Eleni Kounalakis

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis is the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California and the first woman elected to the office. From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary and in 2015 published her acclaimed memoir, “Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest”. Prior to her service, Kounalakis spent 18 years as an executive at one of California’s most respected housing development firms, AKT Development. Throughout her career, she served on numerous boards and commissions including California’s First 5 Commission, the San Francisco War Memorial, San Francisco Port Commission, and the Association of American Ambassadors. Eleni Kounalakis graduated from Dartmouth College in 1989 and earned an MBA from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1992. She holds Honorary Doctorates of Laws from the American College of Greece and the University of Piraeus and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is married to Dr. Markos Kounalakis and the couple has two sons, Neo and Eon.