Harvard Law School Association of Northern California

Fireside Chat with California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis

Moderated by California Court of Appeal Justice Danny Y. Chou

Wednesday, June 12, 2024
5:00 - 8:00 PM

Drinks and hors d'oeuvres reception starts at 5pm, warmly hosted by HLSA and Hogan Lovells

Fireside chat from 6-7pm 

Hogan Lovells
4 Embarcadero Center, Suite 3500
San Francisco, CA 94111

This unstructured, intimate conversation will explore the important influences on Eleni's life and career, including her family and jobs, as well as her challenges, goals, and achievements as the Lieutenant Governor.

About Eleni Kounalakis

Ambassador Eleni Kounalakis is the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California and the first woman elected to the post. She is now serving her second term. From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as US 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” (The New Press). 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, earned her MBA from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1992 and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the American College of Greece. She is married to Dr. Markos Kounalakis and the couple has two sons, Neo and Eon.

About Danny Chou

Danny Y. Chou serves as a Justice on the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 5. Justice Chou also served as a judge on the San Mateo County Superior Court. Before joining the bench, Justice Chou worked in various capacities at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office and the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office and as a staff attorney or law clerk with the California Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

For security purposes, strict RSVP required by June 9, 2024