Capital Jewish Forum International Board of Advisors
Mr Gad Ben-Ari (Israel)
Gad Ben-Ari, managing director of APCO Worldwide’s office in Israel, has held a variety of consulting and executive positions in Israel and other countries.
Prior to joining APCO, Mr. Ben Ari was the director general of Keren-Hayesod-United Israel Appeal - Israels largest and oldest fundraising organization, operating in 45 countries around the world - a position he held for five years. From 1974-1982, Mr. Ben-Ari served as a radio and television anchor and broadcaster specializing in current affairs, news broadcasts and news magazine programs. He was the spokesperson and senior advisor of the Minister of Immigration, Yaakov Tzur; the head of the public relations division of the Jewish-Agency and the chairman of the North America Jewish-Agency in New York. From 1992-1994, Mr. Ben-Ari was the media advisor and spokesperson of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin; responsible for the government press office, formulating the media strategies for the prime minister and the government, taking part in discussions on the peace process with White House and State Department teams, top Palestinian leadership and European and Egyptian heads of states and government representatives. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Ben-Ari was a member of the senior management of Koor Industries Ltd., one of Israel’s largest holding companies, responsible for Middle East business operations.
Mr. Ben-Ari is a graduate of the HebrewUniversity law faculty in Jerusalem and was admitted to the Israel Bar Association in 1979.He speaks fluent Hebrew and English, and is proficient in Arabic (www.apcoworldwide.com/content/Locations/emea/tel_aviv.aspx).
Prior to joining APCO, Mr. Ben Ari was the director general of Keren-Hayesod-United Israel Appeal - Israels largest and oldest fundraising organization, operating in 45 countries around the world - a position he held for five years. From 1974-1982, Mr. Ben-Ari served as a radio and television anchor and broadcaster specializing in current affairs, news broadcasts and news magazine programs. He was the spokesperson and senior advisor of the Minister of Immigration, Yaakov Tzur; the head of the public relations division of the Jewish-Agency and the chairman of the North America Jewish-Agency in New York. From 1992-1994, Mr. Ben-Ari was the media advisor and spokesperson of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin; responsible for the government press office, formulating the media strategies for the prime minister and the government, taking part in discussions on the peace process with White House and State Department teams, top Palestinian leadership and European and Egyptian heads of states and government representatives. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Ben-Ari was a member of the senior management of Koor Industries Ltd., one of Israel’s largest holding companies, responsible for Middle East business operations.
Mr. Ben-Ari is a graduate of the HebrewUniversity law faculty in Jerusalem and was admitted to the Israel Bar Association in 1979.He speaks fluent Hebrew and English, and is proficient in Arabic (www.apcoworldwide.com/content/Locations/emea/tel_aviv.aspx).
Dr Jacques Gorlin (US)
Jacques J. Gorlin is President of the Gorlin Group, a Washington, DC-based consultancy. He is a recognised expert on the nexus between intellectual property and trade policy and has been a consultant to the research-based pharmaceutical industry for close to twenty five years
Dr Gorlin has also advised the US Government: For over fifteen years, he was Vice-Chair of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, a private sector group that advises the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy, and was an industry advisor to US Delegations to the Ministerial Conferences of the World Trade Organization.
Dr Gorlin has long been active in the Jewish community of Greater Washington. He served as both the Vice President for Planning & Allocations and Vice President for Multiple Appeals of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and chaired its allocations committees for Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami Relief.
Most recently, Dr Gorlin chaired the Investment Policy Committee of the United Jewish Endowment Fund of Greater Washington, which had been charged with analysing the policies and procedures of the Investment Committee and developing recommendations to ensure that the Endowment Fund conformed to best practices in foundation investing.
Dr Gorlin also served as President of the MelvinJ.BermanHebrewAcademy.
Dr Gorlin received an A.B. in history from Columbia College (1965), an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (1967) and his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University (1971) (www.gorlingroup.com).
Dr Gorlin has also advised the US Government: For over fifteen years, he was Vice-Chair of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, a private sector group that advises the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy, and was an industry advisor to US Delegations to the Ministerial Conferences of the World Trade Organization.
Dr Gorlin has long been active in the Jewish community of Greater Washington. He served as both the Vice President for Planning & Allocations and Vice President for Multiple Appeals of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and chaired its allocations committees for Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami Relief.
Most recently, Dr Gorlin chaired the Investment Policy Committee of the United Jewish Endowment Fund of Greater Washington, which had been charged with analysing the policies and procedures of the Investment Committee and developing recommendations to ensure that the Endowment Fund conformed to best practices in foundation investing.
Dr Gorlin also served as President of the MelvinJ.BermanHebrewAcademy.
Dr Gorlin received an A.B. in history from Columbia College (1965), an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (1967) and his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University (1971) (www.gorlingroup.com).
Mr Aharon Horwitz (Israel)
Aharon Horwitz is the co-founder and director of the the PresenTense Group, and the co-founder of the PresenTense Institute for socially minded entrepreneurs. Aharon has founded and directed initiatives in technology and community, such as MavenHaven.com, and in student programming, such as the Azure Student Journals Project. Aharon speaks regularly in the Jewish Community and consults on student programming, strategic planning, and innovative marketing. Aharon studied Political Science and Arabic at ColumbiaUniversity and has published and been cited on the subject of suicide terrorism. He volunteers for the Jerusalem based social justice organizations B'Maaglei Tzedek and Atzum's Task Force on Human Trafficking and is a recipient of the World Zionist Organization's Herzl Prize (www.presentense.org).
Ambassador Martin Indyk (US)
Martin Indyk is vice president and director of Foreign Policy at Brookings. He previously served as U.S. ambassador to Israel, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and special assistant to the President and senior director for near east and south asia at the National Security Council. His latest book is Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Middle East. His current research focuses on American foreign policy, as well as Middle East affairs (www.brookings.edu).
Mr Paul Israel (Israel)
Executive Director - Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce (www.aicc.org.au/).
Ms. Erica Lyons (Hong-Kong)
Erica Lyons is the publisher and managing editor of Asian Jewish Life magazine. She launched the magazine in January, 2010, with the purpose of celebrating the diversity of Jewish life in Asia and of Asian Jewry. Since moving to Hong-Kong in 2002, she has also served as an editor and jouralist for regional publications, written freelance journalism articles and worked for a number of corporations writing communications and copy on a freelance basis. Additionally, she has recently published poetry. Erica is on the board of directors of ZAKA Hong Kong, China & Macau and on the board of the Jewish Historical Society of Hong Kong. By way of background, she received a degree in English litterature, with a minor in Judaic Studies, from SUNY Albany's Honors Program, where she also served as a teaching assisstant for the Judaic Studies Program. Upon graduation, she went on to receive a law degree from Georgetown University and became a member of the New York Bar. While in New York, she worked as a lawyer for AIG and also was a Steinberg-Glass Fellow with the Anti-Defamation League (www.asianjewishlife.org).
Ms Rebecca Zeffert (Israel)
Rebecca Zeffert is the founder and executive director of the Israel-Asia Center - a non-profit organisation promoting understanding and furthering cooperation between Israel the Jewish world and Asia. Rebecca has more than a decade media, public relations and public affairs experience, working with multinational companies, media organisations, NGOs and educational institutions in China, Japan, Israel and the UK, including Washington-based public affairs firm APCO Worldwide, Citizens' Accord Forum between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has also coordinated public relations for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Maala - Business for Social Responsibility, and the Aoshima One World Festival in Japan, and has worked with Lonely Planet publications and the BBC World Service Chinese Section.
Based in Jerusalem, Rebecca has spent significant time living in Israel, China and Japan. She studied at Kansai Gaidai University (Japan), Tianjin Normal University (China) and Shanghai Theatre Academy (China) and holds a B.A. in Modern Chinese Studies from the University of Leeds. Rebecca is on the Steering Committee for the Presentense Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (www.israelasiacenter.org).
Based in Jerusalem, Rebecca has spent significant time living in Israel, China and Japan. She studied at Kansai Gaidai University (Japan), Tianjin Normal University (China) and Shanghai Theatre Academy (China) and holds a B.A. in Modern Chinese Studies from the University of Leeds. Rebecca is on the Steering Committee for the Presentense Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (www.israelasiacenter.org).
