Cori Chascione

Cori made aliyah from New York after finishing undergrad in the States.
She's now serving in the IDF, writing, photographing and scouring the holy land for inspiration, art, reality, nice views and good times. She's currently working on various freelance writing and photography projects, in addition to working towards becoming certified as a teacher in Israel and trying to convince her wonderfully brilliant friends to do the same. She's a sucker for a good Jewish idea, and her current far-fetched dream of choice is to abandon her urban principles and settle the Negev.

Rachel Fish

Rachel Fish is a Senior Consultant at The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership.

As a graduate student at Harvard, she started an organization called Students for an Ethical Divinity School that petitioned the university to reject funds from Sheik Zayed, ruler of the United Arab Emirates, who funded and lent his name to an anti-American, anti-Semitic think-tank in the Arab world. Garnering national media attention, she and her fellow students succeeded in forcing the Sheik to shut down the center in August of 2003. After extensive media coverage of the issue, Harvard returned Sheikh Zayed’s endowment in July of 2004. As a result of her efforts, she was named one of the “Forward Fifty,” a list of the 50 most influential Jews in America, for the years 2004 and 2003. Rachel is currently a doctoral student at Brandeis University in the field of Israel Studies.

Rivka Friedman

After graduating from Barnard and the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rivka Friedman spent a year on the Dorot Fellowship working at a legal aid and advocacy organization on behalf of Agunot, women who can't get divorced. She spent the subsequent year working at the Jerusalem Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, and plans to be in Washington, DC next year working in public health. She cooks up some mean gourmet in her free time and haggles for discounts on tofu. You can see her recipes at www.notderbypie.com.

Danny Gigi

A native Jerusalemite, Danny is the founder of AuxiMed, a medical device company, and currently works at Media Central, a non profit which works with journalist in order to give a balanced picture of Israeli political news. Danny is also pursuing an MBA at Hebrew University, from where he already holds a Masters degree in International Relations. Danny successfully founded and managed a computer technician company and worked in marketing and sales for over two years. Throughout his career, Danny has always placed great emphasis on positive societal change. These two combine in the principles Danny uses when running his projects and businesses: while his business skills help lead companies towards financial success and continued growth, Danny's vision of social responsibility guarantee the company's positive impact on the environment and society.

Dyonna Ginsburg

Upon completing her BA in political science at Columbia University, Dyonna made Aliyah in 2002 and obtained an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University. From 2003-2006, Dyonna served as Director of Yavneh Olami, an international student organization. She currently a senior advisor in the Education Department of Jewish Agency and created and oversaw a widely acclaimed program empowering recent olim who work at the Jewish Agency's Kiryat Moriah. In her spare time, Dyonna sits on the board of Bema'aglei Tzedek, a social justice organization dedicated to promoting social justice in Israel, and is active in several Israeli nonprofits and grassroots initiatives.

Rebecca Leicht

Rebecca Leicht is a writer, editor, and public policy consultant. She has just completed a research fellowship at IDC-Herzliya's Institute for Policy and Strategy, where she developed and implemented the Herzliya Accord Project, a primary component of the 2008 Herzliya Conference. Based on the Copenhagen Consensus, the project brought together some of Israel's top economists and some its brightest, emerging young leaders to create a cost-benefit analysis approach to spending Israel's limited resources for the betterment of Israeli society. Rebecca has worked with Israel's Task Force on Human Trafficking, as a writer for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC, and as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to her work in Congress, she was the manager of Northeast fundraising for the Congressional campaign of Congresswoman Denise Majette, and Majette's volunteer coordinator in Atlanta, GA. She has also worked as a Nextbook literary fellow, and as an educator in the former Soviet Union, in New York City, and in Washington, DC. Her writing has appeared in Time Magazine and The Journal of International Affairs. Rebecca holds an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA in Political Science and Creative Writing from Yeshiva University.

Flo Low

Flo Low founded and co-directed SIMLeV - the Student-Initiated Movement for Leadership and Volunteerism, a program that focuses on social activism, Israel advocacy, and Jewish pluralism. Following graduation from the double degree program at Barnard/JTS, she made Aliyah and served for three years as a commander and then an officer in the Education Corps of the IDF, where she led courses in Zionism and Jewish identity for immigrant soldiers.

Currently, Flo is studying for an MA in the Honor's program in Public Policy and Administration at Hebrew University. She works as a writer and fundraiser in the marketing and communications department of the United Israel Appeal of Canada and is a research fellow at the Yesod-Masad Initiative, which provides real-time, holistic support to the full range of Jewish decision makers and influencers on policies and programs that impact the global Jewish collective.

In addition, she has volunteered at the Task Force on Human Trafficking, where she worked to develop an ethical code of conduct for implementation in Israeli hotels, and is a frequent translator for Mavoi Satum, an Israeli NPO that offers assistance to Agunot and Mesorvot Get. In her free time, Flo studies classical ballet.

Danna Hochstein Mann

Danna is the former Senior Manager of Investor Relations & Marketing at JVP, a leading Israeli venture capital fund. In this role, Danna was responsible for ongoing communications with existing and potential investors. She was also involved in all aspects of fund marketing, strategic positioning and public relations, working closely with the Investment Team and external advisors. Prior to JVP, Danna worked in the Global Marketing department of Estee Lauder, where she developed and executed “Gift-with-Purchase” programs for the international markets. Prior to that, she served as Human Resources Manager for Banter Ltd., where she was instrumental in establishing professional growth programs and addressing all employee issues during an extensive restructuring process.

Danna was born and raised in Jerusalem, where she currently resides with her husband and son. She holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the Hebrew University.

Simcha Mann

Simcha is an Associate at York Capital, a $14B global hedge fund. Prior to joining York, Simcha spent nearly 10 years growing small online businesses in a wide range of industries, specializing in e-commerce strategies, sales, marketing and business development. During this time, Simcha was involved in leading two companies from start-up to acquisition in the flowers and cosmetics retail markets. After making aliya in 2006, Simcha worked with local online retailers and high-tech entrepreneurs as well as with clients in the US.

Sharon Millendorf

Originally from Riverdale, NY, Sharon made the official move to Israel and made aliyah in 2004. She went on to attain her BA in communal social work from Bar Ilan University. As part of her studies Sharon was able to create paper recycling in the Israeli school system and establish and run a young women's club. She has experience both in clinical and group therapy. Sharon has also spent much time working in informal education. Currently Sharon is working with students who are interested in aliyah all across college campuses in North America and the U.K. as the Student and Young Professionals Program Coordinator for Nefesh B'Nefesh.

Bari Weiss

A native of Pittsburgh, Bari Weiss is a journalist between New York and Jerusalem.

At Columbia University where she majored in history, Bari was an opinion columnist for the Columbia Spectator and founded The Current: a journal of contemporary politics, culture, and Jewish affairs. She's since written for The Wall Street Journal, The Forward, and Ha'aretz.

In 2007-8, Bari was a Dorot fellow in Israel.

Romi Shammai

Romi is a 29 years old student in Applied Physics at the Hebrew U. Other then Romi’s research he is interested in social web applications as a tool for a better society. Romi recently co-founded tribiu.com, as a part of the 3 day startup project, and is currently working on another web venture of the kind. Some of Romi’s time is spent working as a children’s magician and giant bubble maker, which is a joy!