Our vision

The Cyclades Preservation Fund is a Greek-registered, non-profit association (ΑΜΚΕ) set up initially as a UK Charity to support sustainable initiatives and to promote the preservation of the exceptional beauty and natural value of the Cyclades.

The cornerstone of our mission is the empowerment of local communities, backed up by investment in the local environment.

Check out the CPF 2018- 2020 impact trends report

Our guiding principle is a bottom-up approach: we are here to listen to and help the people of the Cycladic islands with initiatives that they themselves are starting, and to provide support and guidance for conservation projects that the local communities have embraced.

We are hands-on and offer capacity and expertise, where needed.

Do you want to become part of the solution? Become a member of the Cyclades Preservation Club.

Join us

Our way

We link people, islands, and knowledge.

We work with communities and the way we work is just as important as what we do.  We are here as a stable and reliable partner always available to consult and offer support.

We engage in building strong long-term relationships based on mutual trust and understanding. We support projects locally, and we also engage in implementation when and where capacities are missing; at the same time, we try to build local capacities and engage citizens and entities in more and more projects and initiatives.

We raise funds for CPF and for other local entities and initiatives; We strongly believe that supporting local resources can make a strong positive impact and bring about serious long-lasting change!

Meet some of the CPF local partners

Our people

A General Meeting of Partners (GMP) leads the initiative by directing the strategy, selecting carefully the grants and trying to broaden the donor base. 

The GMP is the CPF’s supreme body and is entitled to decide on all matters relating to the Association which are under its supervision and control. Additionally, we are privileged to have the support of a Steering Committee (SC) and an Advisory Council (AC).

The SC members have co-funded the initial budget and keep contributing to our cause in significant ways, including leveraging personal networks to support our charity in achieving strategic goals.

The AC members have a long-standing experience in environmental governance, communication, fundraising and sustainability and provide local knowledge and technical support.

The CPF core team is minimal, with the Executive Director and a Programmes Director responsible for the day-to-day management, including fundraising, grant making, communication, administration and project management monitoring and controlling. The work of the core team is assisted by local Project Managers,  Scientific Advisors and other Experts/Consultants who are either based on the islands or have a dignificant epxerience in the areas of our interest. Ocassionally, the CPF recruits interns and volunteers to support the work on the ground.

We could not do what we do, without our precious members of the Cyclades Preservation Club and supporters of all kinds, including our business partners and major donors.

We are grateful for their significant contribution! Feel free to contact us and join the CPF family.

Local team

  • Anni Mitropoulou

    Executive Director

    When the CPF launched in December 2017, Anni joined as the Executive Director, driven by respect and care for the unique natural environment of Cyclades, as well as by the confidence that individuals and communities have the power to bring positive change. After completing her post-graduate studies in the areas of International Affairs, Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development, Anni worked for 15 years with Greek and International NGOs and Foundations, in the fields of environmental and cultural management, sustainable development, local engagement, fundraising, communication and human rights. She’s based between Naxos and Athens, and travels regularly to the islands.

  • Nassia Kassela

    Programs Director

    Nassia is a Civil Engineer specialized in Water Resources Management & Environmental Engineering and in Policy Analysis for Multi-Actor Systems. She has experience in the private sector in engineering, environmental consultancy and renewable energy and in the non-profit international water sector, focusing mostly on projects and investments in the Mediterranean region. In June 2020 she joined CPF in order to support the Fund’s impact assessment framework and subsequent strategy considerations as our Impact Advisor. She remained in the team as CPF’s Program & Impact Advisor and is now our Programs Director.

  • Elena Symeonidou

    Consultant & Project Manager

    Elena is working in the environmental and agricultural sector in the Cyclades since 2010, focusing on natural resources management and food production. She is actively using the frameworks and toolboxes of Permaculture and Agroecology, in projects ranging from private gardens and farms to public regeneration projects. She facilitates public events and teaches seminars and workshops in diverse audiences. Having lived mostly in Paros island for over a decade, she has studied the fascinating but fragile island ecosystems, has witnessed the effects of climate change, land use change and overtourism on the archipelago and has concentrated her work towards the mitigation and adaptation to these effects. She has been in the CPF family with various roles since 2018.

  • Ioanna Kyriakakis

    Project Manager

    Ioanna holds a B.A. in Economics, Business Economics & Finance, and a Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship. She has always been in love with the Cycladic Islands and has drawn inspiration from their unique beauty. This is why she wanted to help preserve the Cyclades’ natural value by joining the CPF in June 2021, using her 15 years of professional experience in coordinating cultural and educational events to raise awareness on social issues.  Making her dream come true, she now lives on Syros Island, making hand-built ceramics inspired by Cycladic beauty and sustainability.

  • Eirini Karathanou

    Project Manager

    Eirini is an ichthyologist with MScs in sustainable management of the aquatic environment and Mediterranean aquaculture. She has worked abroad at Karlstad and Helsinki university as scientific personnel on freshwater ecosystems. Even though always interested in her previous domain, the Mediterranean put a spell on her. She returned to Greece, firstly at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and now at the Cyclades Preservation Fund as a marine project manager since June 2022. Born and raised in Thessaloniki, she visited the Cyclades as part of the family holidays, while now she lives on Syros and happily works and travels around Cycladic islands. In her leisure time, she swims, scuba dives and never says no to a good book.

  • Dorothy Filioti

    Project Manager

    Dorothy is a Greek American from Athens with a diverse background in Greek ecological and sustainability related initiatives, interspersed with the academic trajectory including a BA in Evolutionary Anthropology and MA in Regenerative Economics. Over the past years, living on Paros island she worked for a program to reduce single-use plastic and popularise tap water, and has supported on-site and on-line with a food forest project and other eco-literacy campaigns. She has been in the CPF family since September 2022.

  • Artemis Apergi

    Project Officer

    Artemis is 21 years old and was born in England to an English mother and a Greek father. She shares her time between the United Kingdom and Greece and she is familiar with the island environment because she grew up in the Ionian Islands, on Paxos. She is a student at SOAS in London, studying the Persian language and international relations, and she aspires to specialise in translation. Her love for the environment and the fact that she grew up bilingual led her to work as a translator and project assistant on the CPF. Artemis has been in the family of CPF since the summer of 2022.

  • Dimitris Tsafoutis

    Consultant

    Dimitris is an economist and since 2019 he has been researching this innovative form of tourism called fishing tourism. More generally the situation in the fishing industry made him fully devote to this tourist product in the last 4 years. During this time, he has been in contact with almost all the professional fishermen who actively practice fishing tourism in our country. Of course, a part of them are located in the Cyclades where his visits and contacts with local fishermen are frequent. His goal is the knowledge and experiences he has acquired to contribute to the development of this alternative form of tourism. He has been collaboating with the CPF since September 2022.

General Meeting of Partners

Steering Committee

Advisory Council