In 1998, Russell became the youngest CEO in JNF’s history. He works tirelessly, traveling around the country and visiting Israel almost every month, to ensure JNF’s vision is more relevant and meaningful today than ever before. Today, more than 110 years after it was founded, JNF gives all generations of Jews a unique voice in building and ensuring the prosperity of the land of Israel through their generosity and partnership with the people of Israel. Jewish National Fund is a leader in environm...
Oct 15, 2013•31 min
Travel writer and videographer Robert Reid has written about a far-range of travel destinations and topics for outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ESPN.com and CNN.com, and has talked travel trends on shows like the Today Show and CNN Headline News. While at Lonely Planet, Robert authored two dozens guidebooks, including the Trans-Siberian Railway, Burma, Colombia and USA. He touts the next great travel trend to be "you travel," where as individuals we probe our own intere...
Oct 01, 2013•32 min
Jerry Sorkin is the Founder and President of TunisUSA, a tour company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Tunis, Tunisia. The firm has been a pioneer in developing cultural tourism and academic programs, and working with local groups on projects in Tunisia, Iran, Libya, Algeria, and Turkey. Jerry’s involvement with Tunisia dates back some thirty years, with recent projects in post-Revolution Tunisia including both university and adult programs on democratization, civil society and entreprene...
Aug 30, 2013•34 min
CEO of Invest Diva and author of “Invest Diva’s Guide to Making Money in Forex” published by McGraw-Hill in August 2013, Kiana is a multilingual forex analyst, award-winning speaker, TV personality and entrepreneur based in New York. She holds two degrees in Electrical Engineering from universities in Japan. Born and raised in Iran to a Jewish family as a religious minority, she was awarded a scholarship from the Japanese government to study EE in Japan, where she became a minority once again; t...
Aug 20, 2013•23 min
Ann began her career as a lecturer in Victorian literature at Princeton University, where she earned a Ph.D in English. Her career as an entrepreneur in media and technology included the creation of satellite and internet businesses for the National Football League and Columbia University’s online education company, Fathom. A frequent contributor to conferences and publications, Ann was named one of New York Magazine’s Millennium New Yorkers and honored as a distinguished graduate of Princeton U...
Aug 10, 2013•34 min
Born in Israel in 1951, Boaz Vaadia is an internationally known sculptor who works primarily in stone and bronze. Vaadia moved to New York in 1975 and his studio is located in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Growing up on a farm in Gat Rimon, Israel, Vaadia was inspired by the nature around him. Vaadia says of his sculpture, "I work with nature as an equal partner, that's still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to earth. It's in the materials I use, the environments I m...
Jul 30, 2013•39 min
Mike Sacks has worked at The Washington Post and currently works on the editorial staff of Vanity Fair magazine. He has written for The New Yorker, Time, Esquire, Vanity Fair, GQ, Radar, Believer, Vice, Women’s Health, Salon, Premiere, New York Observer, McSweeney’s, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. Sacks has published three books: And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Humor Writers About Their Craft (F+W Press); SEX: Our Bodies, Our Junk (Random House); Yo...
Jul 20, 2013•34 min
John is a pioneer in the use of data to identify social change and help companies anticipate and adapt to new trends and demands. An author, speaker and consultant, his books have appeared on the best seller lists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, The Washington Post and Bloomberg Business Week and The Week Magazine. His management articles were chosen among Strategy & Business “Best of the decade”. A sought-after analyst on leadership, marketing and consum...
Jul 10, 2013•33 min
Kristine has performed in theatre houses, symphony halls, and cabaret venues all across North America. She is best known for playing Nessarose in the hit Broadway musical, Wicked. Kristine joined the First National Tour of the musical in 2008 and assumed the role of Nessarose in November of that year in her childhood hometown of Minneapolis, MN. She then went on to originate the role on the Second National Tour, which opened in March 2009 and performed it over 1,000 times. Kristine also toured w...
Jun 10, 2013•22 min
Andrew Kaplan completed his B.S. degree at Albany State University graduating Summa Cum Laude, in 1986. He attended Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating 6th in his class in 1990. He then took his DVM degree to the Animal Medical Center where he completed a one-year internship in Medicine and Surgery followed by a two-year residency in Internal Medicine. Dr. Kaplan then took an Associate Professor position at the University of Wisconsin's School of Veterinary Medicine where,...
May 30, 2013•41 min
Jay is the author of 20 books, including two prize-winning novels (The Stolen Jew and Before My Life Began), two prize-winning non-fiction books (Imagining Robert and Transforming Madness), and three collections of award-winning stories. His stories and essays have appeared widely (in The Atlantic, Tikkun, GQ, Sport, The American Scholar, Newsweek, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and others), and have been reprinted in more than 50 anthologies, including Best American Short Sto...
May 20, 2013•34 min
For over 20 years, David has served as the Principal and Founder of his New York based design firm, David Scott Interiors, LTD. He designs visually stimulating, yet highly functional interiors that gracefully meld practical architecture with unique design. His style blends the timeless elegance of the past with the verve of the present, using a collaborative and detail-oriented approach to create calming and beautiful environments. David's signature designs emphasize the personal style of his cl...
May 10, 2013•23 min
Born in Odessa, Ukraine songstress Sveta Bout spent her early years in the Soviet Union until her parents moved her to Long Island, New York, armed with only a few words of English and a myriad of strange Eastern European influences, which earned her a reputation in school as an outsider. The young singer struggled to identify with both her American surroundings and her Eastern European heritage, but found through music she could incorporate the big, bright pop vocals of her favorite American si...
Apr 30, 2013•27 min
Amy Weiskopf is known for her uniquely composed still lifes that bring together unexpected objects in an array of shapes, sizes and textures. Her canvases are brought to life by these distinct groupings and via sublime uses of color and shading. Amy’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art which selected her work to be part of the Museum’s national traveling exhibition, “Still Life: The Object in American Art, 1915 -1995, Sele...
Apr 20, 2013•31 min
Gray Scott is a Futurist/Neuro-Technology-Philosopher, speaker, artist and writer. Gray is a contributing blogger for “The Futurist” magazine, a professional member of The World Future Society and editorial director of seriouswonder.com the online futurist philosophy, technology and consciousness magazine produced by his media company Serious Wonder Media™ based in New York City. Gray is quickly becoming widely recognized as one of the most exciting, inspiring and controversial futurists of our ...
Apr 10, 2013•53 min
In 2012, Michael was ranked # 50 in the world among men in towerrunning and earned USATF Masters All-American status in the 5K, 8K, 10K, & 10-mile distances. Also in 2012, Michael became the first and only American to ever finish the German Everest Stair Challenge, where the goal is to climb the equivalent distance from Sea Level to the Summit of Mt. Everest and back down in under 24 hours. Michael completed the challenge in 23 hours, 20 minutes, and 45 seconds. Michael is a member of the In...
Mar 30, 2013•24 min
A graduate of New York University College of Dentistry, Dr. Seaman has been practicing general dentistry since 1986, and has been the director of The Cambria Family Dental Center - a full service facility for children and adults, since 1989. In addition to practicing dentistry and hosting a weekly call in radio show about dental care, Dr. Seaman has composed music (since the age of 10!) and has written tunes professionally for film, television, musical theatre, cabaret as well as having penned c...
Mar 20, 2013•35 min
Harrison began his study of painting as a mode of communication. He developed as a realist painter first, building a foundation to best convey his thoughts and dreams. While his focus at the Rhode Island School of Design from which he graduated in 2008 was the allegorical medium of illustration, the kinds of art that have always interested him are conceptual and abstract -- less about communicating narratively and more about communicating actually. While working in Tokyo and in China, Harrison d...
Mar 10, 2013•27 min
Michelle, who founded Joyful Plate in 2011 to promote the joy that good food and beverages can bring to our daily lives, specializes in positioning and growing small to mid-sized lifestyle brands with strategy, research, package design and big ideas. She is also a blogger, sharing personal stories about what inspires at blog.joyfulplate.com. Michelle’s love for everything culinary began in the mid-90's when she managed the Wine & Champagne portfolio for Remy Cointreau, worked with the Antino...
Feb 26, 2013•32 min
Born and raised in New York City, Ariel began her dance training at The Joffrey Ballet School and was a dance major at LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts. In 2004, Ariel earned a B.S. in Dance with honors and a minor in Women's Studies from Skidmore College. For her senior thesis project, she choreographed a contemporary ballet for five dancers that was presented at the Skidmore College Academic Festival in Spring 2004. Upon graduation, Ariel moved back to New York Ci...
Feb 12, 2013•26 min
A former editor at The New York Times, Margie has written for publications as diverse as Travel & Leisure, Reader’s Digest and Family Circle. She has consulted, edited and provided content for a range of on-line sites. Most recently, Margie’s work can be found on www.nycitywoman.com. Margie may be reached at: mbethstein@aol.com.
Jan 29, 2013•40 min
Sebastien Leon is a New York-based French musician and installation artist. An active part of the downtown art scene for the past twelve years, Sebastien has been conceiving a wide array of multimedia installations for which he directs design, music, environment and performance concepts. In 1997, Sebastien received an MBA from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and began his career as a marketing executive for Armani in Madrid and for Chanel in New York. Responding to his creative drive, he esta...
Jan 15, 2013•28 min
Miller Gaffney has a wide-ranging background in the art world, having worked with leading auction houses, commercial galleries, artists, museums, and information-providers for art collectors. She began her career with L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur on New York's East 73rd Street where her responsibilities included assisting in the purchase of artworks and antiques on behalf of collector clients from international auction houses. In 2004, Miller joined Art + Auction magazine. She was later ca...
Jan 01, 2013•24 min
Dotan is a self-taught pianist who started playing piano at age 18 after being inspired by Miles Davis’ album “Kind of Blue”. In fact, Dotan has been immersed in the arts since he was a child. Growing up in New York his parents, who hail from Greece and Israel, always exposed him to a wide variety of music, theater, and fine art. In 2010, Dotan decided to start street performing in New York City by bringing his upright piano to city sidewalks and playing for passersby. He found such joy in bring...
Dec 18, 2012•29 min
Loren started experimenting in her mother’s kitchen in 2007 with truly wholesome cookie recipes after overcoming cancer. She was determined to maintain her lifelong passion for delicious, first-rate sweets while eating as natural, unprocessed ingredients as possible. In 2009, completely healthy, Loren wanted others to have the chance to sample them, entered a baking contest --and won. It was then she realized she might have the makings of a business. In December 2010 Loren launched Sweet Loren’s...
Dec 04, 2012•27 min
Blood, procured from a slaughterhouse, is the primary medium in Jordan’s works. Through his experimental, invented process, he encases blood in plexiglass and UV resin. This preservation technique permanently retains the organic material's natural colors, patterns, and textures. The works become relics of that which was once living, embodying transformation, regeneration and an allegory of death to life. Jordan uses various mark-making methods, including layering the blood at different densities...
Nov 20, 2012•29 min
Elena began playing piano at age five in her native St. Petersburg, Russia, and gave her first public performance at the age of six. She moved to the US with her family in 1974 and settled in New York City where she attended the renowned High School for the Performing Arts, where she graduated with the B’nai B’rith Award for Outstanding Performance in Music, was named “Promising Young Artist” by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and was even chosen to play the piano for a cameo...
Nov 06, 2012•32 min
Rebecca Greenstein, is the Founder and Director of Opera Moderne. A Soprano herself, Rebecca holds two degrees in the arts, including a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a specialization in Musical Theatre from Texas State University. She has studied all aspects of music and theatre from stage lighting, costuming, hair and make-up to stage direction, theatre management and contract negotiations. Rebecca has performed with leading companies including The National Lyric Opera, Dicapo Opera Theatre and th...
Oct 23, 2012•38 min
Tirtzah Bassel is an Israeli artist currently living and working in New York City. She works in oil, intaglio, digital sketch apps and duct tape! Tirtzah studied drawing and painting at the Jerusalem Studio School in Israel, and earned her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Boston University. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. Europe and Israel and has been featured in the New York Daily News, ynet, Hyperallergic, Speaker’s Lab, and the Forward. She is the recipient of a 2011-2012 LA...
Oct 09, 2012•25 min
Benjamin Lowy is an award-winning photographer based in New York City. He received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in 2002 and began his career covering the Iraq War in 2003. Since then he has covered major stories worldwide. In 2004 Lowy attended the World Press Joop Swart Masterclass, he was named in Photo District News 30 and his images of Iraq were chosen by PDN as some of the most iconic of the 21st century. Lowy has received awards from World Press Photo, POYi, PDN, Communica...
Oct 02, 2012•42 min
