The winners of the 2016 HACCI Excellence Awards were announced at the HACCI Excellence Awards Gala Ball at the Grand Hyatt Savoy Ballroom on November 18.
For the past 40 years, HACCI has focused on giving recognition to individuals who have demonstrated success in their own pursuits as well as acting as community leaders.
HACCI Chair Georgina Poulos told neoskosmos.com during the nomination process the she feels “The contribution of the Hellenic Australian community has had a tremendous impact in shaping the fabric of the Australia we live in today.”
The awards were handed out as follows:
- Gregory Gavrilides, Australia’s Greek community and one of the country’s most successful property developers won the Spiros Stamoulis Lifetime Achievement Award
- Kathy Staples, former investment banker, cancer survivor, cookbook author and owner of the Sweet Greek won the Delphi Bank Business Excellence Award
- Con Mylonas, a former neurosurgeon, and current barrister and chairman of the Spinal Research Institute shared the Professional Excellence Award with Professor Dennis Velakoulis, Head of Neuropsychiatry at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne
- Fotini Karakitsos, a geologist, microbiologist, and researcher won the Chris Saristavros Young Achievers Award
- Helen Zahos, a community nurse who traveled to the Aegean island of Lesvos to help at the migrant hotspot won the Community Service Award
- Ange Postecoglou, Australia’s national football/soccer head coach won the Sporting Excellence Award, awarded by the South Melbourne Football Club
