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Kounalakis was a Virtual Fellow at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) between 2014 and 2017, specializing in international trade and immigration. They also established the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis lecture series at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to focus on democracy and international relations.
Ambassador Kounalakis served for nearly ten years as a Trustee of the World Council of Religions for Peace.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her to serve as a Trustee of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.
Ambassador Kounalakis served four times as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and as an at-large member of the California State Central Committee. “We aim to foster relationships between transgender community members and allies to co-create a California where transgender people have equal access to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“While California is often thought of as a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community, we know that we still don’t have full protections in our state.
In 2011, she received an Honorary Doctor of Law from the American College of Greece.
Ambassador Kounalakis and her husband, veteran print and broadcast journalist Markos Kounalakis, founded two university chairs in Hellenic studies, the Markos and Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair at Georgetown University,, held by the scholar of late Classical and early Hellenistic Greek literature, Dr.
Alexander Sens, and the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis chair in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis at Stanford University, held by Josiah Ober. Both chairs focus on the understanding of the origins of Athenian democracy.
The Advisory Council meets regularly and is comprised of leaders from across the state, including the following people:
- Ian Anderson, Legal Services Project Manager, Transgender Law Center
- Zizi Bandera, Program Manager, Equality California
- Blossom Brown, Activist
- Co-chair Ebony Harper, Executive Director, California TRANScends
- Drian Juarez, Vice President of Training and Culture, Folx Health
- Lisa Middleton, Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem and City Councilmember
- Co-chair Evan Minton, Activist
- Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO, TransLatin@ Coalition and California 100 advisor
- Rosio Leon Velasco-Stoll, Fresno Spectrum Center
Picture credit: California Governor’s Office
About Eleni Kounalakis
Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis was sworn in as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 7th, 2019.
In September of 2021, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis established California’s first statewide Transgender Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council’s goal is to bring attention to the issues facing the transgender community in California by empowering those affected directly to advocate and find policy avenues for solutions, particularly among decision makers and key stakeholders.
In addition to her duties as Lt. Governor, Kounalakis is California’s Representative for International Affairs and Trade, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom by executive order.
From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as President Obama’s Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. “This sort of table should be duplicated everywhere”. Ambassador Kounalakis earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Her highly acclaimed memoir, “Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest” (The New Press, 2015), chronicles the onset of Hungary’s democratic backsliding.
Governor Jerry Brown appointed Kounalakis to chair the California Advisory Council for International Trade and Investment in 2014. She served as a Trustee of Robert Redford’s Sundance Preserve and on the Conservation Fund’s National Forum on Children and Nature.
Ambassador Kounalakis and her husband have two children.
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis is the daughter of Angelo Tsakopoulos, a Sacramento developer and key fundraiser for Team Hillary during Hillary Clinton's first presidential bid in 2008.
Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, was appointed Ambassador to Hungary in 2010, and sworn in by Clinton, who was Secretary of State of the United States at that time.
“We live under a constant threat of violence and having our rights stripped away; That’s our reality. She also served as a member of the First 5 California Commission, and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism. She was sworn into office by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on January 7, 2010. A native Californian, she visited each of the state’s 58 counties during her historic campaign.
The Advisory Council convenes Transgender activists and community leaders from across California to create an open space for dialogue and policy ideation with legislative and state leaders. The California Transgender Advisory Council establishes that California (as a state) cares about the well-being of its transgender residents and sees us as an underserved population” says Ebony Harper, Co-Chair of the Advisory Council and Executive Director of California TRANScends.
says Evan Minton, Co-Chair of the Advisory Council.
Although California has historically been at the forefront of advancing rights for the LGBTQ+ community, it remains critical that leaders continue to seek perspectives and center the voices and experiences of the transgender community at all levels, including issues around poverty, housing insecurity, lack of affordable, and accessible health care services.
She is currently a director of the Association of American Ambassadors and a National Democratic Institute (NDI) “Ambassadors Circle” advisor.
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis (born 1966) is the former United States Ambassador to Hungary until July 2013.
She is the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California.