18 Seeds of Inspiration from Israel

Reuven Karasik is one of the brightest young faces of Israel's tech scene. He started coding at 7, freelancing at 13, and spent his time in high school building cool websites, plugins and tools for a few of Jerusalem's startups. He also founded Tomorrow JLM and organizes meetups, events and hackathons in the city as part of Made in JLM.

Dr. Yael Schuster, aka "Dr. Mom", has been many things, including a research scientist at a leading research institute, an educator, and a mother. Yael founded The KnowItAlls, an international community and educational toy line crafted to give girls superstar scientist role models and to encourage them to play with science, and StellarNova, an edutainment company that is in partnership with SpaceIL. She is definitely a science superwoman herself!

Rachel Azaria has been a member of Knesset, the leader of the Kulanu party, and the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. During her time as an MK, she served on the Finance Committee and Interior Affairs Committee. MK Azaria focused on labor laws, women's affairs, and redefining religion and state, including passing legislation increasing paid vacation and paternity leave. Azaria is internationally recognized for her feminist activism; in her role as a local politician Azaria won hard-fought campaigns to enforce laws prohibiting gender segregation and discrimination in Jerusalem’s Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Between 2004-2007, Azaria served as the director of Mavoi Satum, a nonprofit organization which assists Jewish women who have been denied a religious divorce (get). Azaria started her public activity as an environmental activist in 1998, serving as a board member of Israel’s volunteer-based environmental organization Megama Yeruka, and eventually served as joint chairman of the Knesset Environmental Lobby.

Mishy Harman is the host of the popular, award-winning radio show and podcast 'Israel Story.' Born and raised in Jerusalem, he graduated from Harvard, where he majored in history. He then moved to England, where he did an MPhil at Cambridge University, in archeology. Following a stint as a teaching fellow back at Harvard, he returned to Jerusalem, where he completed his doctorate at Hebrew University. He loves nothing more than a good story and spending time with his family.

Lena Bakman has served world Jewry and the image of our nation for many years. She has served as a leader of ROI Germany and a member of the World Zionist Congress. She has been the Deputy Director of Communications and Knesset & Government Liaison at NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem based research institute. Lena has also served as a media advisor to former Knesset ministers Dr. Einat Wilf, Chair of the Diaspora committee and Education committee, and Tzipi Hotovely, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Lena has experience in communications, new media political and public diplomacy fields. She is very active in advocating initiatives for Israel and is the founder of a Journalists and Spokespersons group on Facebook.

Noam Chen is an award-winning photographer, specializing in landscapes and portraits. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines across Israel, Europe and North America, including The National Geographic. In 2009, Noam took part in group exhibitions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and by 2011 held his first solo exhibition “Photography in Another Dimension”. His work has been displayed in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, as well as other cities across the world as the official Jerusalem photographer for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. His powerful Holocaust photo project is now part of the permanent collection of the National Photography Museum in Colombia, South America. He is also the first Israeli and Jewish artist to join the UAE's Arabian Gallery in Dubai.

Laura Ben-David is a professional photographer, marketing consultant, and social media activist. Originally from New York, she started writing when she made aliyah from Florida and never stopped. Formerly the head of social media at Nefesh B’Nefesh, she is now Director of Marketing & New Media​ at Shavei Israel. A popular writer and speaker, Laura’s subjects of choice include Israel, blogging, aliyah & social media - and sometimes all four at once.

Rabbi Seth Mandell, along with his wife Sherri, founded The Koby Mandell Foundation after the tragic murder of their 13-year-old son, Koby, as he was hiking in the canyon behind his family home in 2001. The Koby Mandell Foundation is dedicated to helping bereaved Israeli families heal after losing a loved one to terror and other tragedies. Programs, many of which are free to participants, include Camp Koby and Yosef, healing retreats, support groups and individual grief counseling.

Sivan Ya'ari Borowich is the founder and CEO of Innovation: Africa. A true woman of the world, Sivan was born in Israel and raised in France, before earning her degrees in the US, in addition to her work in the rural areas of Africa. Sivan graduated summa cum laude with a degree in finance from Pace University and holds a Master's degree in International Energy Management and Policy from Columbia. Her time on the African continent began while working with a major multinational corporation in 1999, and after witnessing the state in which many of the residents lived, she developed the groundwork for what would become Innovation: Africa. Since its founding in 2008, her organization has brought Israeli technological innovations to remote African villages across the continent, providing millions of people with access to electricity and clean water for the first time.

Sivan has been recognized as one of the "40 Under 40 Most Promising Israelis" by Globes Daily, one of the "Top 100 People Postively Influencing Jewish Life" by Algemeiner, and one of the "50 Most Influential Women in Israel" by Forbes. Innovation: Africa has been the recipient of the United Nation Innovation Award and the Abba Eban Institute's Innovative Diplomacy Award.  

Father Naddaf is an Arab Israeli priest dedicated to integrating the Christian community in Israel into all aspects of Israeli society, and especially the army and national service. He is known for his vocal support and activism on behalf of the State of Israel, and serves as a judge in Israel's religious courts. He has often faced criticism, personal attacks, and even physical violence from the Arab communities as a result of his pro-Israel views.

Phyllis Heimowitz was born in New York. For nine years she taught in underprivileged areas in the Bronx. She moved to Israel with her husband and son a year after the Six-Day War. In Israel she had two more daughters, Tamar and Michal. Michal tragically lost her childhood sweetheart at age 22, only a few months before their wedding, while he serving on the Lebanon border. It was soon obvious that there was an unfortunate lack of support provided for these partners, future spouses, of fallen IDF soldiers, as they were not officially considered family members. Therefore, together with Tamar, Phyllis founded a non-profit now known as "The Girlfriends of Fallen IDF Soldiers (GFIDF)" in 1998. Today, while still being an independent organization, GFIDF operates in cooperation with the IDF and the Ministry of Defense. This organization is unique in the world and in Israel, providing psychological help to bereaved fiancees and fiances of fallen soldiers. These young bereaved people are given free psychological help in the framework of support groups and individual therapy. 

Michael Freund served as Deputy Communications Director in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office under Binyamin Netanyahu during his first term of office. Freund is the Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel, a non-profit organization based in Israel that reaches out and assists Lost Tribes and hidden Jewish communities to return to the Jewish people, and bring many home to Israel. The organization works with no-longer-lost Jewish communities across the world, from the Amazon basin to Italy, from Spain to Russia, to the Indian subcontinent and China. In addition, Freund is a correspondent and syndicated columnist for the Jerusalem Post, Israel's largest English-language daily newspaper. A native New Yorker, he is a graduate of Princeton University and holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia. He has lived in Israel for decades and still remains a loyal New York Mets fan.

Beth Steinberg is the executive director and co-founder of Shutaf Inclusion Programs in Jerusalem, offering year-round, informal-education programs for children, teens and young adults with disabilities. Shutaf was founded in 2007 out of the desire of Beth and her co-founder, Miriam Avraham, both mothers of disabled individuals, who wanted to provide activities for their children that were similar to what the other kids were getting, and not just resort to hiring a babysitter. Shutaf is committed to an inclusive teaching model that welcomes all participants - with and without disabilities - regardless of religious, cultural and socioeconomic differences. In recognition of her work with Shutaf, Beth was a recipient of the Nefesh B'Nefesh Sylvan Adams Bonei Zion Prize for olim who are making exceptional contributions to Israeli society.

Beth regularly blogs on the Times of Israel about parenting and disability issues, and is also the artistic director of Theater in the Rough, creating engaging theatrical experiences including summer Shakespeare in Jerusalem.

Yosef Abramowitz is a co-founder of Arava Solar, which brought the solar industry to Israel, and it remains the leading solar company in the country. Currently, he serves as CEO of Energiya Global Capital, an impact investment solar and social development enterprise focused on bringing power to the people of Africa. He also was a member of the official Israeli delegation to the Paris Climate Conference. Yosef Abramowitz has been named by CNN as one of six global Green Pioneers, and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He has also been a candidate for President of Israel, and a recipient of the Green Globe, Israel's highest environmental award.

Moria Gilbert, originally from Brooklyn, Jerusalem resident now and a true Jerusalemite at heart. Moria has worked at SPNI, Israel's largest environmental NGO, and now works with KKL-JNF, continuing her efforts to protect the natural beauty of Israel. She dabbles in restaurant reviewing when she is not busy saving trees and urban nature in Jerusalem. Moria also enjoys running half marathons (she believes half is just as good) with her group of strong women called- The Jerusalem Lionesses. Together they run the streets of Jerusalem, keeping up the spirits of all men and women in Jerusalem alike.

David Portowicz, an American born rabbi, co-founded the Jaffa Institute in 1982. Since then, the organization has provided educational, nutritional, therapeutic, and other social programs to some of Israel's poorest citizens, living in the area of Jaffa and Tel Aviv. The organization helps thousands in need each year from impoverished children, to at-risk teens, to Holocaust survivors.

Rabbi Dr. David Portowicz completed Yeshiva College in 1970, received his Masters in Social Work from St. Louis University in 1972, and his Doctorate from Brandeis University in 1974. His professional experience includes a position as lecturer in the School of Social Work at Bar Ilan University, serving as the the Director of the Jewish Community Center of Jaffa, and serving as principal of both Leominster and Beth Shalom Hebrew Schools.

Rasha was born, raised, and educated in Backa Algharybiya, an Arab town in Israel. She studied Psychology and English Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rasha developed a taste for politics and social involvement after working in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, as a VIP tour guide in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. She was selected from hundreds of candidates to represent Israel as the first Youth Delegate to the UN. Since then, she has continued her activism in Israel and the international world, working with Seeds of Peace, an organization to help youth in the Middle East find common ground instead of conflict, and as a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After making Aliyah with his family in 2000, Joseph Gitler was astounded to learn that nearly one quarter of the population was living below the poverty line and suffering from food insecurity. As a result, in 2003, he founded Leket Israel – The National Food Bank. Since its founding, Leket has brought tens of thousands of tons of food to hundreds of thousands of Israel's neediest residents every week. They offer their assistance and nutritious meals on that basis alone, regardless of age, gender, religion, or ethnicity.