Prior to a busy Monday night NUGAS meeting in preparation for their annual ball, the young leaders and volunteers were met by the Board and staff of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM). This meeting, hosted at the community library on level 12 of The Greek Centre, offered an opportunity to share visions, explore collaboration and develop pathways for continued involvement in the community.

The ongoing aim of this relationship is to further connect the organisations and facilitate deeper and more personalised involvement in community positions, provide mentorship for emerging leaders and share resources for NUGAS to fulfill its unique role in the community.

The GCM were delighted to hear NUGAS’ insights on how youth and the boarder Greek community can support each other, with GCM president Bill Papastergiadis expressing the importance of “bridging the gap between the youth and the Greek community’s various organisations.”

The diverse experiences and observations of NUGAS committee members, particularly of co-presidents Billy Battista and James Panas were also a prominent part of the conversation. Billy and James updated the GCM of the scale and reach of their events, eagerly anticipating a sell-out 800 person NUGAS-ball this September.

With the conversation shifting to support, Spiridoula Demetriou advised that the GCM was excited to re-enforce a collaborative relationship with NUGAS. Spiridoula highlighted that through this relationship students would be provided a platform to additional engagement with the broader Greek community post the conclusion of their university courses.

With this, Michael Karamitos emphasised that listening to the vision of the students was vital to developing the relationship. While Vicki Kyritsis also noted that the GCM would welcome NUGAS input on various subcommittees.

Bill Papastergiadis further expressed that the GCM would work on resourcing and developing the NUGAS vision. In particular, the GCM offices would be available as they have been without charge for all their meetings and events as well as helping with formatting and finalising their newsletters.

The night concluded with the GCM committing to helping NUGAS with the coordination of events, marketing efforts, administration as well as supporting them launch new various new endeavors.