Obama engages with global leaders in Athens for foundation program

Former US President Barack Obama is in Athens on Wednesday where he will meet 105 members of the Barack Obama Foundation Leaders program. 

The meeting will take place without the presence of the public and marks the completion of the six-month journey of the participants for 2023.

Obama will talk with them about their actions toward the development and acceleration of positive and lasting change in their communities.

Among the 105 people selected from 75 countries is a Greek national, Elpida Kokkota, founder and CEO of the non-profit organization Mexoxo, which aims to strengthen female entrepreneurship.

The six-month Barak Obama Foundation Leaders program recognizes individuals working in the public and private sectors and in civil society who have demonstrated work in advancing the common good by emphasizing the shared values and ethical leadership that formed Barack and Michelle Obama’s vision.

Michelle and I started the @ObamaFoundation to support the next generation of leaders creating sustainable change in their communities.

This week, I'll be joining our Obama Leaders in Greece where we’ll share ideas and dive deeper into the work they’re doing. pic.twitter.com/RYhmkUO2QR

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 20, 2023

By empowering them and developing leadership skills, the Foundation seeks to form a new generation of engaged citizens who will act as positive role models and create tangible solutions to the challenges facing their communities, their countries, and the world at large. Participants are an international network of Obama Foundation leaders, numbering more than 800 alumni.

SNF Nostos Conference from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) where he will join SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos for a one-on-one keynote conversation focused on how to strengthen our democratic culture and the importance of investing in the next generation of leaders.

On Thursday, the former US President will participate in the SNF Nostos Conference on Mental Health at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. There, he will talk on stage with SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos for a one-on-one keynote conversation focused on how to strengthen democratic culture and the importance of investing in the next generation of leaders.

It is the second time that Barack Obama is visiting the Culture Center, after his last international visit in 2016 during his administration, when he delivered a landmark speech from the stage of the National Opera on the ideal of Democracy.

The Niarchos Foundation has supported both the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and the implementation of the Obama Foundation Leaders program.