Our People
Executive Team
Georgios Laskaris
President
George is the President of Deon and the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
George started his career as a physicist graduating with a BSc. from the National Technical University of Athens. He pursued his PhD in low energy nuclear physics from Duke University. He then joined the neutrino laboratory of Stanford University as a postdoc and moved on to the Laboratory of Nuclear Science of MIT.
George pivoted into industry, joining Ab Initio Software where he is helping customers to produce software for managing and processing enterprise-scale data.
He always believed that a united Greek diaspora could become the catalyst for positive change in Greece. He co-founded the National Hellenic Student Association, representing more than 70 universities in the USA and Canada.
He is married and has one daughter.
Afroditi Xydi
Executive Director
Afroditi manages the day to day operations of Deon. She has always been interested in policy making for Greece and has now found a way to create meaningful change.
Afroditi started her career as a management consultant with Strategy& in the Middle East. There she helped governments design and implement policies, identify opportunities for investments and improve government efficiency. She also has experience with investing, both in early stage and late stage companies. Afroditi has a passion for climate, having worked for both deep-tech and software decarbonization startups.
She holds a BSc. from Johns Hopkins University and an M Eng. from MIT - both in Environmental Engineering, as well an MBA from Harvard Business School. She also served as Vice President of the Hellenic Student Association at MIT.
Dimitrios Pilitsis
Secretary
Dimitri manages Deon’ strategy pertaining to state and federal compliance, while expanding Deon’ reach throughout the US. He is the liaison between the board of directors, board of advisors and the other officers. He incorporated Deon and is responsible for obtaining non-profit and charitable status across the United States.
Dimitri is currently a Data Scientist at Aidentified, a Boston based data startup. He is particularly interested in technology and entrepreneurship.
Dimitri holds a MEng in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Bristol. He is Greek-Italian and was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts and has lived in London, UK and Athens, Greece.
Petros Perselis
Treasurer
Petros is the Treasurer of Deon. He's passionate about the mission of the organization and believes that healthy finances and fundraising will enable this mission.
Petros is currently the VP of Global Customer Success at Hack The Box, an enterprise software scale-up founded in Greece. In the past, he held leadership positions at Cutover, Qualtrics and Medallia where he experienced strong growth, 2 IPOs and subsequent acquisitions. He's an expert in Go-To-Market strategy and serves as a mentor at Endeavor, frequently advising startups.
Petros is no stranger to the non-profit world. He serves in the New Leaders Committee of The Hellenic Initiative (THI) and was a co-founder of the National Hellenic Student Association of America (NHSA). Due to his philanthropic and leadership efforts, he was awarded Greek America's 40 Under 40 in 2022.
Petros holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University and Stanford University respectively.
Antonios Backos
Legal Counsel
Antonios (Tony) serves as the external legal counsel for Deon. Tony spent the majority of his career at international law firms advising on capital markets, M&A and PE/VC matters across multiple jurisdictions. Most recently, he serves as a mentor to startups and provides legal and business advice to public and private companies, their founders and other affiliates in connection with both their day-to-day and most transformative transactions.
Tony also has past think tank and public service experience having served as a specialist at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a director of several boards including the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce and the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, as well as legal adviser to non-profits and foundations with respect to their formations, ongoing matters and restructurings.
He holds a B.S. (Wharton) and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics (M.Sc.) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.).
Konstantinos Maliaris
Team Volunteer
Konstantinos manages Deon’s community engagement activities and event organization.
He is an undergraduate student at Harvard University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. At Harvard, he serves as the President of the Hellenic Society, the association for students of Hellenic descent.
In 2022, he founded NextGenMinds, a nonprofit organization that promotes STEM education in rural Greece. This initiative, established with the support of the "Greece 2021" Committee, enhances access to modern technologies and innovation for K-12 students.
As a former member of the Greek national robotics and astrophysics teams, Konstantinos has represented Greece in various international olympiads and earned several awards. He has previously interned at CERN and is currently involved in research at Harvard.
Alexandra Angelos
Team Volunteer
Alexandra is an undergraduate double majoring in International Relations and Psychology at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. At BU, she is a writer and associate editor within the Europe section of BU’s preeminent global affairs journal, The International Relations Review. She produces original research and opinion pieces highlighting underrepresented stories in the international community. Alexandra is additionally involved in BU’s International Affairs Association (BUIAA), the second-largest student organization on campus, and BU’s Hellenic Culture Club (BUHA).
Alexandra interned at the American Hellenic Institute in Washington, D.C., where she gained experience in foreign policy issues affecting Greece, Cyprus and the Greek Diaspora. She had the opportunity to meet with officials from various ministries, religious leaders, members of academia, and the private sector while visiting sites such as the NSA base at Souda Bay. Alexandra is interested in Greek affairs and the future and aspires to attend law school.
Hara Moraitaki
Team Volunteer
Hara is a member of the Executive Team and helps manage Deon’s online presence.
She is an undergraduate studying Computer Science and Engineering at MIT with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. At MIT, she serves as the Marketing Director of the Energy and Climate Club (MITEC), which is the club with the largest reach on campus. She also represents her class in the International Student Association and has taught classes in charter schools in the Cambridge Area.
Hara has worked as a machine learning researcher at the Hellenic National Center of Scientific Research “Demokritos” in the Autonomous Science Lab and is currently involved in multiple projects at MIT regarding the applications of AI in society. In the past, she has participated in multiple International Competitions as part of the National computer science and debate teams.
George Alevras
Team Volunteer
George serves as the European Development Officer, expanding Deon’s reach across Europe and fostering its strong connection with Greece.
George studied Physics at Imperial College London, where he obtained an integrated master’s degree. He conducted research on epidemiological modeling for the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies to help devise mitigation policy for COVID-19. He previously worked at Bank of America in London and is now a consultant at Evolution Ltd, where he also coordinates project management. His advisory work focuses on business strategy and innovation, specifically related to Artificial Intelligence and digital ecosystems.
George has volunteered multiple times for the local community as a firefighter assistant and through the Scouts of Greece. He is now looking to step up his efforts regarding the progress and prosperity of Greece.
Theodora Kachrimanidi
Team Volunteer
Theodora is a recent Boston University graduate with honors in Psychology. At university, she served as the BU Hellenic Association Vice President and the Marketing Manager for the European Club. In addition, she was the Assistant Business Director for the International Relations Review (IRR) Journal, which focused on publishing policy recommendations, research, book reviews, and opinion pieces on topics underrepresented in global society.
Being interested in research, Theodora has undertaken multiple independent projects, including one related to talent acquisition and retention Strategies, as possible solutions to Brain Drain in Greece. She has also volunteered as an assistant in research labs, which provided key insights into human behavior. In the future, she aspires to utilize acquired knowledge to pursue an MBA and push for meaningful change.
Karolina Rokka
Team Volunteer
Karolina is a sophomore at Princeton University majoring in economics and applied public policy with minors in finance and history. She is originally from Athens, Greece, and thus, very interested in Greek policy. Being greatly interested in the public policy sector, Karolina has pursued internships and extracurricular activities in the field above. At Princeton, she serves as a board member of the Princeton Model Congress (PMC) and the Princeton Debate Panel (PDP). Additionally, she is a member of one of the oldest political societies in the United States called Whig-Clio and of other politically oriented clubs like Princeton’s pre-law societies and legal journals.
During the past summer, Karolina interned for John Sarbanes in the U.S. Congress, gaining hands-on experience in the work the Hellenic Caucus conducts in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Join our Executive Team
As Deon Policy Institute expands, we are looking for more people to join our team and help scale our impact on Greece.
Reach out if you are interested and we will get in touch.