Biography

July 15, 1950 · Athens, Greece

Ariadne Anna Stassinopoulos

5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

[Regarding her political transformation] "When I was a Republican, Saddam Hussein was our ally, George Bush owned a mediocre baseball team, Enron was a respected energy company and Michael Jackson was still black."

My principal complaint [against California Governor Gray Davis] is that he is somebody who's brought a tremendous amount of ingenuity, creativity and passion to fund-raising, but not to governing.

[on Kai-Fu Lee, Chinese technology innovator] His embrace of of social media lifted him from executive to icon of online freedom. In February (2013) Lee was banned from his Chinese social-media accounts after he criticized the government, in part for it's online censorship. How did he respond? By inviting his thirty million followers to follow him on Twitter. So Lee's story turns out to be a universal story - of striving for freedom (online and off), of the power of technology to circumvent the status quo, and of an individual's potential to create new opportunities that benefit not only himself and his community but the wider world.

We need to accept that we won't always make the right decisions - understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success.

[on Demi Lovato] After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, instead of hiding it she partnered with Be Vocal, a campaign devoted to getting people to speak up about mental illness and the stigma around it. She has also been a public role model, unashamedly chronically her struggles with substance abuse..She is a remarkably talented artist and performer. But her courage, honesty and willingness to use her own experiences to help others are what make her a true star.