Οn the occasion of International Women’s Day, MANCODE, hosted by Mr. Thalis Pitoulis, hosts 5 special women who honor the role and the essence of the day with their presence. We thank them and may they continue to inspire, each one individually, for the common good.

Voula Patoulidou. The gold medalist of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 100 meters hurdles, 9 times National Champion and 7 times Balkan Champion, Voula Patoulidou, is the Deputy Governor of Thessaloniki. She remains as authentic as when she uttered the famous phrase “for Greece, dammit” which was heard by millions of people. Through her character, she continues to inspire and offer for the common good.

Eleni Varvitsioti. The journalist Eleni Varvitsioti has many professional distinctions in her quiver, as she is widely recognised. She started her journalistic career in 2004, covering a wide range of topics in Greece, Europe, Latin America and the USA. She is a correspondent for the Financial Times in Greece and Cyprus and is also on the staff of ANT1 as a political and economic correspondent. In 2016 she was awarded by the Botsi Foundation for her reporting from the European Union’s administrative centre. She is also the author of the book “The Last Bluff”.

Marina Vernikou. After studying communication and photography in the USA, she continued her career in Paris focusing on photography. She then moved to the USA to study Business Administration. However, her great passion has always remained photography and with an undisputed career in this field, Marina Vernikou has presented several exhibitions in museums and galleries in many countries. In 2018, she was nominated for Photographer of the Year by National Geographic. In addition, she is an ambassador for La Prairie, Omega and Hermès. Driven by her social awareness, she was led to found CREAID, a non-profit organization with a targeted humanitarian mandate.

Christina Psarra. Christina Psarra, Director of the Greek section of Médecins Sans Frontières, started as a volunteer with a suitcase in her hand. She has led humanitarian projects, led and coordinated emergency missions and in 2015-2016 coordinated search and rescue operations in the Aegean Sea, Lesvos, and in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya. A model woman, who always follows her goal, which, as she says, is to always be on the right side of history.

Anastasia Nikolitsa. Anastasia Nikolitsa is a born pilot. She is a Master Sergeant, having logged a significant number of flight hours in the cockpit of an Army Air Force “Apache” helicopter, and she is present for any new challenge. With hard training, long hours of study and constant flying, she is dedicated to serving her country.