MARIA ANTONAKOS
President, OPUS Philanthropic Strategies Incorporated
Maria Antonakos is the founder and principal consultant for OPUS Philanthropic Strategies Incorporated. She has over 15 years experience in the charitable sector and has raised more than $24 million for organizations working in the arts, environment and social justice.
Before establishing OPUS, Maria was the Senior Director of Philanthropic Services for The Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) where during her years there she led the foundation’s major gifts programmes and co-founded an international think-tank for women philanthropists.
Prior to her work at CWF, she was the Capital Campaign Manager for The Corporation of Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall’s $20 million campaign to renovate Roy Thomson Hall.
In her early career, Maria worked with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestras Canada and The Boris Brott Festival. She has led workshops for City of Toronto cultural organizations in fundraising, strategic planning, board governance and marketing. She teaches fundraising at Humber College.
Maria is also a singer and composer (www.mariaantonakos.com). Her music has taken her to Europe for studies and performances in Italian, German and Greek. She has recorded two CDs entitled, Mystras – Siren Songs of the Mediterranean and four corners no walls. Both CD’s were released on the label Marquis Classics which is distributed in Canada by EMI Music. Maria has several music videos and was featured in the documentary series Women in Music on Bravo! She is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and continued post-graduate studies at New York University and The Juilliard School.
In addition to her passion for philanthropy, business, the arts and languages, Maria has run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC twice. The ultimate test in persistence, she is proud to have crossed the finish line at mile 26.2 each time! Maria lives in charming downtown Dundas, Ontario with her husband, Dr. Harald Stöver, a professor of Chemistry at McMaster University.
JENNIFER FREES
Consultant
Jennifer is an innovative professional with diverse fundraising, event, marketing, and public relations experience in both agency and non-profit sectors. She has developed and managed award-winning large-scale national events, projects and campaigns for blue chip organizations, as well as strategic fundraising and awareness programming for charitable initiatives.
Jennifer spearheads the implementation of a variety of client programming, including:
- Creative fundraising strategy
- Special events (awareness and promotion, cultivation, stewardship)
- Fundraising campaigns (including major gifts, direct mail, online and community giving)
- Sponsorship acquisition (both via private philanthropists and corporations)
- Branding and communications strategy (including media relations)
- Operations review, staff training and management
- Digital infrastructure development for campaign implementation
Jennifer splits her time between Toronto’s Liberty Village and Opus’ head office in Dundas, Ontario. She is an avid international traveler and joint Canadian-European citizen who speaks multiple languages fluently. Jennifer is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario.