The New York based global non-profit and secular institution The Hellenic Initiative (THI), whose vision is to mobilise the global diaspora and the Philhellene community of the world to invest in the future of Greece, is to be launched on 26 March in Sydney, according to Neos Kosmos sources.
The Australian launch of The Hellenic Initiative (THI) will be hosted by journalist Helen Kapalos and will have as its featured speaker THI’s chairman, Mr Andrew N. Liveris AO, the highly respected Australian of Greek heritage who serves as chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company.
The Australian launch aims to bring together a select group of industry and community leaders of Greek heritage from around Australia who have been recognised for their individual and community achievements.
THI was launched in the northern summer of 2012 in Athens and in New York is headed by Darwin born and Queensland educated Andrew Liveris, and claims as its president and honorary patron the former President of the United States of America Bill Clinton.
Launching the initiative in 2012, founding member and chairman Andrew Liveris said that “by combining the support and expertise of the global diaspora and Philhellene community – Oli Mazi(All Together) – The Hellenic Initiative will provide immediate and vital support in ensuring the prosperity of established and new organizations, and more importantly, encourage ongoing education, entrepreneurism and investment that will provide a sustainable foundation for the country’s future.”
Matching words with action, as it was reported last October in Neos Kosmos, THI has put together a $100 million private-equity investment fund for small and midsize businesses frozen out of the capital markets. It is expected that this fund will be able to start making investments from this year onwards as well as attempting to address the financing needs of start-up companies in Greece.
The strategy of THI, an impact investment fund, focuses on three pillars: crisis relief, entrepreneurship, and economic development.
The fund aims to provide growth equity to small and mid-sized companies, since they are the back bone of the Greek economy and their success is critical if Greece is to recover.
Fellowships for early and mid-career Greek professionals that enable them to stay for 12 months in leading U.S. businesses, entrepreneurship programs, and initiatives of crisis relief along with partner organisations in Greece are some of the other programs of THI.
The driving force of the founding members of The Hellenic Initiative is their belief that Greece needs all those who can help today more than ever. This is a long term commitment, vow its founding members, all influential business leaders in the U.S.A.
“If not us, who? Join us”, is their moto.