora as a public speaker, advocating Piraeus Bank’s important initiatives and actions for society under the multidimensional corporate responsibility strategy implemented to contribute to forming a society of equal people.
Post-ChatGPT asking better questions/prompts became the skill of the decade. Over the last three years, Yiorgos Nikoletakis & his research team tested, refined, and validated the first methodology for "Assessment of the ability of students and professionals to ask improved questions" (to humans) and prompts (to ChatGPT and AI tools). Today Yiorgos & his team in 100mentors (www.100mentors.com) empower 100k learners in 17 countries to learn how to ask better questions through:
1) boot camps (learn by studying), and 2) the first micro-mentoring app (learn by doing = mentoring), available on Android/iOS, used by 42 Big4, S&P500, foundations & Ivy universities.
With a mission to democratize opportunity, 100mentors' vision is to become the "School of Inquiry" for 100 million learners by 2030.
The Tipping Point in Education (www.thetippingpoint.org.gr ) is Yiorgos Nikoletakis’ and his team's initiative to offer the 100mentors mentoring experience for free to Greek public under-resourced schools in remote Greek islands and villages. Today they cover 30% of secondary education in Greece and dozens of underprivileged schools in 5 US states. Before EdTech Yiorgos Nikoletakis worked in Mergers & Acquisitions for energy and infrastructure projects in the US, Spain, UK, and finance and Logistics positions in the US, China, and Greece. Yiorgos studied at AUEB, OSU, and Columbia University, where he held research and fellowship positions at the Blinken European Institute. Yiorgos Nikoletakis has received scholarships and fellowships from 10 institutions, like the Propondis Foundation, the State Scholarships Foundation, the London Deloitte Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and the Fulbright Foundation.
