Arik Arad – Chairman

Arik Arad has over 25 years of experience in the security and defense sectors where he has been instrumental in creating and implementing new security guidelines, programs and concepts in the international, domestic and private sector as well as collaborating with governmental entities in Israel, the U.S. and Canada.

Previous posts include Head of Security for El Al, Ben Gurion Airport; Head of Security for the Shopping Centers Associations of Israel; CEO, International Consultants on Targeted Security (ICTS) USA; and Israeli Consul for Special Missions, Israeli Consulate, Canada.

Mr. Arad also brings a wealth of business development experience including identifying potential acquisitions, conducting due diligence as well as managing acquired companies.

At the request of former President Bush (Sr.), Mr. Arad served on the Presidential Committee on Aviation, and participated in several congressional committee hearings on the subject.

Mr. Arad is a graduate of the International Seminar Management Program (ISMP) of the Harvard Business School and holds a BSc. in psychology and political sciences from the Haifa University in Israel.

Lt. General (ret) Gabi Ashkenazi

In 2011, General Gabi Ashkenazi completed a 40 year distinguished military career as the 19th Chief of Staff of Israel. In his role, General Ashkenazi served among others as the commander of the Golani Brigade, Head of the Northern command and Deputy Chief of the General Staff. General Ashkenazi served as the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense prior his nomination for the Chief of Staff.

In 2008, General Ashkenazi was awarded The Legion of Merit from the United States Armed Forces for exceptional meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements, and granted an honorary Doctorate from Bar Ilan University, Israel.

General Ashkenazi is a graduate of the Harvard Business Management Program for senior executives, and holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from the University of Haifa, Israel.

Noa Tishby – Founder

In her homeland of Israel, Noa Tishby’s name is synonymous with stardom. An actress and a producer, Tishby got her first big break at 16 playing the lead in the hit original musical King David, She got a full drama scholarship to the Tel Aviv National Museum of Arts and went on to play the lead in the nation’s highest rated prime time drama Ramat Aviv. Tishby became a household name and appeared in numerous TV shows, Musicals and films in Israel and the US, among them The Island, The Ghost of Girlfriends Past, Big Love, The Deep End, NCIS, Leverage, CSI, Nip/Tuck, The 4400, Las Vegas and Star Trek: Enterprise.

As a producer, Tishby made history with the sale of In Treatment to HBO, as the first Israeli television show to become an American series. Tishby serves as co-executive producer alongside Mark Wahlberg. Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Weist star in this revolutionary Emmy Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning drama. Ultimately, by selling In Treatment, Tishby created an industry in America where one did not exist before: Israeli entertainment content in the US market.

Tishby recently set up three additional television projects in the US: Screenz and A Touch Away for HBO and a comedy for MTV. Tishby’s company, “Noa’s Arc”, owns the rights and is developing numerous television, film and theater projects from Israel and the world.

Politically savvy and passionate, she served in the Israeli army for two and a half years and is a Member of AIPAC, The Israeli Consulate Speakers Bureau, “Summit Series” organization for young entrepreneurs, ILC (Israeli Leadership Council) and a mentor for Women In Film. Born in Tel Aviv, Tishby now lives in Los Angeles.

Sharone Levinson – Founder & Executive Director

Sharone is the founder and CEO of WorldFlash Software,Inc, a company that develops Intelligent Agent software applications.  Prior to founding WorldFlash, Sharone was Director of Marketing at Steimatzky Rom-Tech, a retail operation of 134 stores in the State of Israel. During her time at Steimatzky Rom-Tech, Sharone conceived, implemented and led a national direct marketing and sales infrastructure to distribute the company’s specialty of personal wireless communication devices.

Prior to Steimatzky Rom-Tech, Sharone was VP of Marketing and Sales for ECO (US) Inc. Her focus was on securing funds for large commercial real estate ventures, overseeing the successful national and international sales team, implementation, design and completion of various marketing programs including national direct mail campaigns, and traditional media strategies.

Prior to ECO, Sharone was VP of Business Development for CNO, a commercial development organization where she secured funds for real estate ventures, managed operational budgets and oversaw the execution and completion of the company’s projects.

Sharone received a BFA from the world-renowned Academy of Arts in San Francisco.

While Sharone is a proud American citizen, she grew up in a family with a long tradition of Jewish and pro-Israel activism.  Her grandfather, Zeev Levinson was one of the first founders of the Israeli Air Force.  He was killed while flying on a mission for the Haganah a day before the declaration of the state of Israel by the United Nations. Other members of her family came to Israel on the Exodus, and others took active part in the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish revolt. Sharone’s father was the founder of the Beer Sheva Chambers of commerce. He proudly helped to host President Saadat during his historic visit to Israel in 1977.

From an early age, this background filled Sharone with a deep love and connection to the state of Israel.  For the past few years, Sharone has been dismayed by the efficient and organized use of the Internet to spread misinformation and lies about Israel.  After the 2010 Gaza Flotilla incident, Sharone decided to commit her knowledge and experience to ensure that Israel has a clear and noticeable voice in the digital realm.

S. Daniel Leon – Founder

Daniel (Shlomi to his family and friends) is a passionate Israeli Activist and aspiring entrepreneur. He moved to the US in 1996 after completing a three-year mandatory army service to pursue his undergraduate degree. Throughout his time in the US, Daniel worked to advance Israel’s interest and to bring Israelis and Americans together.

While at Santa Monica College (SMC), Daniel ran for Associate Student President and, after losing the race, went on to build a better place for his fellow students by founding the college’s first Rotary club. At SMC, he was active with the local AIPAC club. In the summer of 1998, he spent a few months interning at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He continued making a difference at Brown University where he became active in student life, and founded the University’s first investment group and his first startup.

After graduating in 2000, Daniel moved to Chicago where he worked as VP for the Gallup Organization. In Chicago, Daniel was instrumental in building the city’s Israeli center and later founded EXIST – Chicago’s largest pro-Israel grass roots organization. With his EXIST’s co-founders, Daniel organized massive rallies on Michigan Ave, appeared on panels and TV often, educating fellow Chicagoans on Israel and the Middle East conflict.

In 2004, Daniel moved to Philadelphia to work for a local startup. While there, Daniel created PhillyIsraelim (the local Israeli center), and founded and led the Liberty Club of AIPAC. He was one of the founders & Chairs of the Emerging Leaders Division of the American-Israel chamber of commerce, where he sits on the board of directors.

Daniel pays the bills by dabbling in Governing Dynamics, where he is a partner and Entrepreneur in Residence, running corporate development initiatives for a portfolio company.
Daniel holds an Economics degree from Brown University. He lives part-time on planes between NY, LA and Tel-Aviv.

Josh Nanberg

Josh Nanberg is a Washington, D.C. based communications and political consultant. His extensive expertise in strategic messaging, issue advocacy and grassroots campaigns helps corporations, government agencies, non-profits and political candidates gain customers, pass legislation, and win elections.

In the late 1990s, Nanberg developed notable communications strategies that connected U.S. Military personnel serving abroad with hometown radio outlets. He also devised radio outreach strategies for some of the nation’s most prominent companies and newest startups at the dawn of the dot-com era.

After leading a radio outreach campaign for then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2000 Senate race that reached nearly 17 million listeners and drove turnout in targeted areas of New York, Nanberg joined one of the nation’s leading technology-focused PR firms. He designed and implemented an online security company’s first government affairs strategy. Nanberg also hailed on the award-winning team that introduced “.tv” domain names with a campaign that highlighted not only the client, but also featured Tuvalu’s entry into the United Nations resulting from the .tv domain sale.

Returning to the political scene, Nanberg has energized several senior campaign roles as Regional Political Director for AIPAC. He managed the campaign of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, as well as the 2006 primary campaign for Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick J. Murphy.

Nanberg holds Bachelors’ degrees in Communications and Public Policy from Syracuse University and a Masters in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Aaron Eitan Meyer

Aaron Eitan Meyer is a consultant, analyst and researcher. He is legal correspondent for the Terror Finance Blog, an advisory board member for the digital advocacy group Act for Israel and a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ Noncommercial Users Constituency. He has served as research director of The Lawfare Project, director of research for the Children’s Rights Institute, and assistant director of the Legal Project at the Middle East Forum. He received his B.A. from New School University, and his J.D. from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He coauthored Lawfare: The War Against Free Speech: A First Amendment Guide for Reporting in an Age of Islamist Lawfare, as well as numerous articles dealing with lawfare, terrorism/terror finance, and other emerging concepts in non-traditional warfare.

Roy Arad

The modern economy has been drastically reshaped by two main forces, technology and internationalization—two dynamics that Roy Arad knows intimately well.  A business development executive and entrepreneurial advisor, Arad is an expert at evaluating market opportunities and putting the plans, resources, and people together to capitalize on these windows of economic potential.  Drawing upon dual degrees from New York Institute of Technology and Israel’s Ruppin Academy, he currently serves on the executive committee of Act for Israel with responsibility for leading the organization’s activities in the areas of Development and Investor Relations in the East coast and Israel.

Arad’s corporate background began on the technical side, working as a Systems Administrator and Information Technology Manager for a key Computer Division of the Israeli Defense Force.  His leadership and communication skills, however, quickly drew him into the entrepreneurial world, where he co-founded Tigon Software in 2003 and helped grow the company through successful deals with Match.com, Yahoo.com, and Spark.com.  This entrepreneurial acumen is also the trademark of his current role as Vice President of Business Development for Arocon Consulting, where he helps international companies make the right connections to raise funding, gain a foothold in the U.S. market, and localize their products effectively for American consumers.

In addition to the above roles, Arad was also honored with an appointment as Treasury Manager and Procurement Manager for the Government of Israel, where he spent four years overseeing billions of dollars in trade activity between the Israeli and U.S. governments.  In this capacity, he worked closely with senior U.S. government officials and Fortune 500 executives from companies such as Boeing, Dell, Lockheed Martin, and IBM, gaining an in-depth understanding of the federal contracting process and the way business is done on a global, government-to-government scale.  He also serves as an Advisory Board Member with New York Institute of Technology’s School of Business, where he mentors aspiring young entrepreneurs and plays a role in helping the school deliver cutting-edge business curriculum.

Daniel Beaudoin

Daniel Beaudoin has 15 years of experience in the design, facilitation, planning and implementation of donor funded infrastructure and humanitarian projects. He also has extensive media experience, having headed the foreign correspondents desk for the Israeli military spokesperson’s office.

Daniel has been involved in military and civilian affairs, in particular as the principal point man (Col.) for coordinating and facilitating international humanitarian aid operations and economic development programs in the Palestinian territories with the UN agencies, the World Bank, the International Committee of the Red Cross, USAID, the European Union, international NGO’s as well as with Embassies and Consulates.

Daniel was born in the Belgian Congo, the son of an UN official, and has lived in Pakistan, Kashmir and Austria, before immigrating to Israel. He is fluent in English, French, German and Hebrew. Daniel will begin his PhD research, focusing on political accountability in aid networks.

Daniel is VP Business Development for Strategic Expansion Partners in Israel, and has also served as Senior Consultant to the World Bank in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Daniel is a member of the Tel Aviv Entrepreneur Hub.

Nuke Goldstein

Nuke spent the last 20 years as a developer and innovator of cutting-edge software technologies in the fields of image processing, artificial intelligence, war games, and location-based information. He is the founder of several startups specializing in location-based technologies, including The Carbon Project; a solutions provider to customers in defense, intelligence, and civilian US agencies. He is the chief developer of acclaimed products used by thousands of professionals around the world. Prior to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Nuke worked in Rafael (Israeli Armament Development Authority) as the developer of command-and-control training systems. Early in 2011 Nuke and his family moved back to Israel after spending over a decade in Boston, Massachusetts. Nuke holds a B.Sc. in Computer Sciences from the Technion.

Andre Oboler, Ph.D.

Dr Andre Oboler is Director of the Community Internet Engagement Project and Editor of Zionism On The
Web. Dr Oboler is an expert in social media, online public diplomacy and internet racism. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Capital Jewish Forum, Chair of the IEEE Computer Society (Victorian Section) and is co-chair of the Online Antisemitism Working Group of the Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism. He has been a Legacy Heritage Fellow, National Secretary of the Union of Jewish Students (UK), Secretary of a Zionist Youth Movement (Australia), Deputy on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and Officer of the National Postgraduate Committee (UK). He served for two years with the Board of Directors of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (UK), is a graduate of the MFA’s Young Diplomatic Jewish Leadership Seminar and is a member of the ROI Community.  He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University (UK) and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Political Science department at Bar-Ilan University (Israel). Dr Oboler has lived in South Africa, Australia, the UK and Israel.

Dan Goldman

Dan Goldman has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry building compelling consumer sites, services and products. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of WorldLive Mobile, a startup building cutting-edge mobile applications for fans and brands. Dan has served as CTO at Zedge – the leading mobile social network – that has grown to over 18 million registered users – and earlier for several major Internet brands including iVillage and drspock.com, where he built and launched multiple online properties. Previously he was CIO for Perot Systems, and a manager at NeXT Computer.

Jennifer Hanin – Founder

Jennifer Hanin must love Israel. She spends her days advocating for the Jewish State she has never stepped foot in. Besides her passion for Israel and its people, she is an award-winning writer, influential blogger, and coauthor of What to Do When You Can’t Get Pregnant: the Complete Guide to All the Technologies for Couples Facing Fertility Problems (Da Capo, 2005). Newsweek (July 4, 2005) recommended Jennifer’s book as one to buy when undergoing fertility treatments.

Jennifer’s most recent highly acclaimed book is Becoming Jewish: The Challenges, Rewards and Paths to Conversion (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2011).

JTA ranked Jennifer @jennhanin as #38 on their 100 Most Influential Jewish Twitter Users for 2010, and #10 in the category of Politics and Policy. She also won Shorty Awards in the categories of Religion and Judaism in 2009.

She has appeared on television and radio to discuss her book and blog, and her blog has generated interest from every continent except Antarctica. Editors have translated her work into Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, French and Arabic.

Jennifer is happily married to the man in the next bio, and resides with him and their twin daughters in Northern California. Her new book, Becoming Jewish: The Challenges, Rewards, and Paths to Conversion is now available in stores and online.

Adam Hanin – Founder

With an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, Adam Hanin has over 20 years of experience in Marketing and Marketing Strategy. He has developed successful go-to-market and distribution channel strategies for corporations such as Apple Computer and Compaq, and has provided strategic consulting for multinational companies such as DuPont, NCR, and British Telecom. He led marketing for several internet startups, where he developed an expertise in social media and web traffic driving. He is currently Senior Director of Industry Solutions for the Global High Tech Industry for Salesforce.com

Adam’s skills include social media, SEO, SEM, email marketing, direct / database marketing, customer needs assessment, marketing research, business strategy, competitive assessment and strategic analysis.

Adam’s passion for defending the Jewish people must be genetic. His grandfather, Ariyeh (Leo) Hanin, was instrumental in keeping the Jews of Kobe, Japan and Shanghai, China safe from the Japanese during WWII. As a negotiator, translator, and leader of the Jewish community, Leo built bridges between Nazi Germany’s close ally and Judaism that last to this day. Leo moved his family from Shanghai to the newly formed State of Israel in 1948, and then on to Los Angeles. Adam’s father, Dr. Israel Hanin, starred in the first Israeli-made, English language movie, The Faithful City, about Israel’s struggle to statehood.