Eleni tsakopoulos-kounalakis theatre of the absurd
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So I’ll be keeping busy with that, and in understanding the trade deals that are being negotiated right now. Her leadership has focused on responsible investment in education, climate resilience, and infrastructure.
Before entering public service, Kounalakis spent nearly two decades helping grow her family’s real estate development firm into one of California’s most respected companies.
I respond that when the name card on the table in front of you says “United States of America,” it doesn’t really matter what your personal profile is.
Congresswoman Dina Titus and Congressman John Sarbanes getting their copies signed, at the AHEPA Congressional Banquet in Washington
What did you bring to the job?
18 years of experience in the private sector, determination to do the job at least as well as a career foreign service officer, and a lot of faith and understanding of the power of democracy.
What did you take away from it?
I’ve always been a patriot – my father raised a glass almost every night at dinner and said “God Bless America!” But I came away from my service with a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the greatness of our country.
Would you do it again?
These are not easy jobs to come by.
For three years while she was Secretary of State, I read her daily schedule each morning. Likewise, some of the most devastating events – the Hungarian holocaust in particular – came when that tolerance collapsed.
(Prime Minister Viktor) Orban is getting cozy with Putin. Ambassador Kounalakis earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
But I do believe that gender diversity in the workplace creates a more effective and productive environment. Her deep understanding of how the economy works—both at the community and global levels—was further shaped by her service as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary under President Barack Obama. In that role, she worked to strengthen international economic partnerships and navigate complex financial diplomacy, giving her a broad and strategic perspective on global markets and fiscal policy.
Kounalakis has consistently delivered results, from advancing clean energy jobs to approving the construction of over 60,000 beds on college campuses.
A proud native Californian and mother of two, she is a bold, solutions-driven leader unafraid to take on the state’s toughest challenges.
Eleni’s California story began with her father, who immigrated to the United States as a refugee from Greece. At just 15, he worked in the fields and paid his way through college by waiting tables—ironically, at California’s Governor’s Mansion.
As president, she led the company through its largest period of growth, spearheading the development of affordable, middle-class communities that now house over 200,000 families in the Sacramento region.
After nearly two decades in business, Eleni turned her focus to public service—driven by a deep belief that every Californian deserves the same opportunities that helped her own family succeed.
Her blend of private sector experience, diplomatic skill, and executive leadership makes her uniquely qualified to manage the state’s finances and ensure a strong, inclusive economic future.
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis (born 1966) is the former United States Ambassador to Hungary until July 2013.
But also, as I write in my book, it wasn’t easy at first. Areas of remodel included the theater, stage, lobby, box office, concessions, studios, green room, costume shop, control room, chorus rooms, offices, loading dock, staging area and equipment rooms.
Madam Ambassador: Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis recounts her groundbreaking role as the first Greek American woman to serve as U.S.
Ambassador
Madam Ambassador: Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties, and Democracy in Budapest (The New Press)
At age 43, Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis became not only one of the youngest women ever to serve as a U.S. ambassador, but also the very first Greek American woman.
I don’t know… but I enjoyed writing this one a lot, so maybe there will be another in the future.
What is the next challenge?
I am the chair of the California Advisory Council for International Trade and Investment.
One generation later, Eleni made history as the first woman elected Lieutenant Governor of California.
After earning her MBA from UC Berkeley, Eleni joined her father in building one of California’s most respected housing development firms, AKT Development. I have seen Hillary Clinton at work. 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.