I was born and raised here in Nova Scotia and am the son of Greek immigrants who came to the Province to seek new opportunities and to start a family. I spent much of my youth working in my parent’s restaurant, growing up learning the values of hard work, and the importance in giving back to the community.

Unfortunately, my sister and I lost both our parents at a young age. They instilled the importance of education so that I would have opportunities they did not. This inspired me to complete my Bachelor of Commerce from St. Mary’s University and went on to earn his MBA as well.

After graduating, I went on to work for Scotiabank in Truro and Amherst helping small businesses succeed. At Scotiabank, I completed the Certified Management Accounting (CMA) designation and am now a Certified Professional Accountant CPA-CMA. I subsequently joined Wilson Fuel as a Senior Project Manager and later in my career, also worked at Trenton Works as the Controller in Pictou County.

I was a successful small business owner and employer before entering elected politics in 2013. As someone who was never a career politician, I watched with growing concern how the Province was being mismanaged, and how a poor economic plan was leaving no room to spend on healthcare, education, and other important social programs. The job stagnation was causing more and more young people to leave Nova Scotia in search of jobs elsewhere, and the situation remained unimproved for over a decade.

Never one to sit back, I decided to seek office and was first elected as the MLA for Halifax Citadel-Sable Island in 2013. I was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of the Public Service Commission, Minister of Information Management and Minister of the Voluntary Sector. In these roles, I led important changes to government such as consolidating hospital procurement across the Province, which saved the government over $50 million that was redirected to frontline healthcare needs. At the Public Service Commission I changed archaic hiring policies which resulted in the hiring of over 2,000 youth. The youth that entered the public service have been part of the new energy that we experience across Government.

Re-elected in 2017 and appointed Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, Nova Scotia saw unemployment rates reach record lows, and a reversal in the outflow of young people from the Province. Nova Scotia is now an important employment destination for a diversified economy, and these efforts have allowed the government to balance the budget year after year while also making strategic investments in healthcare, education, and other programs.

COVID-19 is a global economic and health emergency that has impacted Nova Scotians and our economy in an unprecedented way. I have the business and financial experience to lead our Province through this crisis and bring us back on track to creating new economic opportunities while investing further in essential social programs and infrastructure.

In my spare time, I've coached senior soccer for the last eight years and have played soccer for most of my life and continue to ski which is one of my favourite activities. I am also a three time co-chair of the famous Halifax Greek Fest, and have given back as a board member of the William Dennis Memorial Golf Tournament a mentor with CMA as well as a volunteer with Junior Achievement.