Nick Larigakis
President & CEO
NICK LARIGAKIS has held different positions with AHI since joining the organization in 1987. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the College of New Jersey, and did post graduate work in International Affairs at American University. For his work in support of Hellenism, Mr. Larigakis has been honored with the 1995 Hermes Expo International Award, the 2007 Hellenic News of America Award, the 2008 Society of the Argonauts Award, and by the Greek Independence Day Committee of Tarpon Springs, FL, where he served as Honorary Grand Marshall of the 2001 and 2009 parades.
Other recognitions include an honorary award from the Hellenic National Defense General Staff. He is a member of AHEPA, and received the Inaugural AHEPA Outstanding Public Advocacy Award (April 2012). During the 2004 Olympic Games he served as a volunteer. In 2003, Mr. Larigakis was invested as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. As of the fall of 2013, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the American Community Schools of Athens and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation USA. In 2015, he received the St. Katherine Community Service Award in Falls Church, Virginia.
Yola Pakhchanian
Publications Director
YOLA PAKHCHANIAN has navigated several roles since joining AHI in 1983, including Legislative Assistant, Executive Director, Director of Communications while overseeing the AHI Internship Program and AHIF College Student Foreign Policy Trip. In her current capacity as Publications Director, she oversaw the production of over a dozen books and the annual issue of the AHIF online journal, American Journal Of Contemporary Hellenic Issues.
During the 1980s she helped organize a group of women in the U.S. to support the Women Walk Home movement in Cyprus. In 1987 and 1989, they participated in the marches into occupied Cyprus to advocate for the right of Greek Cypriot refugees to return to their homes and to draw attention to the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. She served as the President of the PTA at the Hamasdegh Armenian School and the HSA at St. Elizabeth Catholic School. Additionally, she served as a Board Member of the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and mentored young minds in STEM through the FIRST Robotics program. Yola holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley with a focus in International Relations, specifically the Eastern Mediterranean. Originally from Cyprus, she is a dedicated wife and mother of three grown children.