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Rory Allweis
Rory Allweis is an artist, in her own words, because she paints pictures. She began teaching children because of a lack of teachers during the Yom Kippur War. By the most amazing stroke of good luck, she found herself teaching in the Youth Wing of the Israel Museum. Because of the very special atmosphere of creativity, freedom and support in this environment, Rory allowed herself to develop and present ideas to children that she believed in. Mainly, that art must have a foundation based in feeling.
Rory made up the topics and presented them, often acting them out using facial expressions and, of course, sound. Subjects such as teasing, carnivorous animals and their food, fear, Garbage Pail Kids, tasty vs. not-tasty were just a few she worked with in teaching art to children. Rory later graduated to teaching adults and incorporating her particular approach to teach art with more and more people. Throughout the years she has insisted that teaching art requires compatibility to each person's direction so it can remain an individual expression.
Dr. Orly Katz
Dr. Orly Katz is an expert on children and youth empowerment, who holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership; Orly is the founder of the Simply Me Center for Leadership, Empowerment and Self Esteem. The Simply Me program uses experience- based active learning processes, including stories, questionnaires, games, role plays and innovative theory- for students, teachers and parents.
In 2006, Orly completely lost her voice, and could not talk at all for a few months! How could she achieve her goal of empowering children without the use of her voice? As a result of her personal constraints, Orly began to produce her materials in writing, publishing them as a series entitled “Simply Me”- for children and youth. To date, her books have been translated and published in several languages and have received rave reviews throughout the world.
Orly has further developed the Simply Me digital courses, a continuing education program designed for teachers and educators to impart life skills training to children and youth, titled Empowering Teachers to Empower Students. These courses have been delivered to thousands of teachers in the Jewish, Christian and Arab sectors.
Orly lives in Haifa, with her husband and three children.
Dr. Yuval Noah Harari
Dr. Yuval Noah Harari is a professor in the Department of History at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in world, medieval and military history. His current research focuses on macro-historical questions: What is the relation between history and biology? Is there justice in history? Did people become happier as history unfolded? Previous publications include Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100-1550 (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2007); The Ultimate Experience: Battlefield Revelations and the Making of Modern War Culture, 1450-2000 (Houndmills: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008); “The Concept of ‘Decisive Battles’ in World History”, The Journal of World History 18:3 (2007), 251-266; and “Armchairs, Coffee and Authority: Eye-witnesses and Flesh- witnesses Speak about War, 1100-2000”, The Journal of Military History 74:1 (January 2010), pp. 53-78.
His most recent book is titled Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. The book surveys the entire length of human history, from the evolution of Homo sapiens in the Stone Age up to the political and technological revolutions of the twenty-first century. The original Hebrew edition has become a number one bestseller in Israel, and it is now being published in close to 30 other languages.
Nuvi Carmel
Nuvi Carmel, 37, is the co-founder and CEO of Marker Training Institute, a pioneering academy for dog trainers specializing in modern, humane methods, which she also applies to the humans who attend her classes! Nuvi is a 12 year veteran in the field and works to revolutionize animal training in Israel, helping people and dogs to get along without the use of any force or intimidation "in the name of training".
Noa Szefler
Noa Szefler, 32, is a co-founder and the Director of Academics at the Marker Training Institute of dog training and behavior. She is also a certified assistance dog instructor for people with disabilities. Noa is a 13-year veteran in the dog training field, focusing on the special bond between people and their dogs and the ways in which people and dogs help each other.
Yossi Sassi
Familiar internationally to music fans by his unique sound signature, Yossi Sassi merges his roots with contemporary music, taking Oriental Rock to levels unheard before. Voted Top Newcomer of 2012 by Rock Hard magazine readers for his eclectic concept album, “Melting Clocks”, Sassi blends East with West, Rock with Folk music and traditional acoustic instruments with virtuoso electric guitar. With over 23 years of experience as a producer, composer and arranger, as well as co-founder of Orphaned Land, Yossi Sassi continues to soar to new horizons.
Sassi is a constant explorer of sound and musical boundaries, deriving inspiration from different cultures around the world. Sassi plays 17 different types of guitars and traditional instruments, and has been invited to share the stage with artists such as Metallica, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Steven Wilson, Dave Lombardo, Ron 'bumblefoot' Thal (G’n’R) and many others. As a veteran performing artist, with hundreds of global shows and major festivals in his record, Yossi Sassi performs about 80 shows in 30 different countries during an average year.
Sassi also invented the unique Bouzouki-Guitar instrument (Electric guitar combined with acoustic Bouzouki) and was awarded four peace and friendship awards from cities and governments. His newest album, "Desert Butterflies" is coming out this year, in 2014. It was recorded in four countries, on three different continents, featuring special guest musicians from around the world.
Dekel Bor
Dekel Bor is a composer, guitarist and bandleader, who has taken the jazz world by storm for his highly original and captivating musical vision and performances. His long term collaboration with legendary music producer Robert Sadin - well known for his celebrated Grammy-winning work with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Joni Mitchell and Placido Domingo - has produced an album entitled Emuna and an EP Home.
Dekel has performed in major festivals and concert venues across the U.S. and Europe with the elite of the international jazz world. Dekel is also artistic director for the series of collaborations at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, concerts and events spanning genre and media, with special guest stars.
With an always-eager curiosity to experience music on all its possibilities, Dekel has recorded with pop star Alicia Keys, collaborated with NYC star choreographer David Parsons and the cutting-edge Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In the past 3 years Dekel has performed the music of J.S. Bach in the project “Bach Electrified”, performing major festivals in Europe, with TV specials in Germany and Israel, as well as playing the music of jazz icon John Coltrane on TV specials in the US & Canada.
Dr. Maya Shmailov
Dr. Maya Shmailov is an interdisciplinary researcher and recent graduate of the Science, Technology and Society program at Bar-Ilan University (2013). Her research focuses on innovative power, fresh perspectives and the persona of boundary crossers. Why do some people prefer to transgress their comfort zone? What role does personality play in promoting one's dreams? Who defines and legitimizes boundaries? How are these affected by personal, academic and institutional factors?
Maya's doctoral dissertation examined a consummate "outsider" – Nicolas Rashevsky, whose dream of establishing a new intellectual identity led him to concurrently erase and erect boundaries to pave the way towards institutional demarcation of his discipline, mathematical biology. Maya is currently working on a book Paper and Pencil Biology, which will be the first to tell the story of the institutionalization of mathematical biology, its initially promising future, its demise and the little known, buried intellectual biography of the discipline's founder.
As a boundary crosser herself, Maya immigrated to Israel in 1992, trained as a biologist and is also a practicing patent attorney in the field of mechanics and inter/multi disciplinary inventions. She is a lecturer in intellectual property to designers and young entrepreneurs, a photographer, an artist and a foodie with a great passion for Asian cuisine.
Alla BarhoomAlla Barhoom divides his work into two planes: the personal and the professional. On the professional level, he has worked in the public sector to establish and construct community projects. Most of the projects he works on in the public sector aim to expose people from different cultures to each other and create connections between communities that are both near to and far from each other at the same time.
In December, 2013, Alla was elected to be chairman of the local committee in Ein Rafa, a suburb of Jerusalem. He is also one of the co-founders of Wasila (connections in Arabic), a sport-ecology community center for Israeli and Palestinian youth, with the goal of encourage these different groups of young people through social, environmental and sports-related projects. The center combines leisure activities for youth with development of cycle-tourism projects between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Alla also recently worked to build a mountain biking trail next to Abu Ghosh, outside of Jerusalem. His main goal with this trail is to unite the Jewish and Arab populations around cycling, a sport that is close to his heart. Alla is a member of the Jerusalem Municipality Cycling team as well.
On the personal level, Alla has spent whatever time he can find to develop a variety of skills through extensive study in many fields. He is currently working on a B.A. in Social Studies, having already completed a B.A. in Education and History at Beit Berl in 2011 and a degree as a practical civil engineer in 1996. He also volunteers with Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical treatment service.
Inbar Amir
Hailing from Jerusalem, Inbar Amir is an artist and an educator. Her artistic work ranges from acting and directing to scriptwriting and playwriting.
Inbar also uses theatre as a medium in workshops she leads on conflict resolution, public speaking, group dynamics and beyond. Additionally, she frequently writes and performs Tailor-Made according to Size performances, plays that run only once in unique locations throughout the country, intended for specific audiences.
Inbar wrote, directed and acts in the play Just be You that engages with the age-old question of what it means to be a woman. The play has been performed at numerous festivals throughout Israel and broadcasted on national radio.
For Inbar, the stage and the written word serve as paths for her to meaningfully connect with people.
Bashar Iraqi
Bashar Iraqi was born and raised in the town of Tira, in central Israel; he is a Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel, a leader in his community and a social and political activist. Bashar founded Darna, a non-profit organization that works to empower the Palestinian youth among the Arab minority. He also works as an Advisor at the Knesset promoting social justice and fighting racism.
Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur
Tamir Ben-Hur is a professor of Neurology and the Israel S. Weschler Chair in Neurology at The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School. Born in Jerusalem in 1958, he is married with three children. He earned his MD and PhD in Virology from the Hebrew University (1989), trained in Neurology at Hadassah University Hospital (until 1994) and conducted post-doctoral studies at The Pasteur Institute in Paris (1995 – 97). He is Chairman of the Department of Neurology (Since 2005) and Director of the Division for Clinical Neurosciences (since 2013) at Hadassah – Hebrew University Medical Centre.
Prof Ben-Hur’s research focuses on the therapeutic properties of stem cells and their bilateral interactions with the nervous system in normal and pathologic states. He partners with Siddharthan Chandran; Siddharthan’s TED talk at TED Global 2013. Their work identified previously unknown therapeutic properties of stem cells, which laid the basis for clinical translation of stem cell therapy in multiple sclerosis. His clinical interests are in general Neurology and Neuro-Immunology. He has published numerous papers in basic and clinical neurosciences, and serves as scientific advisor for several start-up companies in the field of regenerative medicine and on the editorial board of several neuroscience journals.
