Anita B. Kartalopoulos, Esq. is a third-generation Philoptochos member with a deep passion for Philoptochos’ work and community. She is an attorney, advocate, and faithful Orthodox Christian who works to support and expand the mission, ministry, and Philanthropy of our Archdiocese and Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Appointed to the National Philoptochos Board in 1998, Anita has served five terms as national Legal Advisor. As Chair of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Committee, she has chaired two Philoptochos Pilgrimages to the Patriarchate in 2007 and 2013. Anita has been a testifying delegate, on behalf of Philoptochos, to the OSCE in Warsaw, Poland, regarding religious persecution endured by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
She chaired the 2022 National Philoptochos Convention in New York City and previously served as National Convention Chair of the Resolutions/Legislation Committee at the 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 Conventions and National Chair of the Make A Difference Day Initiative in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She has Co-Chaired the New Jersey Metropolis Children’s Medical Fund luncheon grant committee along with President Arlene Siavelis Kehl.
Since 2009, she has been a Co-chair of the Steering committee (with Aphrodite Skeadas and Arlene Siavelis Kehl) for the purchase of a permanent home for the National Philoptochos. In 2012 the goal became a reality with Philoptochos’ purchase of the Philoptochos Center of Philanthropy, which we occupy today, debt-free. Anita did the local fundraising training for the entire National Philoptochos Board in connection with the St. Nicholas National Shrine.
Anita has served the Archdiocese as a member of the Charter Committee and, on November 10, 2022, was appointed a member of the Mixed Commission for the new Charter of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and the Eparchial Synod of the Holy Archdiocese. The Mixed Commission comprises six members from the GOA and members from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Professionally, as a Manhattan attorney, Anita B. Kartalopoulos engages in federal complex litigation and specializes in securities fraud litigation, derivative litigation, and mergers and acquisitions nationwide. Some of Ms. Kartalopoulos’ notable representations include In re Sears, Roebuck & Co. Securities Litigation ($215 million settlement) and In re Chiron Corp. Securities Litigation ($30 million settlement). She has also improved corporate governance and increased share value in litigations such as In re Topps Co. Shareholder Litigation, In re Anheuser-Busch Cos. Shareholders Litigation, and Southwest Airlines Derivative Litigation.
Ms. Kartalopoulos was a New Jersey State regulator and served in senior regulatory positions, including Deputy Commissioner of Insurance for Life and Health, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs (Department of Health), and Executive Director of the New Jersey State Real Estate Commission. She managed the New Jersey Insurance Department’s Multi-State Task Force investigating the sales practices of the Prudential Insurance Company, which resulted in a $50 Million fine against Prudential and a $4 Billion recovery for policyholders.
Originally from Toledo, Ohio, she is a member of one of the founding families of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, a centennial church established by immigrants from the then-Greek island of Tenedos. Her grandmother, Stergianna Zelles, was also a founding member of the local Philoptochos Chapter in Toledo, which her mother, Mary Brass, also served. Anita and her husband, Dr. Stamatios Kartalopoulos, are fulfilled members of Leadership 100 and founding members of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation. They are stewards of St. Mark, Boca Raton, FL, and Holy Trinity, Westfield, NJ, where she and her spouse chaired the nationally known Sights and Sounds Youth Arts Program for 20 years. They are the proud parents of Vasili (Dartmouth 97) and Stephanie (Harvard 01). Anita and her husband, Archon Stamatios, have strong ties to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Since 1998, they have made 21 memorable trips to Constantinople to visit our Patriarch and Mother Church.
Anita is proud of her Orthodox faith, her family, and her Tenedian and Greek heritage and is fervent about the ministry and work of the Philoptochos.