Urbana-Champaign

The Hellenic American Student Organization
The Hellenic American Student Organization is a student organization that aims to promote the Hellenic spirit, education and culture, and helps develop community links of undergraduate students of Hellenic heritage at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana-Champaign. 

Merry Ann’s Diner, Inc. Champaign
Merry Ann’s Diner, home of the World Famous Diner Stack, has been cookin’ it up since 1983! Named after Merry Ann Pomonis and family operated, it was opened by her husband in her memory after she passed from breast cancer in 1983. 

OLLI (The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Illinois)
OLLI is a member-centered community of adult learners that is supported by the Bernard Osher Foundation, the Illinois Office of the Provost, and the generous donations of OLLI members and community partners. It is part of a network of 119 OLLI programs across the United States, and there are over 130,000 members nationwide. OLLI at Illinois was launched in the fall of 2007 with 11 courses and 297 with 11 courses and 297 members. News of this exciting program dedicated to the pursuit of lifelong learning spread quickly, and it now has more than 1,200 members and offers more than 40 courses per semester. In addition to classes in the fall and spring semesters, OLLI offers a dynamic schedule of programs and activities that includes lectures, study groups, travel opportunities, and collaborations with the Illinois campus in and around Champaign-Urbana.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship
Orthodox Christian Fellowship is the official collegiate campus ministry program under the the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the America.

Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church
The Three Hierarchs parish is located in Champaign. On Tuesday evenings, +Fr. Michael meets with the students at 6:00pm at the NIKA House. Dinner is provided by the Pomonis family, the owners of Merry Ann’s Diner of Champaign. The dinner is complimentary to the students. Following dinner, a short meeting is conducted by the student officers of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), and then from 6:30pm-7:30pm, a religious/spiritual discussion is held. Guest speakers and/or visiting clergy address the students at different times with respect to the Greek Orthodox Faith and its application to the Orthodox Christian way of life.

Chicago

Hellenic Link - Midwest
The Hellenic Link-Midwest is a professional organization in Chicagoland linking Hellenes and Philhellenes through cultural, scientific, social and philanthropic activities. Since its inception in 1985, Hellenic Link-Midwest has consistently showcased activities on a variety of topics that are in the forefront of the Hellenic-American community’s interests. These activities include lectures, symposia and conferences where a variety of prominent speakers ranging from ambassadors to journalists to university professors have provided insights into recent history or have lectured on topics of current interest in politics, economics, education, the arts, and sciences. Hellenic culture has been promoted through theatrical plays by visiting theater companies, such as the Nefeli Troupe of Toronto, and through musical tributes to March 25, 1821 (Greece’s Independence Day). In addition to informing and culturally enriching, Hellenic-Link Midwest assist young Greek-Americans to achieve their career goals through its scholarships program. Each year a number of scholarships are awarded at the Annual Dinner and Dance. These scholarships are given to students of Greek descent who are enrolled in accredited United States colleges or universities. The Hellenic Link-Midwest is also supporting the community through causes such as the Hellenic Museum and the Greek-American Nursing Home. 

PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation
Dedicated to promoting education and leadership, the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that recognizes and honors exceptional undergraduate students of Hellenic descent, supporting their efforts with significant monetary awards based on academic merit and financial need. The PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation strives to promote the development of Greek American college students into becoming outstanding individuals through the support and advancement of their education. Building a better America through Education and Hellenism is at the core of the Foundation’s mission, and in that spirit. It aims to strengthen our civic fabric and deliver enlightened and engaged citizens.

National Hellenic Museum (formerly known as The Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center)
The National Hellenic Museum is America’s only national institution that interprets the American experience through the history of Greek immigrants, and the contributions of Greek Americans to the American mosaic, while celebrating their rich Greek history and culture and the profound impact of their Hellenic heritage upon the world. The National Hellenic Museum is the first and only major museum in the USA dedicated to the history of Greek migration, from ancient times to the Modern Greek American experience. Located in a new 40,000-square-foot space that is both contemporary and timeless, the Museum connects all generations—past, present and future—to the rich heritage of Greek history, culture, art and the Greek American experience. Since 1983, the National Hellenic Museum, previously known as the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center, has been striving towards this mission.

Hellenic Professional Society of Illinois
The Hellenic Professional Society of Illinois (HPSI) was founded in 1925 by a small group of professionals who shared a love of conversation, intellectual debate and a thirst for knowledge, beauty and wisdom. HPSI is one of the longest surviving organizations of the Chicago Hellenic Community. Since its inception, HPSI has served as a meeting ground for professional individuals of Hellenic descent. HPSI hosts many events throughout the year, including: lectures on cultural, historic and business topics, social events, including the annual Membership and Christmas parties, as well as philanthropic events. Over the years, HPSI has raised money to support many organizations and causes such as: Hellenic Foundation, Hellenic Museum and Hepatitis-C Research. The Mission of HPSI is to uphold the honor and dignity of the professions represented by its membership; to cultivate a spirit of good fellowship; to encourage and promote education and learning and to cooperate with other organizations of professional people in promoting the arts, letter and sciences, especially those enhancing the Hellenic spirit and culture. 

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, founded in 1922, is an independent, non-partisan organization committed to educating the public—and influencing the public discourse—on global issues of the day. The Council provides a forum in Chicago for world leaders, policymakers, and other experts to speak to its members and the public on these issues. Long known for its public opinion surveys of American views on foreign policy, The Chicago Council also brings together stakeholders to examine issues and offer policy insight into areas such as global agriculture, the global economy, global energy, global cities, global security, and global immigration. The Modern Greek Program has collaborated in the past with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in organizing events.

Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC)
HALC was founded with a commitment to promote civic leadership, by utilizing a national network of Greek American community leaders who have distinguished themselves in American civic life to encourage an active form of citizenship. This is done in multiple ways, such as through its innovative leadership training curriculum, online advocacy tools, and national network. HALC bands together American citizens that are committed to the Hellenic and American ideals of democracy, rule of law, and philanthropy. HALC is established to ensure the continuity of a distinct and distinguished Greek-American community, to promote a renewed commitment to civic involvement, human rights and democratic values in the USA and around the world, and to enhance the historic relationship between the United States and worldwide Hellenism. 

FilmHellenes of Chicago
The FilmHellenes is an non-for-profit alliance of media people, filmmakers, educators, businessmen, diplomats and others of different backgrounds dedicated to identifying, promoting and celebrating Greek filmmaking talent from wherever it comes. FilmHellenes is dedicated to bringing cinematic works to our audience - the Greek diaspora community and the wider American public - in order to foster the humanistic ideals of Hellenism and to advance the universal values of freedom of expression and thought. FilmHellenes is also committed to promoting new talent and providing opportunities for the next generation of Greek filmmaker.

Their core event is the annual Greek Film Fest Chicago, held in the fall, featuring a juried selection of the finest contemporary Greek films. We also sponsor other events throughout the year, including retrospectives, tributes and training workshops, to fulfill our mission of preserving and strengthening our Greek heritage, building bridges to other communities, and advancing Greek cinema in the modern world. 
The Modern Greek Program has collaborated with the FilmHellenes in the past.

Consulate General of Greece in Chicago
The Consulate General of Greece in Chicago is the official diplomatic representation of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) in the US Midwest. In addition to Greece’s Consulate General in Chicago, Greece has eight other representations in the USA. These representations include an Embassy in Washington D.C, consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tampa. Besides strictly consulate affairs, such as dealing with passports, visas etc., the Consulate General of Chicago is being actively engaged in the educational affairs in US Midwest and in this context has worked closely with the Program in Modern Greek Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Consul General of Greece has often visited our campus and participated in events such as the European Union Day organized every year by the European Union Center in our campus (http://www.euc.illinois.edu/ ) to celebrate transatlantic relations and to promote a better understanding between the peoples of the USA and the EU.

Hellenic Studies Support Network (HSSN)
The Hellenic Studies Support Network is a Chicago-based organization whose aim is to support programs of Greek language and Hellenic studies at every educational level. 

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago
The Metropolis of Chicago traces its explicit roots to 1923, when Rt. Rev. Philaretos Johannides became the city’s first Greek Orthodox bishop. Nearly twenty years later, Chicago became the ‘2nd Diocesan District’ of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North & South America. That ‘district’ would continue to coordinate the ecclesial growth of this major immigrant, industrial, and rail center on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan. The majority of Metropolis parishes are concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area, where immigrants arrived as early as the 19th century. Hence the older parishes are to be found primarily in the older Midwestern industrialized cities, while newer congregations have followed demographic patterns, locating in suburban and even rural/missionary contexts. Within recent decades, Metropolis churches have been built integrating traditional Byzantine forms; earlier structures, in contrast, often were acquired from other faith groups. The Metropolis of Chicago consists of thirty-four parishes in Illinois, with another twenty-four parishes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, northern Indiana, and eastern and central Missouri. The general offices of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago are located in Chicago, Illinois. 

North America

Modern Greek Studies Association
The Modern Greek Studies Association was founded in 1968 by a group of intellectuals and scholars (Americans and Greeks in America), to showcase the merits of the modern Greek tradition and contemporary Greek culture. It has evolved since then to an American-based, non-profit academic organization, dedicated to the promotion of Modern Greek Studies in the United States and Canada and conversant internationally on all issues, historical and contemporary, which pertain to Greek matters. Interdisciplinary in orientation, the MGSA seeks to stimulate the discovery and diffusion of knowledge about the language, literature, arts, history, politics, economy, and society of modern Greece, Cyprus, and the Greek diaspora. Its membership, which currently exceeds three hundred, consists primarily of teachers, students, and professional scholars, many of whom reside in various parts of the world, including Greece. Membership also includes and is open to many other individuals who are actively concerned with Greek history and culture, even if they are not necessarily academics. The MGSA defines its scope broadly to include not only post-independence Greece but also the period of Ottoman rule and the later Byzantine Empire, as well as those aspects of early Byzantine, Hellenistic, and Classical times that have a bearing on the modern period. The impetus is not to reinforce the continuity thesis but to show how multifaceted Greek history and culture are.

Embassy of Greece in the USA
The Embassy of Greece in the USA is the official diplomatic representation of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) in the USA. In addition to Greece’s embassy in the USA, Greece has eight other representations in the USA. These representations include consulates in Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tampa. 

Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in the USA
The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus is the official diplomatic representation of the Republic of Cyprus in the USA.

American Hellenic Educational Progressive Organization (AHEPA)
AHEPA is an organization which aims to promote Hellenism, Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence. Throughout its history AHEPA has endowed over $4 million at the local, district and national levels toward the use of scholarships and a half-million dollars is awarded annually. Thousands of young men and women have benefited as recipients of AHEPA scholarships at these various levels. The most famous recipient, perhaps, is ABC News' Host of This Week George Stephanopoulos. The scholarship program at the national level is administered by the AHEPA National Educational Foundation. It offers scholarships to a wide variety of students. Recipients are: traditional and non-traditional students;seminarians, including those entering Holy Cross Greek School of Theology; and high school seniors, college and post-graduate students who are looking to become tomorrow's leaders. 

The preservation of Hellenic or Classical Studies programs on college campuses is an important issue for the AHEPA Educational Foundation. A subcommittee of the Foundation, the Hellenic Cultural Commission, actively works to support the study of the Classics at universities. 

In addition, educational programs such as "Journey to Greece" and Washington Internships are sponsored by the Foundation.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, with its headquarters located in the City of New York, is an Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is composed of an Archdiocesan District -- New York and eight Metropolises: New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston and Denver. It is governed by the Archbishop and the Eparchial Synod of Bishops. The Synod of Bishops is headed by the Archbishop and comprised of the Bishops who oversee the ministry of the Metropolises. It has all the authority and responsibility which the Church canons provide for a provincial synod. There are 540 parishes, 800 priests and approximately 1.5 million faithful in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Archdiocese receives within its ranks and under its spiritual aegis and pastoral care Orthodox Christians, who either as individuals or as organized groups in Metropolises and Parishes have voluntarily come to it and which acknowledge the ecclesiastical and canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 


Greece and Cyprus

The Onassis Foundation 
The Onassis Foundation was established in memory of Aristotle Onassis’ son, Alexander, who died in 1973, in an airplane crash at the age of 24. Aristotle Onassis directed in his will that half of his estate should be transferred upon his own death to a foundation to be established in Alexander’s name. The foundation’s headquarters are located in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Culture, education, the environment, health, and social solidarity come first on the agenda of the Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. The Foundation has a branch in New York, USA “Onassis Foundation (USA)”, whose mission is to disseminate information about the Hellenic civilization throughout the United States and Canada. By cooperating with universities, colleges and art institutions in Greece and throughout America, the Onassis Foundation (USA) promotes bilateral cultural relations.

In carrying out its mission, the Onassis Foundation (USA) focuses on two activities: The Onassis Cultural Center presents art exhibitions and other major cultural and artistic events. The University Seminars Program places eminent scholars from all over the world in Universities of North and Latin America for lectures and seminars on topics that relate to Hellenic civilization. 

The Onassis Foundation pledged to UIUC $ 60,000 for three academic years, 2015-18, in partnership with the Houston Family Foundation and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

John S. Latsis Foundation, Athens, Greece
The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation is a non-profit organisation established in 2005 to continue the benevolent legacy of John S. Latsis. The Foundation plans, manages, and funds programmes that cover a broad range of fields, such as education, science, health, social welfare, culture and the environment, in collaboration with civil society partners and key players within these areas. An additional, diversified branch of activities is the operation of the Neraida Floating Museum, which, by offering visitors free access and organising various events, seeks to highlight the maritime and entrepreneurial history of Greece, familiarise youth with the maritime profession, and promote environmental awareness. The Foundation’s approach to grant-making prioritises the emergency relief of citizens in need, infrastructural improvement, NGO capacity building and community development, academic and research output reward, and highlighting of the cultural wealth of Greece. The John S. Latsis Foundation committed 10,000 Euros for two years (2016-17) for the program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to host eminent scholars from all over the world for lectures and seminars on topics that relate to Hellenic civilization.