Elena Panaritis, Social Entrepreneur, Economist, Policy Innovator, at The Antigua Forum

Washington, WA, January 14, 2016 --(PR.com)-- The Antigua Forum is an exclusive, annual gathering of political reformers and entrepreneurs from around the world who work in improving the well-being of people everywhere.

Elena will join thought leaders and will explain how institutional reforms are a foundation for growth and not austerity. She will present her innovative method for institutional reforms to make real change and her experience in policymaking and politics in Greece as an MP and Economic Advisor to the Greek Government since 2009. She will also participate in the endeavors of other thought leaders and political entrepreneurs throughout the forum.

About Elena Panaritis

Elena Panaritis is an institutional economist, social entrepreneur, and policy innovator. Until recently, she served as a special advisor to the Greek Prime Minister and as a Member of the Parliament of Greece. In more than a decade as an economist at the World Bank, Elena spearheaded several institutional/structural reforms including property rights reform in Peru that received International Best Practice and Innovation awards (17 Million people benefited while the return was over 150 multiple). Elena’s reform methods have revolutionized and forever changed how people and policymakers think about them; and specifically about property rights’ reforms. As an institutional economist, she pioneered social entrepreneurship. She is renowned for her success in transforming informal markets (by changing property rights) into vibrant, growing formal economic and social entities. Her book "Prosperity Unbound: Building Property Markets with Trust" (Palgrave Macmillan) recounts her experience and expands on her methodology “Reality Check Analysis,” which is considered one of the best practical applications of institutional economics to property rights issues. Robert Litan, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and Vice President for Research and Policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship has called her work “a real contribution.”

Elena is the founder of Panel Group, a triple-bottom-line business that focuses in distressed cities and markets with high level of informality, transforming the wealth base of poor property holders, to proud middle class owners. Panel Group also provides counsel to governments and private sector on how to apply structural reforms and changes to transform illiquid assets (property) and turn markets more efficient and productive. She has also founded Thought for Action (http://www.thoughtforaction.gr/), an educational platform to create awareness about transforming informality and countries under solvency crisis like Greece.

Elena has taught economic development, housing finance and property markets reform courses at the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, INSEAD, and the Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She blogs at: www.prosperityunbound.com/blog