Maria Sarantopoulou is the Deputy Director of Communication and Public Affairs at the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB).
Maria has worked for several years in the European Commission in Brussels, at the Spokesperson’s Service, which operates under the political leadership of the President covering areas such as Competition, Entrepreneurship, Industry, Single Market, Budget, and Human Resources, thus working closely with the respective European Commissioners on a daily basis. She has also worked as European Commissioner’s Speechwriter and Political Coordinator for Migration and Home Affairs, having successfully undertaken the Commission’s EPSO exams. Furthermore, she has previously worked as a journalist and editor at Kathimerini and as a communication and international relations officer at the Office of the National Coordinator for Drugs representing the Service in international as well as European fora and institutions.
Maria Sarantopoulou is also an elected member of the BoD of the Hellenic Alumni Association of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has the position of the Secretary General. She is also the Deputy Chairwoman of the Communications and Marketing Group at the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM).
She holds an MSc from LSE and a BA from the Department of Communication and Media at the Kapodistrian University of Athens. She is a graduate of the German School of Athens and speaks Greek, English, German, French (and a little Chinese).