Our Board

Jeffrey Swartz (Chairman)

Jeff serves as the Chairman of MAOZ and is one of its founders. Until 2011, he was the CEO of Timberland, a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and a globally recognized brand for footwear and apparel, a role he held for approximately 15 years.

At Timberland, Jeff invested in the idea of “commerce and justice,", building public/private partnerships, as at City Year, where he served as Chairman of the Board for ten years, and at Share Our Strength, the Harlem Children’s Zone, Partners in Health, and The Climate Group.

In America, Jeff was actively involved in the Jewish community—chairing Yeshivat Rambam in Brookline, and the local kashrut v’a’ad, and in the national Day School movement.

In 2011, Jeff led the sale of Timberland to VF Corporation, after which he and his family made Aliyah. In Israel, Jeff is dedicated to promoting sustainable socio-economic change—primarily through the MAOZ platform--and to advancing sustainable democracy and a covenantal economy in Israel.

He holds an MBA from Dartmouth University (1984) and a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University (1982).

Jeff is married to Debbie; their three sons and wives, and their children all live in Israel. Jeff’s most ambitious role in life is as Zayde.

Doron Livnat

Doron manages a group of family-owned international companies specializing in rental of logistic sites and seaports and leasing large-lifting mobile cranes.

He is a tireless social entrepreneur who focuses his efforts on education and long-term initiatives such as, MAOZ, Shanti House, Ayalim, Sapir Academic College, Matan Israel (United Way), INCLU - inclusive schools, Zikaron Basalon-(Memories@Home), Lishma Program, Nalaga’at Center and Peres Center for Peace (a program focusing on Palestinian children and physicians). He is the co-founder of Tovanot B'Hinuch – Insights in Education, the Weiss-Livnat center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Haifa, the robotics program in Yeruham, and many other ventures.

Doron is also involved in social initiatives in Brazil, India, Africa and in the Netherlands. He sits on the boards of many social organizations, including MAOZ, of which he is a co-founder.

Doron holds an academic degree in Economics, International Commerce and Logistics from DAV Bremen in Germany and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Program (O.P.M) at Harvard Business School. In 2016, Doron was awarded an honorary PHD in philosophy from the University of Haifa.

Deborah Cogen Swartz

In addition to serving on the MAOZ Board of Directors, Debbie is committed to strengthening the impact of various Israeli and American organizations focused on education, hunger, poverty, and sustainable democracy.

She holds a Master’s degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Brown University. Passionate about education, she believes that every child deserves access to quality learning opportunities, which she sees as the foundation of a thriving democratic society.

Debbie previously held leadership roles as Chair of the Schechter School in Boston, Chair of PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education in North America), Board Member at CJP (Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston), and Co-Chair of its flagship community leadership program, "Acharai."

In 2020, Debbie and her family made Aliyah to Israel from Boston. She is married to Jeff, and together they have three sons, three daughters-in-law, and a growing number of wonderful grandchildren.

Doron Latzer

Doron is a co-founder and senior partner of the Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz law firm. He has over 30 years of commercial and corporate law experience, working with international companies as in-house and external counsel, and serves on the boards of several tech companies. He is active in an entrepreneurship and innovation support program for Unit 8200 alumni and the entrepreneurship program for alumni of the IDF's elite Center of Computing and Information Systems. In the past, Doron worked as in-house counsel for Elbit, a leading international defense industry company. Doron holds a degree from the Middle Temple Law School, London. He lives in Tel Aviv, is married to Yael, and has three children.

Scott Tobin

Scott is a General Partner at Battery Ventures, a firm he joined in 1997. He leads investments in the United States, Israel and Europe. Scott has focused on a variety of deals at Battery, including venture capital and private equity investments in sectors including enterprise infrastructure, materials science, application software, business services, media, and financial services. Scott has been named multiple times to the Forbes Midas List, which ranks top venture capitalists from around the world. He graduated with honors from Brandeis University with a BA in International Relations and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. He and his wife are proud parents to five wonderful sons.

Rabbi Tzvi Lau

Rabbi Lau is married with nine children and lives in Tel Aviv. After studying at the Hebron Yeshiva and completing his rabbinical studies at the Binyan Av Beit Midrash, which was headed by the late Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, Rabbi Lau was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Rabbi Lau is a multi-talented individual and has headed the Yeshivat Netivot Yitzhak for over 10 years. In addition, he has served as the Yad Eliyahu congregation rabbi in Tel Aviv and as the rabbi of the Kahal Hassidim congregation in Kfar Ganim, Petah Tikva. Over the past three years, he has served as the rabbi of the Lema'anchem organization, which provides consultation and medical guidance and supports social initiatives. Rabbi Lau also teaches Torah and lectures in various secular communities throughout the Gush Dan and Sharon regions.

Amir Levy

Amir is a partner and CEO of Sphera Funds, Israel’s oldest and leading hedge fund. Prior to assuming his current position, Amir served as CEO of IBC (Israel Broadband Company) Unlimited, an advanced communications infrastructure company based on fiber optics. Before joining IBC, Amir spent a year as a senior fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he examined how Israel can support minorities and address inequality. Amir had previously spent four years (2013-2017) as director of the Budgets Department at the Ministry of Finance (equivalent to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget). From 2006 to 2013 he was the CEO of Shikun & Binui Renewable Energy. He holds a BA in economics and political science and an MA in economics, both from Hebrew University, where he has also been teaching macroeconomic policy since 2015.

Yael Lavie

Yael is the Chairwoman of the Bar Lev High Tech Park, which is being built in the western Galilee and which will provide quality employment opportunities for some 5,000 area residents. Yael is also the Founder and Chair of the Moshal Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to 1,000 students and has an alumni network in Israel and in South Africa. The students in the program come from challenging socio-economic backgrounds and study for a degree that will enable them to earn a respectable living. Yael previously established and managed a private investment firm in London that focused on real-estate and finances. Earlier on, Yael worked at Bank HaPoalim for 17 years, serving as VP of the bank's Switzerland offices for six years. During her time there, she also held a number of additional management positions, such as managing the bank's platinum division. Yael holds a BA in Economy and an MBA with a specialty in Financing from Tel Aviv University. Yael has three daughters and lives in a village in the Sharon region.

Yifat Sela

Yifat, 51, is a mother of four from Modi’in. She is the chairwoman of Emunah, the organization of Religious Zionist women. Previously, she served for two years as senior deputy director of the Government Companies Authority in the Ministry of Finance, where she managed the Directors, Salaries and Human Capital Units of the Authority and its companies. She joined the authority after several years as CEO of the Aluma — Youth for Change nonprofit, where she guided approximately 40,000 young Israelis from diverse backgrounds annually in making decisions aimed at improving social mobility and strengthening their sense of belonging to Israeli society. Yifat is also a member of the National Insurance Council, the Petroleum Law Council at the Ministry of Energy and the executive board of MAOZ.

Rana Fahoum

Rana is the director of the Center for Shared Society and a member of the management of the Shalom Hartman Institute. She previously served as CEO of the YMCA in Jerusalem and Three Arches, until January 2022. In 1998, Rana founded a junior high school for girls in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem and ran it for 14 years. Over the years, the school grew from three classes to 15, adopting a unique approach emphasizing sciences, languages and a humanist and feminist education. Rana was later appointed by the Ministry of Education to oversee all elementary education in East Jerusalem. Alongside this role, she was responsible for training principals in East Jerusalem. Before that, Rana worked as a teacher and instructor in the Ministry of Education. She was a tutor and teaching assistant at Hebrew University in the Department of Linguistics and an English teacher in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) team.

Rana is a board member of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), a member of the Israeli Council for Culture and Art, and a member of the board of the Lavi Association, the Municipal Association for the Development of Education in Jerusalem.

Dr. Mohammed Alnabari

Dr. Mohammed Alnabari has been serving as the Mayor of Hura, one of the major Bedouin townships in the Negev, 2004-2018. The movement for Quality of Government presented Mayor Mohammed with a Knight of Quality Government award.

Mohammed earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Ben-Gurion University, and brings with him extensive experience in the private sector, following a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry.

He represents a new brand of leadership in the Bedouin community and has been instrumental in developing close and effective working relationships with various ministries of the Israeli government, private sector and civil society. He led Innovative new approaches for improving the lives of the Bedouin community in the Negev.

Mohammed is a founding member and co-chairman of Project Wadi Attir in partnership with Dr. Michael Ben-Eli of The Sustainability Laboratory; he has been leading the development of this unique economic development model.

He is serving as the chairman and founding member of Desert Stars, a nonprofit organization established to nurture a new leadership within the Bedouin society, which takes responsibility for the creation of a better, more just and more equal society and facilitates a productive coexistence in the Negev.

He is a founding member and chair of Alsanbel social enterprise for the employment of women in partnership with Local NGO Ajeec-Nisped.

He is a board member of Ben Gurion university

Today he is leading a cross sector high impact social economic initiative named Yanabia.

Dr. Alnabari was born in 1970 in the Negev desert. He is married and has six children.

Liat Nadai Arad

Liat Nadai Arad is a senior executive with over two decades of experience in cyber, healthcare, and technology. She previously commanded the Cyber Center of the Intelligence Division at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and led some of Israel’s most advanced operational, strategic, and technological systems. She currently serves as Chief Transformation Officer at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, managing the Innovation and AI Medata-I unit. Liat is a board member at BioCatch and has held senior management positions at leading companies, including Modu, M-Systems, and ColorChip, where she focused on operational leadership, organizational innovation, and technological growth. She holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tel Aviv University. Among her recognitions are the Israel Defense Prize (2021) and inclusion in Globes’ 50 Most Influential Women in Israel (2022).

Aiman Saif

Until recently, Aiman was the Head of the Authority for the Economic Development of Minorities in the Ministry for Social Equality. During his decade-long tenure, Aiman led development processes of unprecedented magnitude. In addition, he was responsible for implementing governmental decisions which included strategic and organizational planning, the establishment of an advisory committee for the authority, advancing the authority's establishment and more. Aiman also advanced a variety of economic projects, such as a private equity fund for the private sector, projects promoting women's employment, the establishment of the Kav Mashve (employment opportunities for Arabic speakers, employees and academics) joint venture, the opening of vocational counseling centers, the creation of MATI – the Galilee Business Development Center, and aid to potential investors. Aiman advocated Knesset legislation of an authority for the economic development of minorities and represented the authority in conferences and in the various committees that are related to the Arab society's economic development. Aiman holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration from Bamberg University in Germany and an MA in International Planning and Development from Clark University.

Orna Barbivai

Orna Barbivai is a Major General (reserves) in the Israel Defense Forces and the former Commanding Officer of its Manpower Directorate. She was the first woman to obtain the rank of Maj. Gen. (Aluf), the IDF's second-highest rank. Growing up in a family of eight children in Afula, Barbivai is the daughter of Tzila, a Jewish immigrant from Iraq, and Eli Shochetman, a Jewish immigrant from Romania. She was drafted into the IDF in 1981 and spent her entire career as an officer in the Manpower Directorate. Barbivai holds a BA in Social Sciences and Humanities from Ben Gurion University and an MBA from Haifa University. She is also a graduate of the "Turn-Point" administration course for senior military officials. Barbivai was the first woman to hold the IDF positions of Chief Adjutant Officer of a Command, Chief Adjutant Officer, Head of the Ground Forces' Manpower Division and Head of the Individuals' Sector in the Manpower Directorate. On May 26, 2011, Israel's Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak approved her appointment as the Commanding Officer of the IDF's Manpower Directorate. The promotion of Barbivai, a mother of three, to the rank of Maj. Gen. was praised by Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who said that "There is no rank that is too heavy for a woman’s shoulders, and there is no doubt that Brig. Gen. Barbivai was appointed because of her talents".

Nimrod Sheffer

Major General (Res.) Nimrod Sheffer completed his successful term as President and CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in November 2020. During his tenure, he led the company to the two most successful years in its history, as it achieved significant growth and profit data following a decade of stunted growth and very low profitability.

Nimrod completed his 36-year IDF service as Head of the Planning Directorate in the IDF General Staff. In this position, Sheffer was responsible for the military/international strategic planning, international military collaboration and in building the IDF’s manpower (thereby working on the military’s annual and multi-year programs).

He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University in Boston and a Bachelor’s of Applied Science Degree in Geophysics and Planetary Sciences from Tel Aviv University.

Nimrod enlisted in the Air Force in the fall of 1979 and completed the pilot course in 1981 as a fighter pilot and has since held several positions in the corps, including the command of two combat squadrons, commanding the Ramon Air Force Base, serving as Head of the IAF Air Division, and as IAF Chief of Staff.

Nimrod lives in Nataf, is married to Haya and is the father of four children.

Yodfat Harel Buchris

Yodfat is a Managing Director at Blumberg Capital, based in Tel Aviv. She is an experienced investor and board member with a track record in management, business development, marketing and strategic planning in North America, Europe and Asia. Prior to joining Blumberg Capital, Yodfat ran her own investing and consulting business. Previously, she was Managing Director of Tamares Capital Ltd., a large international private investment fund with holdings in technology, media, manufacturing and real estate. Earlier in her career, Yodfat served as Corporate Director and Head of the Medical and Venture Capital Groups at Orbotech LTD., a world leader in automated inspection for printed circuit boards and panel displays. She also previously served as Managing Director at Harel-Hertz Investment House Ltd., managing investment and business development for Japanese and Israeli corporations, and as Chief Advisor to ITX-Corporation, a leading Japanese electronics conglomerate listed on NASDAQ Japan. Yodfat serves on Israel Discount Bank's Board of Directors and serves as an industry representative on the National Labor Court. Yodfat obtained her executive MBA from Bradford University School of Management in Great Britain and her BA in Communications and Political Science from Bar-Ilan University. She has also completed advanced programs in director studies, mediation, advertising and marketing.

Yaakov Berger

Prior to completing his civil service, Yaakov was Israel’s Deputy Civil Service Commissioner, a position he served in for 10 years. During his tenure, Yaakov was responsible for some of the most significant civil service reforms to date. Previously, Yaakov served as Senior Vice President in the Ministry of Health and in a number of senior roles in the IDF within the field of human resources, among them as Adjutant Officer of the Northern Command and as Head of Human Resources of the Ground Forces. Yaakov was discharged with the rank of Brigadier General. Today, Yaakov is involved in several organizations dealing with public service, creating training and leadership programs that will develop the next generation of Israel’s public leaders. He has sat on the boards of MAOZ, Cadets for Public Service and Kriat Kivun. Yaakov holds a BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an MA with distinction in Political Science from Haifa University and is a graduate of the National Security College (of the Israel Defense Forces). Yaakov and his wife, Agi have two sons and six grandchildren and live in Herzliya.

Isaac Devash

Itzik is a social and business entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in the field of venture capital and private equity investments and several years as an investment banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, London, and Tokyo. He is a partner at a fund focusing on life sciences called aMoon and is instrumental in establishing the first independent Israeli digital bank. In the past, Itzik established and managed a number of private investment funds and and represented a number of international investors and investment funds in Israel. He is one of the founders of Israel’s national talent management program called "Atudot le’Israel". For about two decade he has been investing his time and energy to promote the buildup of a critical mass of about 25 managerial and professional talent management programs that are meant to strengthen the public sphere in the central and local government as well as in the NGO sector. He was a member of the Goshen Corporate Governance Committee that promoted the establishment of a Delaware type "Economic Court" and he assisted in the planning and implementating structural reforms in the capital markets, leading to a more efficient allocation of capital and credit for the government, the private sector and for households, while reducing the systemic risk. He also founded the Israeli alumni clubs of the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School. During his military service, he served as an officer in the IDF during the 1982 Lebanon War. Itzik gained his BA degree, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA from Harvard University. Itzik and his wife Anna live in Tel Aviv and are the parents of three children.

Michal Cohen

Michal Cohen served as Director-General of the Ministry of Education for four years, and previously filled different managerial roles in the public service, most recently as the Ministry's Senior Deputy Director and Director of the Pedagogic Administration. During the course of her professional career, she has led significant, large-scale pedagogic and structural reforms and initiatives. Michal holds an MA in Education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a diploma in Organizational Consultation for Education Systems from Tel Aviv University, as well as an MA in Law from Bar-Ilan University. She has served as General Director of Rashi since September 2017.