Trust and Leadership: Lessons of Service

The ACG Office of Public Affairs, in collaboration with the ACG Office of Advancement - Alumni and the ACG Greek Alumni Chapter, invite you to the 2nd ACG Distinguished Speakers Series 2025 featuring General Andrew Poppas, Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command.

Join us for an inspiring conversation on leadership, integrity, and the role of values in shaping successful individuals and organizations:

"Trust and Leadership: Lessons of Service”

The event is open to the public. Parking upon availability.

Launched in January 2024, the ACG Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS) features top policy makers, academics, field experts, diplomats, business executives and community leaders coming from the US. Speakers present and discuss topical issues of their choice and engage in an interactive discussion on areas of their expertise, while sharing points & tips from their personal professional trajectory.

For more information, please click here or contact publicaffairs@acg.edu or alumni@acg.edu

Event Schedule

18:30 - 19:45 | Panel Discussion

19:45 - 21:00 | Reception

General Andrew Poppas

General Andrew Poppas became the 24th commander of United States Army Forces Command, Fort Liberty, N.C., on July 8, 2022. As commander of the U.S. Army's largest organization, he commands 212,000 active-component soldiers and 174,000 members of the U.S. Army Reserve, while also providing training and readiness oversight to the Army National Guard. In total, the Forces Command team includes more than 710,000 soldiers and 13,000 civilians. A native of Wisconsin, General Poppas graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in 1988. He spent his early years serving within the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer, Va.; the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.; as a foreign area officer in Thessaloniki, Greece; and on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C.

In 2005, he returned to the 82nd Airborne Division, where he commanded 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and later 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, which he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He then served in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky., as its 1st Brigade Combat Team Commander and later as the division's Deputy Commanding General (Operations). In both these roles, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

General Poppas then returned to Washington, D.C. where he served as Deputy Director for Regional Operations and Force Management on the Joint Staff, and Director of Force Management in the Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5/7. In 2017, he assumed command of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and again deployed with the division to Afghanistan.

Prior to assuming command of Forces Command, General Poppas served more than three years as a senior leader on the Joint Staff, first as Director for Operations, and later as Director of the Joint Staff.In this role, he assisted the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as advisor to the President and Secretary of Defense, coordinated and directed Joint Staff activities in support of the Chairman, and served as the Staff Inspector General.

In addition to his Bachelor of Science degree in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Military Academy, General Poppas holds a Master of Science degree in Occupational Education from Kansas State University. He is also a graduate of the Defense Language Institute, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and a fellowship at Harvard University. He and his wife of 24 years, Beth, have three teenage and young adult children

In discussion with:

Alexandros Costopoulos

CEO, Foresight Strategy & Communications and Secretary General of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

With over 25 years of experience in U.S.- Greece relations and global affairs, Alexandros Costopoulos is a strategic communications architect and thought leader in international economic, business, and institutional engagement.

Alexandros is the Secretary General of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, having served for 15 consecutive years as an elected member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, playing a key role in advancing the Chamber’s mission.

He is the Founder and CEO of FORESIGHT, a premier strategic advisory and communications firm at the forefront of shaping high-impact strategies that strengthen economic, business, and institutional ties between companies, organizations, and governmental entities and the U.S. ecosystem at the highest level.

FORESIGHT designs and implements bespoke, results-driven tactics that strengthen economic diplomacy, strategic communications, public affairs, and investment promotion, enabling organizations to navigate complex global dynamics effectively. With a strong focus on the transatlantic landscape, FORESIGHT leverages its expertise in American affairs, reputation management, and civic society engagement to elevate the influence and positioning of major corporations and institutions on the international stage.

Over the years, Alexandros has built collaborations with top U.S. corporations, universities, think tanks, and government institutions, including – inter alia – Harvard University, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the U.S. State Department, and the Department of Commerce. His expertise has been instrumental in shaping intergovernmental engagement strategies between the United States and countries such as Ukraine, Serbia, Cyprus, and Greece. Additionally, he has worked extensively with Greek-American organizations and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

In 2011, he founded Repo(we)r Greece, an international public diplomacy alliance dedicated to reshaping Greece’s global perception in the global economic and investment circles. He is the Director for Greece of American Citizens Abroad and Co-Founder of the Institute for Regional Dialogue and Strategy.

He is the author of two books, “Bridges of Cooperation – The Marshall Plan and Greece” and “Bridges of Liberty – American Philhellenism in the 18th and 19th Centuries”. He has been repeatedly invited to participate as mentor our judge in leading entrepreneurship empowerment programs and as a speaker in esteemed academic institutions including Harvard, NYU, Georgetown, the Athens Economic University, the Metsoveio National Technical University of Athens and the American College of Greece.

Dr. Constantinos Filis

Dr. Filis is President of the Foundation of Thracian Art and Tradition, Director of the Institute of International Affairs, Associate Professor at The American College of Greece, Director of the International Olympic Truce Centre and research fellow at the Foreign Policy Planning Centre of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute of International Relations, Panteion University; the board of directors of the International Olympic Academy; and the Sportsmanship, Ethics and Deontology Committee. He served as Executive Director of the Institute of International Relations, Panteion University, and as Director of Research Programmes at the same institute.

Dr. Filis was elected Senior Associate Member (SAM) at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford (2007-2009), and in tandem was a Member of the International Council of the Research Institute for European and American Studies. He was also a researcher at the Center for South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), University of Oxford (2008-2010).

He lectures at the Diplomatic Academy, the Naval Academy, the National Defence Academy and the National Security Academy. He has published extensively, including books, papers and studies. Most recently:

• “The future of history. How the war in Ukraine is changing the global landscape”
• “Assertive patriotism. Anatomy of a conversation that never took place”
• “Greece in its neighbourhood”
• “A Closer Look at Russia and its Influence in the World” &
• “Refugees, Europe, Insecurity”.

Dr. Filis is a member of the Greek-Turkish Forum and a corresponding member of the Institute of Energy for Southeast Europe (IENE). He is also an energy and geoeconomics advisor for the Hellenic Association of Entrepreneurs.