WASHINGTON -- Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, a prominent Democratic fundraiser and developer from Sacramento, was named ambassador to Hungary on Friday.
A civic leader, philanthropist and daughter of land baron and political kingmaker Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, she was nominated to the post by President Barack Obama. He said she "will work to keep our nation safe at home and strengthen our partnerships abroad." The nomination requires Senate confirmation.
Her appointment wasn't a surprise; The Bee reported in June that she was being considered for an ambassadorship. She is the latest in a line of Democratic contributors named to ambassadorships by Obama.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, 43, was raised in the Pocket neighborhood and now lives in San Francisco and also spends time in Sacramento. She is president of AKT Development Corp., the Sacramento firm founded by her father, who emigrated from Greece as a teenager.
Father and daughter helped bankroll the failed 2006 gubernatorial campaign of former state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a longtime Tsakopoulos ally. She raised money for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign as head of Greek-Americans for Clinton, but also donated to Obama.
Her husband, Markos Kounalakis, is president of Washington Monthly, a left-leaning magazine devoted to politics and public affairs. "That has broadened her horizons, whetted her appetite for what's going on in the larger world even more than before," said Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, whose marriage was blessed by the head of Orthodox Christianity at the Patriarchate Cathedral in Istanbul, Turkey, serves as a trustee of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. The couple have two young sons.
The White House said Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis "has worked tirelessly on public policy issues both locally and nationally."
It cited her commitment to building housing "while working toward a sustainable environment," and Sacramento officials said she has been involved in "smart growth" development.
"She talks about projects in a larger context, how she believes they will fit in and be an asset to a locale," Dickinson said.
AKT, the family company, has played a lead role in Sacramento's suburban spread, winning government approvals to build on vast tracts of farmland and grazing land in Elk Grove, Natomas, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and elsewhere � earning the ire of environmental groups in the process.
Recently, the firm has championed development in the Greenbriar section of North Natomas, just outside the Sacramento city limits.
"We haven't always agreed on every specific development project that she has pursued, but she's always been an unwavering advocate for the big-picture look, the long-range look," said Mike McKeever, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.
Under White House protocol, ambassadorial nominees are prohibited from talking to the media until they're formally presented to the Senate. No hearing has been scheduled.
Angelo K. Tsakopoulos and other members of her family couldn't be reached for comment.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis is believed to be the second person with Sacramento ties named to an ambassador-level post, according to Marcia Eymann at the Center for Sacramento History.
The first was Henry Gage, a former governor named U.S. minister to Portugal by President William Howard Taft in 1909.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis' appointment is consistent with a pattern in the Obama administration, in which wealthy contributors have been rewarded with ambassadorships. Previous presidents have done the same thing.
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth.