Sophia Staikou studied Political Sciences at Panteios University in Greece and obtained her Master’s Degree in Industrial Psychology at Sussex University in England.

She started her career with Citibank and subsequently held positions at the Bank of Greece and the Ministry of Finance in the Government of National Unity (1974), before joining the Office of the then Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis.

After 1981 she worked at the Marketing and Public Relations department of Ioniki Bank and held office in the Press and Public Relations department of the then Ministry of Land Planning and Environment.

In 1992 she joined Piraeus Bank S.A., which is now part of the wider Piraeus Bank Group. Her original assignment, as General Manager, was to put in place a modern Human Resources department and develop the grounds for communication and marketing strategy. In 2002 she assumed the Chairmanship of the Cultural Foundation of  Piraeus Bank Group and remains responsible for the Corporate Responsibility of the Group with particular emphasis in Green Banking and Environmental issues.