Promoting Cyprus-US relations

An organisation in America helping young Cypriots get established is celebrating 10 years finds PAUL LAMBIS

For Laura Neroulias Bisiotis, founding and leading Cypriot Young Professionals (CYP) for the past 10 years has been a gratifying experience. What began as a small group of people meeting around a table at the Cyprus Trade Centre in New York in 2013 to find ways on how to help young Cypriots of the diaspora succeed in business, has evolved into a vibrant organisation that today, with the full support of the Cyprus-US Chamber of Commerce, helps to shape a brighter economic future for the Cypriot community in America.

“I still remember our initial meeting. We were a group of 15 individuals in our mid-late 20s, including five representatives from the Cyprus-US Chamber of Commerce, and we were all sharing ideas on how to strengthen relationships and communications within our own community,” Bisiotis said.

“The greatest impact at the meeting was that several professions were represented, and at that point, we were certain that this would be an amazing, all-inclusive business organisation.”

According to Bisiotis, CYP of the Cyprus–US Chamber of Commerce, seeks to continue the chamber’s mission of encouraging business opportunities and strengthening ties among its members and the wider business community. “We offer all support necessary for our members to realise their business objectives in both Cyprus and the United States,” she added.

Born in New York to a Greek father and Cypriot mother, Bisiotis and her elder sister were brought up in a predominantly Greek home that upheld its traditions and cultural values. Her father, a former colonel in the military and a Greek immigrant, taught her valuable life skills, particularly those regarding inclusion as a minority in a foreign country. “Over the years, I would see many individuals from Greece and Cyprus looking to establish themselves in the US, and my father would always find a way to connect them with someone that could help them navigate a new place,” she said.

Laura Neroulias Bisiotis [/caption]In a similar vein, CYP sought to serve as a resource for young Cypriots who were immigrating to the US wanting to make their mark in the business world. “It was crucial for us to have programmes in place that would make them feel welcome and included, as well as to enable effective networking through various events and initiatives.”

Since its inception in June 2013, CYP has been educating people about the organisation, its objectives, and long-term goals. “Coming from a background in marketing and public relations also helped, since it allowed me to develop a strategy at the core of CYP to raise awareness, organise events that are in line with our mission and purpose, grow our membership, and ultimately carry on the momentum for years to come.

“I believe one of the primary reasons we have been so successful for the last decade is because of the variety of professions that are represented,” Bisiotis told the Cyprus Mail. “All of these individuals have unique experiences to share, offer varying perspectives on things, and have a refreshingly creative outlook, however they are all unified in encouraging and pushing each other to become better leaders.”

A non-profit organisation, CYP has been successful in engaging a young, dynamic and entrepreneurial generation. In addition to serving as a link between the younger and older Cypriot generations in the US, it is active in bringing important Greek and Cypriot issues to the fore, implementing initiatives such as round-table discussions, entrepreneurship workshops, and the introduction of a mentorship programme that has assisted young individuals and students with their professional development.

“The CYP Mentorship Programme was designed to provide students and young professionals an opportunity to collaborate with a mentor in their chosen field. The idea was to establish a structured and formal relationship where individuals could share ideas and experiences in the context of the mentee’s professional development goals, as well as to foster a mentor-mentee relationship that could be life long,” Bisiotis explained.

“It was incredible to be a part of this initiative, which continues to be a highly successful programme within our organisation.”

CYP is a success story having seen many of its members advance their careers and become great business executives over the past ten years. Although the list of people is too extensive to mention individually, Bisiotis claims that some former members now have important positions in government while others are at the helm of very prosperous enterprises in the US.

“It’s all about unity and supporting one another,” she said. “This is the second important aspect to our success, and CYP has a bright future ahead of it with many exciting new things to be revealed.” For the time being, however, CYP is commemorating 10 years of fruitful promotion of Cyprus-US relations, and one can only wonder as to what follows next.

 

To find out more about CYP, visit https://www.cyprususchamber.com/young-professionals/ or email [email protected]