Voices of Impact

Michael Leffell is the chairman and founder of 10 East, Canoe Intelligence, and Portage Partners, a privately held firm focused on alternative asset investments. Before his retirement in 2010, he served as deputy executive managing member of Davidson Kempner Capital Management, a multi-strategy, event-driven hedge fund. Michael and his wife Lisa oversee the Lisa and Michael Leffell Foundation, whi...

Alex Swieca is an investor focused on the future of sports, media, and technology. He serves as Strategic Advisor to Avenue Sports, a division of Avenue Capital Group, and is the founder of QB1 Ventures, which invests in early-stage U.S. and Israeli startups. He is also a principal at Talpion Fund Management, a multi-strategy family office. Alex previously led the Family Office business at Coatue...

Doug Korn is the founder and Managing Partner of Victor Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. Previously, he played key roles in building three other firms as an early-stage Associate and Vice President at The Blackstone Group, a founding Managing Director at Eos Partners, and a Managing Director at Irving Place Capital. Doug is actively engaged in philanthropy, currently serving...

Jacki Karsh is a six-time Emmy-nominated multimedia journalist covering Los Angeles County for LA36's LA County Channel, where she reports on social and humanitarian issues. For nearly a decade, she has also served as anchor and moderator of MontyTV at the annual Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica, interviewing leading voices in tech, business, and finance. Jacki sits on the Board of Directors...

Dr. Allan Zeman is the Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings and Wynn Macau, as well as the owner of Paradise Properties Group, a real estate developer in Thailand. A Hong Kong resident for over 50 years, he has played a prominent role in both government and community affairs. Dr. Zeman served as Chairman of Hong Kong Ocean Park from 2003 to 2014 and was a member of the Airport Authority of Hong Kong...

Wendy Berger is a Chicago-based real estate developer, entrepreneur, and civic leader. She is the CEO and Founder of WBS Equities, a firm specializing in the development and acquisition of industrial properties for food and beverage manufacturers. Wendy also serves on the board of Green Thumb Industries, where she previously chaired the Executive Committee, and is the Chair of the Secure Community...

Dr. Sharon Azrieli is a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist who serves as a director of the Azrieli Group and the Azrieli Foundation. A critically acclaimed opera singer, she has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and L’Opéra de Paris, as well as major orchestras worldwide. In business, Sharon has founded and led real estate ventures in Canada and the U.S., and inv...

Josh Lipsky is the Chair of International Economics and Senior Director of the GeoEconomics Center at the Atlantic Council. He previously served as an advisor and speechwriter to Christine Lagarde at the IMF and as a U.S. State Department appointee for public diplomacy. At the White House, Josh helped coordinate President Obama’s participation in the G7, G20, and other global summits. Earlier in h...

Dr. Rick Hodes is an American physician who has spent the past 35 years in Ethiopia serving as the Medical Director for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Based in a public hospital in Addis Ababa, he treats children with severe spinal deformities, heart disease, and other complex conditions. In partnership with a Ghanaian surgeon, Dr. Hodes founded a spine program that now se...

Dr. Jehuda Reinharz is the President and CEO of the Mandel Foundation. He was appointed by Mort Mandel in 2011, after serving as President of Brandeis University from 1994 to 2011. Dr. Reinharz’s prior roles at Brandeis include Provost, Director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, and Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History. Dr. Reinharz has authored or co-authored ov...

Dafna Meitar-Nechmad is Chairwoman of the Board of Governors at Tel Aviv University. A former partner at Meitar Law Offices, she transitioned from a leading legal career to focus fully on philanthropy. Dafna is President of the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund, founder of TAU’s Institute for Law and Philanthropy, and a longtime member of the Zvi Meitar Center for Advanced Legal Studies. She has hel...

Alex Lasry is the Chief Executive Officer of the FIFA World Cup 26™ New York-New Jersey Host Committee. Previously, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism at the U.S. Department of Commerce and spent nearly a decade as a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, including roles as Senior Vice President and Vice President of Strategy & Operations. Earlier in his career, Alex work...

Congressman Robert Wexler is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Ballard Partners, where he also serves as a Co-Managing Partner in Tel Aviv and a Special Advisor in Istanbul. He is also the President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in Washington, D.C. Previously, Robert served as a Democratic Member of Congress from 1997 to 2010, representing Florida’s 19th district...

Laurie Ann Goldman is the President and CEO at Tupperware Brands Corporation. She previously served as the CEO of Avon North America and the CEO of Spanx from 2002-2014, where she built the brand from a small start-up to a global business. Before that, Laurie held roles of increasing responsibility at The Coca-Cola Company for a decade. Laurie sits on the Board of Directors of Cole Haan, Claire’s,...

Alan Feld is the Founder and Managing Partner of Vintage Investment Partners. He previously served as a General Partner at Israel Seed Partners and Vertex Ventures. Before that, Alan was Managing Director of Evergreen Capital Markets/Robertson Stephens Israel. He practiced law at Goodman’s, one of Canada’s top corporate firms, prior to moving to Israel in 1994. Alan is the Founding Chairman of Pow...

Ambassador Alfred Moses is an attorney and the chairman of UN Watch in Geneva. He has served as the national president of the American Jewish Committee, special counsel to President Carter, U.S. ambassador to Romania, and the special presidential envoy for the Cyprus conflict. Amb. Moses is the author of Bucharest Diary: An American Ambassador’s Journey , which chronicles his diplomatic efforts in...

Eric Gertler is the Executive Chairman & CEO of U.S. News & World Report. He previously served as Commissioner, President & CEO-designate of Empire State Development, New York’s economic development agency. Eric is a trustee of the Zuckerman Family Foundation, overseeing its family office, and sits on the boards of Harvard Kennedy School, the Technion, Tel Aviv University, and the Weiz...

Matthew Bronfman is Chairman and CEO of BHB Holdings, a private investment firm, and Chairman of Bronfman Rothschild, Lincoln Avenue Capital, and Bronfman LLC. He controls the IKEA franchise in Israel and has extensive real estate holdings in the U.S. and Israel. Previously, Matthew was a partner at ACI Capital and CEO of Sterling Cellular Holdings, with earlier roles at Goldman Sachs and Cadillac...

Sara Crown Star is a Venture Partner at FemHealth Ventures, a firm advancing innovations in women’s health. FemHealth Ventures Fund I, with a 0.93x DPI and 40.2% IRR, ranked in the top 10% of VC funds in the 2021 vintage. She previously served as a director at Thinx, a FemTech company she helped grow, and which was sold to Kimberly Clark. Sara sits on the boards of 1871, Musicians on Call, the Jew...

David Blumberg is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blumberg Capital. Before founding Blumberg Capital in 1991, he managed international investments at the Bronfman Family Office (Claridge), Adler & Co. Venture Capital, APAX Partners, and T. Rowe Price. He also played a key role in launching business development for Check Point Software Technologies. David currently serves as a board member...

Susan Crown is the Chairman and Founder of the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) and Chairman & CEO of Owl Creek Partners. As a Partner at Henry Crown & Co., she helped manage investments across oil and gas, defense, banking, telecom, and real estate. Susan served as the Chairman of Crown Family Philanthropies, where she professionalized its grantmaking and led key initiatives, including the Crow...

Michael Shvo is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of SHVO, leading a real estate owner, investor, and developer of unique and innovative luxury and landmark properties with a portfolio exceeding $8 billion. Since founding SHVO in 2004, he has redefined luxury real estate through partnerships with top architects, designers, and brands, pioneering the fusion of fashion and real estate with Armani Casa...

Dr. Sharon S. Nazarian is the President of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation and founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA. In 2017, she was appointed Senior Vice President for International Affairs at the ADL and served in the role for five years. Dr. Nazarian is on the boards of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, the West Coa...

Franklin Foer is a staff writer and national correspondent at The Atlantic since 2016. Previously, he served as editor of The New Republic from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2014. An accomplished author, his most recent book, The Last Politician: Inside the Biden White House and the Struggle for America’s Future , was published in September 2023. His previous work, World Without Mind: The Ex...

Joelle Aflalo is the Chairwoman of the Matanel Foundation and a founding member, CEO, and Managing Director of Gestman SA. She is also a founding member of Cofidom-Gestman Sàrl, a regulated company based in Luxembourg that specializes in corporate structuring and investment engineering. Joelle is the Vice Chairman of the Conference of European Rabbis and serves on the International Advisory Board...