Future Leaders Lab Speech – Ms Christina Georgaki Addresses the Alba Graduate Business School Thessaloniki
12/10/2023
On Wednesday 11 October, Ms Christina Georgaki addressed the Alba Graduate Business School Thessaloniki, as part of the launch of their Future Leaders Lab. In her speech, Ms Georgaki praised the work of the project for combining leadership skills with technical excellence, and extolled the wider benefits this will bring to Thessaloniki’s society and economy.
I would like to thank you very much for your presence here today at the first event of the Alba Graduate Business School, the American College of Greece in Thessaloniki.
The beginning of the hosting of this great educational institution is a great honor for our city and I am sure that it will prove to be extremely productive and creative.
Since its launch in Athens in 1992, Alba Graduate Business School has already counted around 60,000 graduates, business executives of all levels, young graduates, scientists of various specialties. To this huge, diverse family of alumni, the American College of Greece has managed not only to offer knowledge but also to pass on its ideals of lifelong learning, self-improvement and adaptation to the ever-changing conditions of the labor market. Το this effect, Alba has introduced an unprecedented innovation on the map of scientific specialization and vocational training, which has never ceased to evolve. The same ambition the same dream the foundation’s team shares for our city.
That is why I am honored and delighted to be among you today for the historic moment of the presentation of the Future Leaders Lab, the first scientific training program for young graduates to be organized in Thessaloniki.
The world is moving faster than ever before.
The advent of the digital age, both for business and in our daily lives, has inevitably changed our way of life.
The way we learn, the way we master new skills.
The way we work with each other.
And the lens through which we view our fellow citizens.
All this is very different today than it was five or ten years ago.
As a result, businesses are moving faster, people are connecting, interacting, exchanging ideas more easily than ever before and everything global has become local.
In this changing landscape, fundamental questions arise. As business executives and citizens, we must ask ourselves:
How do we define ourselves as modern Thessalonians – both in our relations with each other and with the wider world?
How will we cooperate, together and with partners in other countries, to ensure that our businesses thrive in an increasingly competitive global market?
And how to turn the great changes we see around us into opportunities – for our city, for the younger generation and for the prosperity of our nation.
Because let us not forget that times of change such as these, if managed with skill and planning, are also times that offer huge opportunities for progress:
They allow the best of us to shine.
They allow those of us with the brightest ideas, the greatest work ethic and a clear commitment to our values and goals to achieve great things.
However, to succeed, you also need the solid base upon which to build.
That’s why we have prestigious universities and other great educational institutions, like this one…
To grant every young Greek who would like to enter the labor market the opportunity to improve their skills, acquire new skills and contribute to our national success.
That is why this Future Leaders Lab program is so important.
It emerged from the assumption that the skills of the future are not only technical or academic, but also personal.
Science must be combined with mindset, and that is where the value of this program lies.
The Future Leaders Lab aims to take the values of our city – innovation, multiculturalism and a constant will to improve – and apply them to the challenges of the future.
It acknowledges the importance of communication, leadership and professional relationship skills that can be used in all roles and areas of our working lives and further underlines the need for these skills to be taught in combination with each other.
It is based on the growing digital and technological sector that has taken off in our city in recent years.
It highlights the value of innovation and personal and business creativity for the success of any organization, no matter how big or small.
It emphasizes personal entrepreneurship – the boldness to take risks and the drive to see them through.
And it is connected to key global issues such as sustainability, and the proper use of unprecedented technological advances such as artificial intelligence.
Through all of these, the program wishes to bridge the gap between the excellent university curricula offered to Greek graduates, our new generation of executives that surpasses all others in technical and academic training, and to provide them with the leadership skills that will allow them to leverage their knowledge in the wider world.
I am proud that this program starts from Thessaloniki. I am proud because I know that our city is distinguished for being business- minded, fair-minded, and open to innovation people, who traditionally embrace new opportunities in every possible way.
As a Foreign Direct Investment lawyer, I see the transformative impact of the implementation of foreign business projects in our city daily.
Our firm has had the privilege of working with companies that are shaping the future of Thessaloniki, from start-ups to global giants.
These companies are not just investing in our city, but in our people, our skills and our future.
Thessaloniki is no longer just a city; it is a growing global hub. We have seen a significant increase in economic activity, with large multinational companies choosing to invest and locate here.
Companies in cutting-edge sectors such as technology, renewable energy and biotechnology are creating new jobs and contributing to our city’s global standing.
We are the second largest student center in Southeast Europe and host more than 150.000 students. Our universities are not just educational centers; they are cradles of innovation.
We are directing economic growth, opening the city to the world, and creating a future full of opportunities.
Thessaloniki is becoming a pole of attraction for talent and innovation, and this is something that I am absolutely certain that evoke us all unique feelings of pride and optimism.
So, as we are here today, let us keep in mind that we are not just preparing our young people for the future; we are preparing Thessaloniki for a future where it will not just be a spectator, but a leader on the world stage.
As a city, we have already seen huge successes in recent years.
With the aid of the university, Thessaloniki has become one of the top three cities in the world for digital nomads and our digital skills and infrastructure continue to receive huge investment through programs like this.
And now we must continue, because competition from other countries, regions and cities around the world is more intense than ever.
Through my profession, I have been lucky enough to visit many places – and while their respect for our country and our city is immense, so is their will to succeed in the same areas we work in.
Therefore, it is entirely up to us to continue to share this mentality and develop it further to promote our growth.
The Future Leaders Lab program is an important step in this direction, and I am proud to support it. The inspiration for this program derives from the needs of our society and it is this society that it is called upon to serve.
For those of you in the audience who are already participating in the Future Leader’s Lab , I wish you every success in your future endeavors – and I assure you that the more you invest in the younger generation and in improving the human potential of this city, the more you will contribute to the upgrading of the business environment and subsequently the economic conditions of our city by constantly creating new opportunities in the region.
Besides, those of us who come from the business world know very well that the greatest asset of a business is its people, which is why the practical support of the Future Leader’s Lab initiative is of great importance both for the business world and for the society of Thessaloniki itself.
That is why I invite you to embrace and support this program as a unique opportunity not only to enhance the professional skills of our young people, but also to improve the business environment of our city.
