Takis P. Karantonis

Takis P. Karantonis joined NVTC in June 2023 to fill the seat vacated by Katie Cristol. He is also serving as a principal member of the VRE Operations Board.

Mr. Karantonis is an economist and urban planner with more than 25 years of urban and regional planning experience. He was first elected to the Arlington County Board in a special election in July 2020 to fill a vacated seat and then re-elected on November 2, 2021, to serve a four-year term. For 2023, he is serving as the County Board liaison to the Climate Change, Energy and Environment Commission, Transportation Commission, Economic Development Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission, Arlington Neighborhoods Advisory Committee (formerly known as Neighborhoods Conservation Program), the Community Development Citizen Advisory Committee, Northern Virginia Park Authority, the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, Arlington Independent Media, Arlington Career Center BLPC, and the Ballston Business Improvement District. Takis is also co-chair of the County Board’s Audit Committee.

Regionally, Mr. Karantonis is the chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Climate, Energy, and Environment Policy Committee. He is also the immediate past chair of MWCOG’s Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee and represents Arlington on the National Capital Regional Transportation Planning Board and MWCOG’s Human Services Policy Committee and Region Forward Coalition. He also represents Arlington on the Planning Coordination Advisory Committee of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Born in Athens, Greece, Takis studied economics in Germany, graduating from Berlin’s Freie Universität with a master’s degree in urban and regional economics, emphasizing on inequalities inherent to regional and urban development processes.

Mr. Karatonis is a senior technical advisor for the Microloan Program at the Enterprise Development Group of the Ethiopian Community Development Center in Arlington. From 2009-2016 he served as executive director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO). During his tenure, he led the implementation of innovative urban revitalization policies, such as a Form Based Code and a place-making agenda throughout the Pike Corridor, engaging in policy and advocacy with an emphasis on public transit, land use, housing, retail, and economic development. His efforts resulted in the 2015 American Institute of Architects, Northern Virginia Chapter Award to CPRO for outstanding contributions to redevelopment and revitalization efforts on Columbia Pike.

Since arriving in Arlington 16 years ago, Takis has been a civically engaged community leader. He served in several resident advisory commissions. He is a member and former President of the Columbia Heights Civic Association. He served as a volunteer, member, and chair of the Board of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (now EcoAction Arlington) and the Alliance for Housing Solutions. He is a former member of the Arlington Public Art Committee.

Takis is a graduate of Leadership Arlington (2010) and the University of Virginia Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership (2017). Thanks to his background and immigrant experience, Takis can communicate in Greek, English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan. Takis and his wife, Dr. Lida Anestidou, live in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of South Arlington.