2nd GIWA Categories & Judges

Litsa Panayotopoulos is co-founder and President of EVIA Intelligent Performance Ltd, A committed advocate of innovation, she creates opportunities for entrepreneurship in various roles:
Vice-President of Intale A.E. Retail Solutions and Papapostolou S.A. Medical Technologies Treasurer of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce
President of its Innovation, Education and Entrepreneurship Committee.
Secretary General of the Non Executive Directors’ Club.
She regularly participates in international events as a judge, moderator and key-note speaker. She is active in the organizational development of innovative companies alongside CEOs and boards of directors in order to turn their business endeavors into strategic action and profit.
In addition to her business activities, she is on the Business Advisory Council of the Athens University International MBA, a Board Member of the Greek-Serbian Business Council and Citizens Movement (Kinisi Politon).
Her extensive career has been built in major international systems and projects in the USA, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa in large multinational companies, Control Data et.al. She developed and managed: Geranos SA (a subsidiary of Commercial Bank of Greece being responsible for the 20 affiliates of the bank); Oracle S.E. Europe, Greece and Cyprus (establishing and managing subsidiaries of Oracle corporation in the region), and OTE Academy, the largest professional training organization in Greece, amongst others.
Litsa is a Founding Member and Honorary President of SEN/Junior Achievement Greece, presiding over its leadership in various capacities for 15 years. She has served on boards of major professional associations such as the Hellenic Management Association (EEDE) where she is an Honorary President and founder of its Hellenic Institute of Information (EIP). Former BoD member of IOBE (Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research), f. President and Board Member of ALBA Business University. Honorary Member of CEO Clubs Greece.
She holds a BSc and MSc in Computer Science and Management from London University.

As Greece Representative of Libra Group’s Social Responsibility, Jimmy Athanasopoulos is responsible for the Libra Social programs in Greece.
Jimmy is also responsible for the public relations and liaison with partners, trustees and beneficiaries of Libra’s social responsibility activities.
Following an MBA from Northeastern Illinois University, Jimmy began his career in Chicago as a provider of financial and investment services across various asset classes. He later undertook a variety of management roles at multinational corporations including DNV, Tyco Healthcare, and TetraPak before entering ship management as Chief Financial Controller with FreeSeas Inc. preparing statutory reports towards the SEC. He later joined G. Bros Maritime S.A. where he was responsible for financial reporting to the Board of Directors.
Jimmy joined the Libra Group, in 2012, as Director of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award (now Envolve Entrepreneurship), an award program for Greek start-up businesses funded and operated by the Libra Group. In 2015, he joined Libra’s Executive Team as Head of Social Responsibility, providing strategic oversight of the group’s global responsibility and education programs.
In 2016, Jimmy completed the Executive Education Program for Corporate Social Responsibility at Harvard Business School.
In 2019, he served as Interim Chief Financial Officer of EuroEnergy, Libra Group’s energy company in Europe. At EuroEnergy, Jimmy managed the company’s economic strategy and was responsible for financial reporting to partners.
Additionally, he is Chairman of Envolve Entrepreneurship and sits on the Advisory Council of The American Community School in Athens.
He remains a member of the legal Board of Directors of the HOME Project since its inception. HP is an initiative founded in Greece by the Libra Group to provide a safe haven for refugees, with a special focus on unaccompanied children.

Lena Triantogiannis, advises boards and CEOs on senior-level appointments (CEO and C-suite), succession planning and leadership development across sectors. She serves listed as well as private companies, including private equity-backed or family-owned businesses. Lena has appraised over 1,000 senior executives across a number of industry sectors including consumer, telecom, health, and financial services.
Combining business experience, talent-advisory expertise and coaching skills, she is passionate about helping executives unleash their potential for greater leadership. Lena has played a leading role in developing the firm’s proprietary approach to Accelerated Integration and Leadership Development and previously co-led the firm’s Global Innovation. Currently, she is the Practice Group Leader of Egon Zehnder’s Accelerated Integration Practice and has personally coached over 100 newly appointed senior leaders at the CEO, n-1 and n-2 levels operating in different sectors across more than 15 countries.

Andreas Tsavliris was educated at Athens College (Alumni 1970). In his career he has been engaged in all sectors of the shipping industry obtaining extensive experience.
He held the prestigious position of President of the International Salvage Union from 2011 to 2013. He has been a member of the ISU Executive Committee since 2006. He is also member of the executive board of the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee in London (GSCC) for over 30 years, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (F.I.C.S.), a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), an associate member of the Institute of Arbitrators (AIArb), a member of the Hellenic Centre in London, a member of the Propeller Club of London and the International Red Cross. Andreas is also a member of the World Presidents Organisation. He was an underwriting member of Lloyds for over 30 years. He is a frequent keynote speaker at international maritime conferences and seminars. In addition, Andreas established the shipping company “Almana Transport Ltd” which managed and operated a fleet of dry cargo vessels. He also founded the financial investment company “Marinvest” in Greece. Since a very young age Mr Tsavliris has taken a great interest in a large variety of sports activities including Football, Tennis, Formula Racing, Skiing, Go-Karting, Paragliding, Rafting, Ice Skating, Horse riding, Deep Sea Diving (Dived down 120 meters to explore the 90 year old Britannic Ship laying in Greek waters). He also enjoys music and follows art.

Ms. Plentz is the UN correspondent for The Shift, in Geneva. In 2016 Ms. Plentz Fagundes was appointed by the European Commission to the High Level Group of Experts to review the impact of Horizon 2020, the £80B Framework Programme to fund Research and Innovation in the EU.
As a reporter and international affairs news producer for Bloomberg TV, UN Radio, Radio France International and BBC World News, Ms. Plentz produced stories on technology and public policy.
She led strategic communications in Latin America for the first e-Government tech company that raised $60M in the US, from VC and PE firms KKR and other Silicon Valley investors. She continues to advise tech startups and is a mentor and member of the selection committee at the tech accelerator and investment fund MassChallenge, for their programs in the US, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and Mexico.

Ioannis Drymonakos is a Champion – Olympian Greek swimmer from Athens. He has competed three times in the Olympic Games, of Sidney (2000), Athens (2004) and London (2012). In the beginning of his career, he became the first ever Greek swimmer to hold a European swimming record in 200 m butterfly event of the 2008 European Aquatics Championships final.
Following a great swimming career he continues to swim at a Masters Level, winning this year two gold medals, one silver and one world record at the Master World Championship in South Korea. At the same time he coaches young competive swimmers and has hosted for two years in a row the popular athletic/travel show “Oi Thalassolykoi” on Skai Tv.