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Eleni (rhymes with “a-penny”) Kavros DeGraw was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She grew up in Alexandria, VA and moved to Farmington in 1998. Eleni attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA graduating with a B.A. in English and a minor in Technical Writing, with concentrations in Criminal Justice and Italian. She worked as a journalist right out of college and as a marketing writer when she moved to Connecticut. She has spent the last several years writing children’s books.
She met her husband Allen “just like every Greek woman” - working at a Greek diner in Alexandria, VA. They joke that they should probably be getting royalties from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” since much of it is their story. Her husband is a small business owner in Middletown and they have three children, Callista (17), Sabrina (15), and Lucas (8). Eleni and Allen moved to Avon in 2013.
Eleni is co-founder of two Farmington Valley organizations: 100 Women Who Can - Farmington Valley, a regional giving circle that collected over $55,000 in its first year, and ForwardCT, an 1,800+ member grassroots activist group that educates and inspires residents to support critical causes including poverty, healthcare, refugees, education and the environment. She is currently running for State Representative of District 17 (Canton and Avon).
Eleni is an enthusiastic volunteer and would love to have her fellow Rotarians join her sometime at the Foodshare truck drop off, every other Tuesday, at the Farmington Valley American Muslim Center. In her free time, Eleni enjoys dining out, watching movies with her family, and reading.