The North East Community Center has named Athena Demetra Fliakos its next executive director, selecting a nonprofit leader and educator to guide the Millerton-based organization’s food, transportation, youth, and family programs.
Fliakos, a Salisbury, Connecticut, resident who most recently served as CEO of YWCA Ulster County, will begin Nov. 2. The board announced her appointment Oct. 22.
She succeeds Christine Sergent, who resigned in March after eight years leading the organization.
Fliakos brings more than two decades of experience in education, nonprofit leadership, and community building, according to NECC’s announcement. At YWCA Ulster County, she led a capital campaign, renovations to its community campus, and the expansion of programs and partnerships.
Fliakos told the Herald in an interview that her priorities include raising awareness of NECC’s services, developing sustainable funding, and pursuing a capital campaign for a new building. Before setting broader goals, she said, she wants to learn from the organization’s senior program staff.
“My first goal will really be to, you know, capture, um, the ideas and the imagination of the senior program staff in terms of how they view increasing scope and scale,” she said.
Board Chairperson Irene Banning said the appointment would bring stability to the organization and the residents who rely on it.
“What it will mean for the people we serve is that it will provide reliability and consistency in the services we provide,” Banning told the Herald in an interview.
Although NECC is based in Millerton, its services extend across northeastern Dutchess County. In Pine Plains, those include transportation, case management, emergency financial assistance, and food distribution through local partners, Banning said.
NECC serves residents in the towns of Amenia, Dover, North East, Pine Plains, Stanford, and Washington, as well as the village of Millerton.
Family services staff help residents connect with existing resources and navigate financial emergencies, including difficulties paying for rent, heating oil, and essential car repairs.
The organization’s 2025 annual impact report illustrates that reach: Its food pantry served 1,068 households, its transportation program provided 2,859 rides to medical appointments and errands, and its case management program connected 176 households with resources. Its youth programs also placed 30 teenagers in jobs.
Fliakos said she wants more residents to understand the range of services available and more potential supporters to recognize the organization’s role in the region.
Her background includes classroom teaching and work with educational institutions. A Hotchkiss School graduate, she later taught English literature there before working in New York City public schools. In 2013, she founded The GoodBrain Project, which works with public schools and nonprofits on organizational development, according to NECC’s announcement.
Fliakos said her family’s emphasis on education, along with her experience in rural communities, helped shape her interest in expanding access to opportunity.
At NECC, she hopes to develop a financial model that supports programs while sustaining staff compensation. She described collaboration with government agencies, employers, and other regional institutions as essential to meeting residents’ needs.
A proposed new building would be another major undertaking. Fliakos said a fundraising target has not been set and would depend on strategic planning, coordination with local municipalities, and the cost of maintaining the facility.
She also addressed the organization’s former Early Learning Program, which closed in 2025 amid financial pressures. The Herald previously reported that rising expenses, declining revenue, and enrollment below capacity had made the program difficult to sustain.
Fliakos said restoring the program in its previous form is not a current priority. Instead, she favors a coordinated state, county, and regional approach to child care, while continuing NECC’s other youth programs.
For Fliakos, a new center would also offer an opportunity to bring people together across generations and economic backgrounds.
“Even the region’s most affluent people still struggle with loneliness, the loneliness epidemic crosses all economic lives, right?” she said. “So I think that that will be an amazing opportunity to have a center where people can really gather.”