Officers

Naomi Chazan, Jerusalem, Israel
President
January 2007-January 2009
June 2008-Present (President)

Naomi Chazan, former Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker and leading human rights activist, began her new role as president of the New Israel Fund in June 2008. Chazan served on the NIF Board from 1992-93, resigned upon being elected to the Knesset for the Meretz party, and rejoined the NIF Board in January 2007. She is Professor Emerita of Political Science and African Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she served as Chair of the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and has been a Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University. Chazan currently serves as Head of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo and spent the academic year 2004-2005 as the Wilhelm Fellow at the Center for International Studies at MIT.

Peter Edelman, Washington, D.C.
Past President
January 2002-June 2002 (on board)
June 2002-June 2005 (board officer)
June 2005-June 2008 (President)

Peter Edelman is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and poverty law. He and his wife, Children Defense Fund’s founder Marian Wright Edelman, are lifelong advocates for children’s rights and poverty issues. Professor Edelman has served in all three branches of government. He authored Searching for America’s Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope and has written extensively on poverty, constitutional law, and children and youth. Professor Edelman grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Susan Liss, Chevy Chase, MD
Vice President in North America
January 2004-January 2008
January 2006-January 2008
January 2008-present (Vide President in North America)

Susan Liss is a public interest attorney. She recently served as Director of Federal-State Relations for Governor Deval L. Patrick of Massachusetts. She previously served as Executive Director of the Project on Medical Liability in Pennsylvania, a research and public education project of Columbia Law School. During the Clinton-Gore administration, she served as Chief of Staff to Tipper Gore and Special Counsel to Vice President Gore. Susan joined the Brennan Center as the Director of the Democracy Program in January 2009.

Stephen Gunther, Santa Monica, CA
Treasurer
January 2004-January 2006
January 2006-January 2008
January 2006 - present (treasurer)

Stephen Gunther, Treasurer of the New Israel Fund, is currently the CEO of the New Urban West Incorporation, a California development company. He is an advisor to the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy in addition to sitting on the board of the East Meets West Foundation.

Peter Shapiro, South Orange, NJ
Secretary
June 2005-June 2007
June 2007-June 2009
June 2008 – present (Secretary)

Peter Shapiro is managing director of Swap Financial Group, the leading independent advisor and arranger of interest rate derivatives in the U.S. Prior to founding Swap Financial Group in 1997, he served as senior vice president of Euro Brokers, and spent six years at Citibank. Before entering the financial world, Shapiro spent twelve years in government service in New Jersey. Shapiro served as a delegate to three Democratic National Conventions, heading the caucus for Edward Kennedy in 1980 and chairing the New Jersey delegation in 1984.

Directors

Elah Alkalay, Israel
February 2010 - February 2012

Currently VP for Business Development, Elah has worked in the capital market for the past 18 years and has been with I.B.I. since 1991, serving previously as pharmaceuticals analyst and later as Research Department Director from 1999 to 2006, turbulent years in the financial markets. Elah serves as a Chairman of the Board of "Signing Again", a New Israel Fund venture fostering social and educational programs in Israel, and a member of the board of governors of Ma'aleh, Nova, and a "A Business of Your Own", a business incubator supported by the Association for the Economic Empowerment of Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women economic independence through the creation of small businesses. She also writes a weekly column for Globes' Online Opinion Section. Elah holds a B.Sc. in biology and MBA from Tel Aviv University, and an M.Sc. from the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology of the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine.

Yifat Bitton, Israel
January 2009 – January 2011

Yifat Bitton is a leading socio-legal all-volunteering activist and a law professor at the School of Management in Israel. She is the co-founder of several civil society organizations and the current co-chair of Tmura Center – The Israeli Antidiscrimination Center, where new ways to fight against discrimination through private law mechanisms are employed. Her activism combines both academic scholarship and legal advocacy to better the status of disempowered communities in Israel, focusing mainly on the forgotten Mizrahi minority community and on women. Yifat is a grant committee member since 2005, currently co-chairing the sub-committee of social-justice. She is a board member since 2008. A post-doc researcher at Harvard law school and a Yale Law School graduate, Yifat is mainly the proud mother of two.

Zeev Bregman, Tel Aviv, Israel
January 2008-January 2010
January 2010-January 2012

Mr. Bregman is a co-founder and chairman of Galil Software, a software services company operating from Nazareth and the largest software company in the Israeli Arab Sector. Bregman served as Chief Executive Officer of Comverse, Inc. from January 2001 to March 2007. Prior to joining Comverse, Mr. Bregman was employed by Clarity Ltd. Mr. Bregman holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science and a M.Sc. in Computer Science from Tel Aviv University. He also earned a Kellogg-Recannatti International Executive MBA, a joint degree from the Faculty of Management of Tel-Aviv University and Northwestern University. Mr. Bregman is studying towards a Ma in Philosophy/Information and Digital Media in Tel Aviv University.

Deborah Bussel, Miami, FL
June 2006 – June 2008
June 2008 – June 2010

Deborah Bussel is a principal of Bussel Philanthropy Associates, a philanthropic consulting firm that helps donors and funders to make a difference through their philanthropy. She has worked in the non-profit sector for the last two decades as both a funder and an organizational professional with an expertise in program design and development. She is a trustee of the Shepard Broad Foundation.

Jonathan Cohen, Lincoln, MA
(Founder and Past President)
January 2002 – ex-officio

Jonathan Cohen & his wife, Eleanor Friedman co-founded the New Israel Fund in 1979, and he has served on and off the board since its inception. Jonathan was born and educated in South Africa, moving to the US in 1975. Apart from starting several small businesses, he also co-founded the Jewish Funders Network and the Israel Venture Network. He has served as Chair of both NIF and JFN and is currently vice-Chair of the American Jewish World Service.

Paul Egerman, Needham, MA
June 2009 – June 2011

Paul Egerman is businessman and entrepreneur. Paul was previously CEO and co-founder of eScription, Inc., a software company that provides speech recognition services to physicians. Formerly, Paul was the COO of IDX, a worldwide supplier of administrative and financial solutions for healthcare organizations. In 1991, he received Inc. Magazine's "Entrepreneur of the Year" award. Active in many community activities, he currently serves as vice-chairman of the Boston Museum of Science. Paul recently received a congressional appointment to the HIT Policy Committee, which is an advisory committee of the Department of Health and Human Services. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Nabila Espanioly, Nazareth, Israel
January 2008-January 2010
January 2010-January 2012

For more than three decades, Nabila Espanioly has been an energetic campaigner for the civil rights of the Palestinian minority in Israel; for peace between Israel and Palestine on the basis of the two-state solution; and for equal rights for women. In 1989, she founded the Pedagogical Center and Multipurpose Women's Center in Nazareth , Al-Tufula, and has served as its director since then. She is also a founding member and current chairperson of the Mossawa Center, a joint Palestinian-Israeli organization based in Haifa. In 2003, Espanioly received the international Aachen Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts to promote peace and human rights in the Middle East. Espanioly has written and edited several books, articles and lectures on topics including early childhood education, Palestinian women in Israel, violence against women, sex education, women in the media, and women's political participation.

Franklin M. Fisher, Cambridge, MA
Past President
January 2002-ex officio

Frank Fisher, Ph.D., is the Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics, Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught for 44 years. He has served as a director of CRA International since 1967 and as chairman or vice-chairman of the board of directors since 1997. In addition to MIT, Professor Fisher has taught at Harvard University, University of Chicago, Oxford, the University of Canterbury, Hebrew University, and Tel Aviv University. For the past 15 years, Professor Fisher has been the Chair of an international project focused on the economics of water, especially in the Middle East.

Itzhak (Itzik) Galnoor, Jerusalem, Israel
January 2009 – January 2011

Itzhak Galnoor is Herbert Samuel Professor of Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Institute. He was Vice President in Israel of the NIF in the early 80's and again on the Executive Committee in the late 90's.

He has been a Visiting Professor at McGill University, (Canada), Nanzan University, (Japan), University of Arhus, (Denmark), Oxford University, (UK) and The University of California (Berkeley, USA). He has served on the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association, and edited Advances in Political Science, Cambridge University Press and IPSA book series.

During the Rabin Government 1994–96, he was the Head of the Civil Service Commission. Professor Galnoor has served on Israel Science Foundation's Executive Committee and on the Governing Board of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2007-2008 he was Deputy Chair of the Israeli Council of Higher Education.

His research Interests: Comparative politics; The Israeli Political System; Humor and Politics. He has written several books and many articles and his book, The Partition of Palestine: Decision Crossroads in the Zionist Movement (SUNY Press, 1995) is regarded as a milestone on the subject. His new book: The Israeli Political System will be published in Hebrew and English in 2009.

Martin Indyk, Washington, DC
February 2006 - ex-officio

Middle East expert and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Martin S. Indyk is the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. Prior to his first assignment in Israel, Dr. Indyk served as special assistant to President Clinton and as senior director of Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. Before entering government service, Dr. Indyk served for eight years as founding executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Dr. Indyk has published widely on U.S. policy regarding the Arab-Israeli peace process and the complex challenges of the Middle East.

Amal Jamal, Yarka, Israel
June 2007-June 2009
June 2009-June 2011

Amal Jamal is a senior lecturer in political science at Tel Aviv Univ. and head of ‎the Walter Lebach Center for Arab-Jewish Coexistence through Education. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Jamal is a member of the Israeli Druze community and served in the IDF.

Noam Lautman, Tel Aviv, Israel
February 2007 – February 2009
February 2009 – February 2011

Noam Lautman is an Israeli businessman and investor. He is also the son of Mr. Dov Lautman, a prominent figure in Israeli business and philanthropy. Noam has been a Director of Delta Galil Industries Ltd. since 2001. Previously, he served as Director for New Ventures and Strategic Business Planning at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in addition to working for several Israeli companies operating in the high-tech field. Lautman holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Tel Aviv University and an MBA in finance and marketing from New York University.

Brian Lurie, Ross, CA
January 2010-January 2012

Rabbi Brian Lurie served for seventeen years as Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and for five years as President of the San Francisco Jewish Museum. He has worked in Israel and America to promote equality for Israeli Arabs and as Executive Vice President of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), he was instrumental in launching the second phase of Operation Exodus and provided the vision and strategic direction under which UJA has begun to broaden its mandate. Rabbi Lurie developed the concept of "The Living Bridge", a metaphor which is redefining the broad range of relationships and the partnerships, as equals, of American Jews and Israelis. Both the Israel Experience for teens and Partnership 2000 were created as pillars of the Living Bridge.

Harriet Mouchly-Weiss, New York, NY
June 2008 – June 2010
June 2010 – June 2012

Harriet Mouchly-Weiss is Vice Chairman and Senior Partner of Kreab Gavin Anderson Worldwide, a communications consulting firm base with offices worldwide. She has earned a reputation as a bold thinker, astute strategist, and firm believer in communication programs that incorporate a component of social responsibility. Earlier in her career, she owned and operated a public relations firm in Israel for more than a decade, working with various government agencies and private companies. She is a member of the Committee of 200, a professional organization of preeminent businesswomen who personify the spirit of entrepreneurship and business leadership in the United States. She also serves on the boards of The Abraham Fund; of the Israel Policy Forum; of the Women’s Executive Circle of the UJA-Federation of New York, and is an advisor to the State of the World Forum. She was actively involved with IADAF (Anti-drug abuse foundation), and the US-Israel Women to Women organization.

Lisa Orlick-Salka, Seattle, Washington
January 2008 - January 2010
January 2010 - January 2012

Lisa Orlick-Salka has worked as a planner and development consultant in the non-profit sector for over twenty-five years. She has served on the boards of several Seattle-based community organizations, where she currently serves on the board of the Women’s Endowment Foundation, and is a member of Social Ventures Partners. Lisa’s professional experience includes research in desert architecture and energy management at the Ben Gurion University’s Center for Desert Research at Sde Boker; environmental planning for a Philadelphia urban design firm; program planning and development for Community Action Inc. in Haverhill Massachusetts; and development and strategic planning for Public Television. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a BA in Urban Studies and Masters in City Planning.

Sarah Ozacky-Lazar, Kibbutz Ramot Menashe, Israel
January 2006 - January 2008
January 2008 - January 2010
January 2010 - January 2012

Sarah Ozacky-Lazar was the co-director of Givat Haviva in Israel, a center which, under her leadership, won the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 2001. She has served 3 times as a Jewish Agency "scholar in residence" in various Jewish federations in the US and twice as a visiting professor for Middle East and Israel studies in American universities. As of 2005, Dr. Ozacky-Lazar is a research fellow at the Center for Strategic Analysis and Policy Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, as part of an international team doing research on women in the Middle East. She is a member of the board of "The Alliance for New Humanity" a peace and environment human forum based in Puerto Rico, The Jabotinsky Institute, Peace NGOs Forum, and The Popular Academy Megiddo.

Nicholas Saphir, East Sussex, United Kingdom
January 2009 – January 2011

Nicholas Saphir is Chair of New Israel Fund UK. Called to the London Bar in 1967, his career was subsequently spent in commercial food, farming and rural affairs, including chairing several governmental and industry organisations. He is currently the Executive Chair of OMSCo (the UK Organic Milk Suppliers Co-operative) and Coressence Ltd. Whilst building a commercial career Nicholas was also involved in both government and philanthropic activities, including chairing several UK government agencies and being a trustee of charities involved in social enterprise, the rural economy, art and child welfare. Nicholas previously chaired the British Israel Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Jewish Relief Organisations, the Chatham Synagogue and is currently a trustee of the Kessler Foundation.

Daniel Segal, Merion Station, PA
January 2008 - January 2010
January 2010 - January 2012

Dan Segal, Chair of the Litigation Department of Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, is a magna cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review. He received his B.A. from Yale University and a Master of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He served as law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court and has taught Constitutional Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has also served as President of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Law Center, President of the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education, President of Akiba Hebrew Academy and President of the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Hillel Foundation.

Joan Shapiro, Chicago, IL
January 2002 -January 2003 (board)
June 2003 - January 2008 (Vice President in North America)
June 2008 – June 2010

Joan Shapiro is Chair of Seer Analytics, LLC, a research firm she co-founded in 2001. Ms. Shapiro was Executive Vice President of South Shore Bank (ShoreBank Corp.) where, over 20 years, she built its franchise as the leading development bank in the country. She was a founding member and later president of the Social Investment Forum and has been recognized as one of the pioneers of socially responsible investing in the United States. Ms. Shapiro has served on public and private boards for over 25 years. She is a member of the UK Social Investment Task Force, a group of business and civic leaders advising government since 2000 on private sector investment in urban regeneration.

Mary Ann Stein, Bethesda, MD
Past President
January 2002 - ex-officio

Mary Ann Stein is the President of the Moriah Fund. An attorney, Ms. Stein has chaired several committees, coalitions, and mayoral advisory commissions on family and children's issues. She served on the D.C. Judicial Nominations Commission and has written and published papers on public assistance and child welfare. She is the Founding Chair of the Fund for Global Human Rights, and serves on the board of Americans for Peace Now.

Daniel Sokatch, San Francisco, CA
Chief Executive Officer
October 2009 - ex-officio

Daniel J. Sokatch is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the New Israel Fund (NIF), the leading organization committed to equality and democracy for all Israelis. Before joining NIF, Sokatch served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at Federation, he served as the founding Executive Director of the Los Angeles based Progressive Jewish Alliance.In recognition of his leadership, Sokatch has thrice been named one of the Forward newspaper’s “Forward 50,” an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers in 2002, 2005 and 2008. Daniel has an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married with two daughters and resides in San Francisco.

Rachel Liel, Jerusalem, Israel
NIF Executive Director in Israel
2009

Rachel Liel is the New Israel Fund’s Executive Director in Israel. Prior to her recent appointment, Rachel served as Director of SHATIL, the New Israel Fund Initiative for Social Change, which provides training and consultancy services for the NGO sector in Israel. She joined SHATIL in 1998 as part of a long and distinguished career in public service, having served as Deputy Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services in the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, and as a Policy Analyst in the Department of Social Policy Planning of the Prime Minister's Office. She holds a Master’s degrees in Sociology/Anthropology and in Social Work. Rachel has been publicly recognized for her outstanding leadership: In September 2007 The Marker chose Rachel as one of seven Israelis who “influence for the greater good.” This followed The Marker naming her, in Januay 2007, as one of the 40 Israeli women making the most significant contributions to Israeli society, and Globes choosing her as one of Israel's 50 most influential leaders in 2006.