David has Israel in his heart. A self- declared Israel activist, this passion has

dictated most of his major life decisions and has turned him into a true “Yerushalmi” hav-ing made Israel’s capitol city his home-town for the past ten years.

Before making Aliya and serving in the IDF, David was the head adviser for the Depart-ment of Informal Jewish Education for the South African Jewish Board of Education as well as the founder of the Israel Information Department for the South African Zionist Federation. In Israel, David has worked for the Jewish Agency and the World Union of Jewish Students until he decided to es-tablish the NU Campaign – an Israeli social awareness clothing brand and non-profit organization, dedicated to raising knowl-edge of and funding for important Israeli causes and charitable organizations.

Taken from the Israeli slang word “Nu” which means “So” or “C’mon” and almost begs a response, The NU Campaign aims to achieve exactly that: engage and empower people worldwide to get active for Israel! With some of

the biggest organizations in Israel on board, NU is becoming a relevant platform to con-nect this generation behind Israel’s story.

David is married to Tova and the proud fa-ther of Matan-Ohr and Gilad-Tzvi.

DAVIDKRAMER

PROJECT:

“The NU Campaign” is an Is-raeli social-awareness clothing brand and non-profit organiza-tion dedicated to raising aware-ness and funding for important Israeli causes and charitable organizations. Its mission is to serve as inspiration for others to get involved and make a dif-ference!

David is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the former Program

Director for PeacePlayers International – Middle East, an organization that uses the game of basketball as a vehicle to educate and unite Arab and Jewish children in Isra-el and the West Bank. During his time with PeacePlayers International, David matched volunteers with assistant coaching opportu-nities throughout the region, triggering his desire to create a more formal mechanism to inspire and train coaches to be agents of change in their communities. Prior to working with PeacePlayers Inter-national, David served as Assistant General Manager for the minor league basketball team, the Maryland Nighthawks. During his time with the team, David initiated commu-nity outreach programs which attracted over 10,000 fans. Most recently, David organized and co-host-ed a fundraising event at Columbia Universi-ty, generating funds and building awareness for both PeacePlayers International and Safe Haven West Side Basketball League, where

he had been working as a sports educator.

“Through my work I have witnessed sport’s true power to unite, educate, and inspire, something I hope to promote and develop through the creation of a socially conscious Israel coaches training program for young Jewish leaders from around the world.”

DAVIDLASDAY

PROJECT:

“Bring It In – Israel” is an Israel based program that trains and certifies young Jewish leaders from around the world to use sports to teach life skills, Jewish values, and about Isra-el. During their time in Israel partici-pants will hone their coaching skills and deepen their understanding of Jewish values and Israel in classroom settings, while gaining hands on ex-perience through volunteering with local disadvantaged youth.

Madeline was born and raised in Cleve-land, Ohio. After graduating from

Indiana University in 2009, she did some soul searching in Washington, DC, attempt-ing to understand why her degree in Public Affairs didn’t quite match up to her true in-terests. Upon returning home to Cleveland and witnessing the current “brain drain” taking place there, Madeline realized that she wanted to instill the pride and passion she felt for Cleveland in other young adults.

Madeline subsequently began work at Cleveland Hillel as the Coordinator of Grad-uate Student programs, planning social events and building networks for students. As the year progressed and with each more and more successful event, she saw a spark in Cleveland that needed a serious flame – the young Jewish community. Currently, Madeline volunteers frequently on various committees for Temple Tifereth Israel. With her ongoing passion for Cleveland and Judaism, Madeline hopes to combine and channel that energy into a big change for the Cleveland community.

MADELINEBLEIWEISS

PROJECT:

Madeline’s venture will inspire, engage, and motivate Cleve-land’s Jewish community to cre-ate and promote Cleveland in a youthful, trendy and desirable light for singles and young cou-ples.

Manny was born in Israel, but grew up mostly in Melbourne, Australia in an ul-

tra-Orthodox environment. He is the second oldest of 17 children. After returning to Israel to serve in the Israel Defence Forces, Manny returned to Australia where he completed a degree in International Relations. During this time he also undertook work and an intern-ship with a federal parliamentarian, as well as an internship with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney.

In 2006 Manny was appointed Executive Officer of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission and in 2009 he commenced his current position as Assistant Director – Avia-tion Security, at the Australian Government’s Office of Transport Security.

Manny is the Vice President of the Canberra Jewish Community. He is also the Founder and Director of the Capital Jewish Forum, a non-partisan Australia-based group that facilitates meetings and discussions among Jewish professionals nationally, particularly interaction with distinguished speakers.

Manny recently presented at the 2009 Parlia-ment of the World’s Religions, and is the con-venor of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies 2011 Conference.

Manny is an avid sports fan. He is married and has three children.

MANNYWAKS

PROJECT:

“The Capital Jewish Forum” is a non-partisan Australia-based group inspired by the desire to promote and strengthen Jewish continuity and identity through the facilitation of meetings and discussions among Jewish pro-fessionals nationally, particular-ly interaction with distinguished speakers.

Marla is now ready to launch her encore career through the new

venture, “Skilled Volunteers for Israel.” She has spent most of her professional life in non-profit and higher education management. She managed a customized training department at Madison Area Tech-nical College for 15 years and has spent the last 12 months staffing a federal workforce development project that trained over 1,500 people in south central Wisconsin. A Chicago native, for the past 25 years Marla has lived in Madison, Wisconsin where she and her husband raised their three children. Her passion for Israel led her to discover the need to build the frame-work for baby boomers like herself to volunteer their skills and expertise in Israel. As Marla explains, “Baby Boomers are the most educated and financially secure generation in history, and we long

to leave a social legacy.” Marla can’t wait to connect this rich resource of Jewish talent with the Israeli non-profit sector.

MARLAGAMORAN

PROJECT:

“Skilled Volunteers for Israel” will design and coordinate customized volunteer opportu-nities that link skilled volunteer resources with the Israeli non-profit sector to expand capac-ity, meet specialized needs and transform volunteer engagement.

Nic is the creative director of “Look-tolearn.” She creates unique multi-

dimensional educational programs for schools and families. She has previously worked in schools and museums in both London and Seattle and is now develop-ing an innovative museum/gallery edu-cation technique to enhance the study of Jewish texts and museum objects and art. Nic believes that her cross curricula learning experience can inspire a life-long interest in the arts and in Torah. She lives and works in London with her husband Simon, sons Jonah and Rafi and their dog, Emily.

NICABERY

PROJECT:

“LooktoLearn” is a cross cur-ricula learning experience that combines the study of Tanach text and Museum art and arti-facts for schools and families.

Micah was active in Israel’s National Youth Movement for over ten years,

where he trained teenagers to work as leaders in their local communities. Before, during and after his army service, he worked extensively on leadership programs with new immigrant communities in Israel, mainly with youth from Ethiopia and the Caucasus. He was one of the first people to implement a leadership training curriculum among Bedouin youth.

After an honorable discharge from the army he co-founded “Breaking the Silence”, an organization of former Israeli soldiers speaking out about their army service in the Occupied Territories and the moral price, and the degradation of spirit paid on both societal and personal levels while serving the nation.

Since then, Micha has met with grassroots activists around the world and has gained perspective on the importance of effective local community organizing. He has trav-eled back and forth through East and West

Jerusalem “mapping” social justice and environmental sustainability (the two are ultimately linked, he believes) as well as the grassroots efforts taking place across the region. He is currently engaged in creating a network for Palestinian and Israeli grass-roots organizations. His mission is to link the leadership of these organizations with supporting communities in the Diaspora geared towards weaving a common strategy for realistic lasting peace in Jerusalem.

MICAHKURZ

PROJECT:

“Grassroots Jerusalem” is a “bottom-up” mapping project of communities and grassroots efforts in Palestinian and Israeli neighborhoods of the greater Jerusalem area.

Mollie is a campaigner for a more just policy towards asylum seekers, mostly

from Africa, entering Israel. She has assisted in lobbying in the Knesset for the past four years, helping persuade current Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign a peti-tion against the deportation of refugees in 2007, and she regularly organizes meetings between Knesset Members and asylum seekers.

In addition to working extensively with news agencies, she has debated on the BBC and Israel’s Kol Yisrael. She is an active member of Israel’s university debating league where she won first place in the country’s 2010 English Debating Championships and has worked as a high school debating coach for the past eight years.

While living in the United States as a child, she remembers visiting Washington DC’s Holocaust Museum and wondering how countries could reject Jews fleeing Nazi Europe out of fear that they may be spies, or thinking that their lives, in the mid-1930s,

were not truly threatened. “Unfortunately,” she says, “there are similar arguments being used today. It is not enough to refute these claims with clever debating skills — direct testimonials are the most powerful tool.”

MOLLIEGERVER

PROJECT:

“Refugee Testimonials” is a project where volunteer citizens interview asylum seekers. Testi-monials are sent to policymakers, the media, and collected in a central database to encourage a more just Refugee Status Deter-mination process.

Naomi earned a PhD in sociol-ogy from Bar Ilan University. Her

doctoral research focused on the contemporary observance of the mik-vah rituals, evidencing a wide range of social needs, and ways that this ritual connects to Jewish and personal identity. Naomi is spearheading the initiative to found the “Eden Center,” creating a new paradigm that will combine state-of-the-art mikvah and spa facilities with educational workshops and health and halakhic resources. In addition, Naomi works as a dental hygienist. She lives in Jerusalem and is the mother of three beautiful children.

NAOMIGRUMET

PROJECT:

“The Eden Center” aims to revitalize the mikvah in order to meet the needs of Jewish women today, making it an in-tegrated and holistic center that addresses the needs of body, mind and soul in ways that are empowering, enriching, and personally meaningful.

Noah currently serves as the Associate Director of Economic Advancement

for Chancellor Eric Fingerhut. In this capac-ity Noah helps coordinate the public insti-tutions in Ohio (13 universities, 24 branch campuses, 23 community colleges, and over 200 adult workforce sites) in five focus areas: technology transfer and commercialization, academic entrepreneurship, developing communities around campuses, workforce development, and global relations. Noah also serves as the Chancellor’s liaison to the Ohio Department of Development and as a Policy Assistant for Governor Ted Strickland on issues related to Higher Education and Economic Development. Prior to his current role, Noah was a Research Associate for the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, where he worked on the development of Ohio’s Strategic Plan for Higher Education. Noah recently graduated from Ohio State University with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Economics.

NOAHSUDOW

PROJECT:

Noah’s project will create a tool to foster and nurture research collaborations between North-east Ohio and Israeli universi-ties resulting in research and product commercialization that will bring new industries and jobs to the region and to Israel.

Jack has been interested in the en-vironment from as far back as he

can remember. In the second grade, he rallied all of his classmates to donate one recess a week to cleaning up litter from the schoolyard. That was the same year that a city councilman asked Jack to help with his campaign because of the letter Jack had written asking him to clean up Boston Harbor.

Jack worked his way through a degree at Hebrew University in Philosophy as a business consultant with Dale Carnegie Training, then as a web development director for Jerusalem.com. Upon finish-ing his degree, Jack jumped into a field that any self-respecting philosopher would – web development.

But Jack’s passion has always been the environment. At the end of 2007 Jack helped launch GreenProphet.com. Today Green Prophet boasts over 5.5 million

hits monthly and a readership of over 80,000 unique visitors a month, includ-ing the Prince of Jordan and the Director of UNEP.

JACKREICHERT

PROJECT:

“Middle East Cleantech,” as a branch of GreenProphet.com, will provide an online hub for Middle East Cleantech compa-nies

Yishai was born in Jerusalem and raised in Seattle. He currently

resides in Brooklyn, New York where he leveraged a chance meeting with Shemspeed Founder and Director Erez Safar at Jewzapalooza — a Jew-ish-themed summer festival — into a college internship and a position as Associate Director of Marketing. With a degree in Marketing Management from Baruch College, Yishai has a solid background in marketing, publicity, and promotions. However his strongest assets are more intangible. Known for his passion and his drive, Yishai has his finger on the pulse of what is hip, fresh, fashion forward, and on trend. He has a definitive point of view, a strong edi-torial eye, and — because he is in the music business — an established ear for talent.,

YISHAIMIZRAHI

VARON

PROJECT:

The Keffiyeh is an iconic fashion accessory, especially on college campuses. “The Shemspeed Is-raeli Keffiyeh Project” utilizes popular trends such as music and fashion to engage Jewish students; to leverage their pas-sion for what’s hip and hot into an interactive dialogue about Jewish identity, community, and Israel; and to inspire them with relatable role models that exem-plify Jewish commitment and Israel activism.

Yonatan grew up in northern California on land with a garden and

orchard that he tended with his mother. Yonatan also grew up going to Camp Tawonga — a Jewish camp near Yosem-ite — where his body and soul thrived on being outdoors with other Jews. Yonatan moved to Israel seven years ago and married Shana, who recently gave birth to their son Shacharya Ohr. Shacharya Ohr is a big light in his par-ents’ lives and is also one of Yonatan’s primary spiritual teachers. Yonatan is involved in Jewish environmental work and hopes to spend more time in nature this coming year.

YONATANNERIL

PROJECT:

“Jewish Environmental Teach-ing Seminars” will train rabbis, rabbinical students, and Jewish educators to teach Jews our tra-dition’s environmental and spiri-tual wisdom

Yoni was born and bred in Cincinnati. He found his way to St.

Louis by way of Washington Univer-sity, where he earned a B.A. in Psychol-ogy. Currently the Program Director for “Next Dor,” an organization based around building a young adult Jewish community, Yoni previously started the Moishe House in St. Louis, founded the blog, The St. Lou Jew, the site HipHopIn-spires.us, and two chapters of the Hip Hop Congress.

YONISARASON

PROJECT:

The mission of “Next Dor” is to strengthen the Jewish community by creating a post-denominational, non-institutional, urban Jewish community space for young adults in St. Louis.

Zach is a student, pianist, hacker, and entrepreneur passionate about

using design thinking and technology to change the world. He’s currently enrolled in the Symbolic Systems program at Stanford University and studying human-centered design at the Stanford d.school. His micro-philanthro-py startup, “GivingTurtle.org,” was a web award finalist at South by Southwest In-teractive in 2010 and was featured at the Future of the Internet conference at Stanford. When not designing or cod-ing, he could be found playing frisbee and tennis with friends, or playing the piano at Carnegie Hall. He’s a big fan of the New York Yankees and Stanford football.

ZACHWEINER

PROJECT:

“GivingTurtle” aims to make improving the world for the average user easy, routine, and fun through an innovative and simple game-based micro- donations platform.

Jenny is a 2004 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. After spending

some time in Los Angeles for grad school studying Assyriology, she returned to her hometown of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Unable to find a religious community that really spoke to her and her passions, she decided to start her own independent minyan targeting young professionals in the Cleveland area. Through networking on Facebook, the minyan has had four successful Kabbalat Shabbat services so far and plans to expand. With JCF and Presentense, Jenny hopes to really get the minyan off the ground and drum up publicity in Cleveland to help attract un-affiliated young Jews back to a Jewish religious community. Her vision is one of a grassroots, community led service (no official rabbi) with tradi-tional davening, but egalitarian values. She beleives that being unaffiliated with a movement helps create a com-munity where everyone is welcome and allows the minyan a unique place within

the dynamics of the Jewish community at large. She is hoping to create not just a minyan but a strong, empowered com-munity that will enrich the Cleveland Jewish community as a whole with so-cial justice initiatives, a new social scene, learning opportunities, and a meaningful connection to Judaism.

JENNYKAUFMAN

PROJECT:

Jenny is building a foundation for Jewish engagement through a local independent minyan in Cleveland, which can serve as a model for other communities.