HABA Honors Dean Dakolias as 2026 Executive of the Year
by Athena Efter
This year, The Hellenic-American Bankers Association (HABA) honored Dean Dakolias, former Co-Chairman of Fortress Investment Group at its annual “Executive of the Year” awards dinner.Dean Dakolias was co-founder and Managing Partner of American Commercial Capital LLC, a specialty finance company, and Coronado Advisors, an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Both firms were acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. in 2001. In that same year, he moved on to become Co-Chairman of Fortress Investment Group, where he also served as Co-Chief Investment Officer for the firm’s Credit Funds for 25 years.
Mr. Dean Dakolias, the Executive of the Year award recipient
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Dakolias is deeply involved in philanthropy, education, and international development. He serves as Treasurer and Trustee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the oldest and largest North American research institution dedicated to the study of Greek history, archaeology, and culture. He is also a board member of Endeavor Greece, an organization focused on fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth to support Greece’s economic recovery.
A strong advocate for refugee and humanitarian causes, Dakolias has dedicated particular attention to supporting vulnerable populations arriving in Greece, including unaccompanied minors, at-risk women, and survivors of torture. He supports organizations such as METAdrasi, which provides comprehensive resettlement services through innovative public-private partnerships.
Dakolias is also a co-founder and Executive Committee member of The Hellenic Initiative, a global nonprofit supporting economic development and crisis relief in Greece, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Columbia University, where he was a four-year member of the Lightweight Crew team. He continues to support his alma mater through service on the Columbia Engineering School’s Board of Visitors and the University’s Athletic Leadership Committee.
Maria C. Miles, entertainment attorney and President of the Board of the Trustees of the Hellenic Film Society served as the host for the evening. In her opening remarks, she welcomed friends, colleagues, and leaders of the Hellenic-American community, and introduced the mission of HABA, formed in 1982, “to promote the professional and educational interests of the Greek-Americans and Pan-Hellenes in the banking and finance sectors”, stating that today the organization has a membership of over 1000 active professional across the industry. She invited His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Nanzianos to the podium to give an invocation, followed by James Gerkis, Vice President of HABA, who thanked Dean Dakolias for being the honoree this year, as well as welcomed various attendees including the Secretary General for the Greek Diaspora for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy Maira Myrogianni, the Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Aglaia Balta, the Consul General of Greece in New York Iphigenia Kanara, Consul General of the republic of Cyprus Kyriakos Pogiatzis, Judge Michael Hartofilis of the Supreme Court of Queens County, along with former HABA presidents, and past honorees Nicolas Bornozis and Dean of Columbia Business School Costis Maglaras.
The board of Directors of HABA with the Honoree, Mr. Dean Dakolias
Secretary General for the Greek Diaspora for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy Maira Myrogianni took to the podium and addressed the importance of solidarity and connection among the Greek diaspora and how that contributes to success. The Consul General of Cyprus in New York Kyriakos Pogiatzis resonated the remarks of fellow dignitary Maira Myrogianni, highlighting the Dean Dakolias’ work in his efforts to connect the Greek-American community to Greece.
Costas Kellas, Treasurer of HABA, was introduced as the next speaker, who thanked all the sponsors including platinum sponsors Fortress Investment Group and Reed Smith LLP; Gold sponsors Dakolias Family, Daniel S, Janis III, Motor Oil Hellas S.A., Navios Partners LP; Silver sponsors Andrew and Paul Liveris, Broadridge Financial Solutions, KPS Capital Partners, LP, The Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation; Bronze sponsors Anthony Diamandakis, Capital Link, Chuck Peck, Columbia University, Flagstar Private Bank, FundStudio, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, GL/RJ, Hellenic Lawyers Association. Heritage Realty Services LLC, James P. Gerkis (Norm Ai), Libra Group, Lountzis Asset Management, LLC, MacArthur Capital Group, Maria Pappas, Piraeus Bank; and Friend sponsors Alma Bank, Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, Marwick Associates. In addition, he thanked those in attendance from the Hellenic Medical Society, Hellenic Film Society, the Cyprus-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Baltic American Chamber of Commerce.
After a brief intermission, Mari Miles introduced Gibson Dunn Partner George P. Stamas, who is also President of the Board and Co-Founder of the Hellenic Initiative, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a director of the Paris based Soparexo s.a., the parent company of Chateau Margaux. He congratulated HABA for their 44 years of service and mentioned that the last time he took the podium at a HABA dinner was when they honored the late Alex Navab, who was a founding director of The Hellenic Initiative, and compared honoree Dean Dakolias to Alex Navab in his accomplishments, “building Fortress Group into a giant on Wall Street”, noting that Dean himself invested almost 200 billion dollars around the world, travelling extensively throughout every business community around the world. Most importantly he noted that he is the embodiment of philanthropy through his work with Hellenic Initiative and became the organization’s moral compass with the human side of Dean outweighing all of his business accomplishments. He also noted Dean’s “overwhelming focus on the plight of refugees in Greece. He sees in them what we’ve all dealt with, either our generation, our parents, our grandparents…the challenges of a new land, the reliance of family values, the importance to a country’s future of a society that promotes assimilation, not pushing it away. We see in Dean, the real Dean, a long list of pursuits dedicated to the importance of a society preserving Greek culture and heritage.” He then addressed Dean directly, remarking that he is “an unending inspiration to Hellenes and philhellenes worldwide…ending it with “axios”, which was followed by applause and shout-outs of “axios”, which means worthy and deserving in Greek.
From left, Costa Kellas, treasurer of HABA, Maira Myrogiannis, Secretary of Greeks Abroad, Dean Dakolias, Honoree, and Ifigenia Kanara, Consul General of Greece in NY
Also speaking on the honoree’s behalf was Costas Maglaras, Dean of Columbia Business School, who echoed the words of George Stamas, referring to Dean’s “moral compass”, as the Vice Chair of the Columbia Business School Board of Trustees, and calling him a “true steward” of the institution’s true mission to excel in education and research, tirelessly pushing them into that direction. He also highlighted Dean’s efforts in bringing people together, with his strategic insight, he is helping countries is helping Columbia Business School with a highly ambitious program at the Athena Polytechnic Institute.
The Honoree, Dean Dakolias was then presented with an award by the Board of HABA. In his speech, Mr. Dakolias, paid homage to his friend and fellow Columbia Business School alumnus Alex Navab. He then talked about his roots and added some humor about how his mother would say she was from Mani or Sparti, depending on her mood. He talked about his journey parents journey and added that they experienced the hardships of a civil war and quoted his mother as saying “they often felt like refugees in their own country”, which inspired his mission to help refugees in Greece today. He also talked about how all he had of their journeys are the stories of his parents and grandparents, and how he wished he had made more time to learn more about their stories. He offered advice to the younger generation and encouraged them to capture those stories that shaped their parents and grandparents’ journeys, while they are still alive. He then talked about the importance of helping people in countries that are struggling develop more skills. He noted that his mother was one of few women in her day that went on to receive an MBA and PhD in finance, and that his father earned his PhD in Economics at Columbia University, and recounted the story of how he was not allowed into the US for 6 months. During that time, he worked on a freighter and learned German, until he could reenter the country. He talked about the importance of “pushing the freedom of dialogue at universities”, something that has been lost over the years. He concluded his speech by quoting Bob Dylan, whom he jokingly referred to as a famous Greek philosopher with “strange how people who suffer together have strong connections that people who are content”, and in the spirit of that message he ended his speech by stating that “today our collective bonds are as strong as they have ever been, I hope we never grow content breaking those bonds.”
Closing remarks were given by Chris Thomas, the President of HABA, who highlighted that membership to HABA continues to increase, especially among younger members with recent college graduates joining, which show promise for the organization’s future. He encouraged applications for this membership to continue.
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