Our Team

Leonardo Valettas

Founder, initiator, communicator, and connector. Leonardo brings his strategic positioning and business development knowledge to support the creation of the ecosystem and will lead the entire project and team.

Advisory Team

Adrian Hensen

Adrian studied business and psychology and is co-founder of Purpose Stiftung (Purpose Foundation) and Purpose Ventures.

He previously worked in a strategy and brand consultancy for national and international companies. As part of the management team of a successful start-up, he was responsible for a sales team with up to 40 employees and experienced what selling a company means.

Today, Adrian works with PURPOSE to promote an alternative understanding of business ownership: steward-ownership. This form of ownership enables companies to anchor their independence and value orientation in their DNA – ownership – in a legally binding way. The goal is to help shape companies and an economy that puts purpose-orientation before shareholder value maximization and serves people, the environment and society.

Lara Stein

Lara Stein is a proven leader who has created, built, and scaled global for-profit and non-profits organizations at the intersection of technology, education, innovation, and sustainability.

Most recently Stein founded, and was the CEO of Boma Global, a global network of local partners, offering transformational learning experience for a smart, ethical, and sustainable future. Stein sold Boma and remains an advisor and Board member.

Stein was the Founder and Director of TEDx. In 2007, she led the effort to bring TED to the world by developing a program that granted free licenses to third parties to organize independent TED-like events. In the first five years of TEDx, she grew the program into a global phenomenon with over 50,000 talks given at more than 8,000 TEDx events in 1,200 cities in 133 countries and over one billion views on YouTube. By Dec. 2013, eight TEDx events, on average, were being organized every day in one of 133 countries.

Under Stein’s leadership, TED expanded to include TEDxWomen, TED events dedicated to women empowerment, and the inclusion of youth audiences with the creation of the TEDYouth and TEDxYouth. Stein also created the TEDx corporate event platform, TEDx in a Box. While leading TEDx Ms. Stein simultaneously held the position of Director of the TED Prize, taking it from a $100,000 to a $1,000,000 Award and designed the team and operational infrastructure.

Stein was the architect and founding community member of ReGenDAO. ReGenDAO is a fund with a soul and first-of-its-kind platform, marketplace, and global community, to radically reimagine, reconceive and restructure how we fund future regenerative projects and systems by leveraging bankers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and futurists. Stein also held the position of Managing Director at Singularity University where she was responsible for Singularity University’s global expansion, as well as the Executive Director of Women’s March Global, the global sister organization of Women’s March, Inc. in the US. Stein previously acted as the Executive Director of MIT ReACT, an institute-wide organization at MIT dedicated to developing a global educational platform for displaced populations and refugees.

Stein has also held leadership roles at Microsoft, Marvel, iXL, and WGBH.
Boards: Lung Cancer Research Foundation, Equality Now, Lalela, and We Are Family
Foundation, Boma Global

Angeliki Kosmopoulou

Dr Angeliki Kosmopoulou is a senior executive in philanthropy and a dedicated storyteller and storytelling coach. Since 2016 she serves as Executive Director of the Athanassios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, a leading family foundation in Greece focusing on marine protection, the reversal of unemployment through microfinancing, heritage, as well as transparency.

She is also board member of The People’s Trust, Vice President of the Greek National Tourism Organization and member of the Advisory Board of the think-tank Dianeosis. An ardent believer in the power of stories to connect, she founded Storymentor, a non-profit organization that helps organizations, businesses and professionals to create and share their stories. She is a mentor for women in public life and for new entrepreneurs.

A regular contributor to Greek Media, she is also known for her “green” podcast (Mideniko Apotypoma @Athens Voice Podcasts), which addresses key environmental issues.

Betty Tsakarestou

Betty is an Associate Professor in Advertising and PR and Director of ADandPRLAB at the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Branding Chair and Research Liaison at International Communication Division of AEJMC, V-P, Global Media Education Council. BoD Member of the Institute of Communication in Greece.

International Exchange Alumna of the Study of U.S. Institutes on Journalism and Media with the support of U.S. Department of State Embassy in Athens, Alumni TIES grantee for the “The Room Where it Happens” Project”, addressing misinformation and disinformation in closed encrypted apps.

Co-initiator of the MA in Digital Transformation: e-Diplomacy, e-Campaigning, and Digital Law (#Digi_DCL) at Panteion University. Scientific Coordinator of CREATIVE+, the Research-powered Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Center of Panteion University.

Melina Taprantzi

Melina is a multi-awarded social entrepreneur, holder of the prestigious “SDGs and Her” award from the UN and the World Bank. She has been leading SDGs and ESG projects, supporting Fortune 1000.

TEDx Speaker, a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader, an IVLP Alumna in the program of SRI, a co-builder of the international World Human Forum, a Young Emerging Leader 2018, and a Young Innovative Leader 2019 (YTILI Fellow).

Melina co-founded a successful Marketing Agency in 2007 before establishing the multiple awarded social enterprise “Wise Greece” in 2013 which has received, among many others, the “Models of Excellence” award from the President of the Greek Republic.

Wise Greece’s mission is to promote top quality Greek products while contributing all profits from their sales to purchase food supplies and donate them to people living under the poverty line.

Sotiris Petropoulos

Sotiris Petropoulos is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of Peloponnese and co-founder of HIGGS, an organization that supports the positive social impact initiatives ecosystem in Greece.

He has worked in the past at the consulting firm Ernst & Young as head of development programmes for international donors, while his articles have been published in numerous international academic journals and edited volumes. He has 10 years of experience in capacity building and broader support to NGOs and social enterprises, having trained and consulted more than 300 organisations across Greece and the Balkans.

Sotiris believes that the future of business must have a social focus for a more sustainable economy and society.

In Partnership

Purpose Foundation

Purpose foundation is a group of nonprofit and for-purpose organizations developing the ecosystem of knowledge, resources, support, and capital necessary to make transitioning to responsible (steward)-ownership and raising capital on aligned terms easier for businesses.

Purpose Foundation researches and promotes steward-ownership and alternative financing to help shift economic paradigm away from profit- and shareholder-value maximization towards stewardship and purpose. Its actionable solutions ensure that companies stay mission-driven and independent.

They also provide hands-on support to develop legal financing and governance solutions that reflect companies’ history, industry and future.

Purpose Foundation offers Stewards its valuable support in promoting Steward Ownership through various ways: 

  • Networking: connects Stewards with like-minded organizations, individuals, and industry stakeholders, on an international level assisting our reach, influence, and impact.
  • Technical: provides technical assistance to Stewards, such as helping us develop business plans, providing training and mentorship, and helping us access resources and tools to support our work.
  • Advocacy: advocates for the adoption of steward ownership and raises awareness about the benefits and importance of the stewardship model to businesses and the economy. Hopefully, this will help build a broader movement around Steward Ownership and encourage more organizations to adopt the model and transition to steward-led structures.
  • Research and Development: supports research and development activities related to Steward Ownership, such as studying the impact and effectiveness of different models and approaches, identifying best practices, and developing new tools and resources to support organizations in adopting the model. 

Overall, Purpose Foundation is an important stakeholder for Stewards in promoting Steward Ownership in Greece, and by working together we are helping create a more equitable and sustainable economy that serves first and foremost people and the society while protecting and preserving the planet.

Supporting Foundations

Helidoni Foundation

Founded by Dimitris and Sarah Georgakopoulos in 2019,  the Helidoni Foundation makes grants to and program-related investments in charitable, educational, and scientific enterprises in Greece. 

Bearing the Greek name for the swallow, a bird that has symbolized rebirth, hope, and good fortune since ancient times, The Helidoni Foundation aims to promote renewal and progress by nurturing philanthropic and social impact ventures from ideation to viability. 
By providing funding and incubation opportunities, Helidoni seeks to catalyze the development and sustainable growth of a new generation of social enterprises. 

The Helidoni Foundation supports a growing list of mission-first entities finding solutions that have tangible social benefits and improving the community in meaningful ways. 

The Hellenic Initiative

The Hellenic Initiative is a global nonprofit organization that brings together Diaspora Greeks and Philhellenes to invest in the future of Greece through programs focused on crisis relief, entrepreneurship, and economic development.

The Hellenic Initiative was founded in 2012 by members of the global Greek and philhellene communities who were compelled to respond to the worsening economic crisis and inspired to help shape Greece’s long-term recovery. Its Board is united around three core beliefs:

First, it is  committed to Greece, faults and all. And its members are dedicating their time, resources and networks to secure a different future.

Second, this is about investment, not handouts. It is focused on impact and outcomes, whether it’s a grant to a nonprofit organization, mentorship for an emerging entrepreneur, or investment in a small business. What matters is impact, not effort.

Third, they believe that they do not have all the answers. But they know that across our global community we have what it takes to create a 21st century powerhouse, both within Greece and across the diaspora. And we will build it together.