FORMER MEMBERS

Ido is the founder of Bridge to the Future. He is a lawyer turned community entrepreneur. Ido is a former strategic advisor to government departments, leading businesses, and foreign governments. He specializes in developing effective methods for developing strong communities in Israel’s border communities (its periphery). Ido is now a special adviser to Bridge to the Future.

Orna led BTF’s neighborhood development in Beit Shean for many years. Her areas of expertise are education, project management, training and coaching in management development. Prior to leading BTF’s neighborhood development work, she managed BTF’s program in Jizr-a-Zarqa.

Adam was born in Israel and grew up in the U.S. He graduated in 2011 from Cornell University, majoring in Natural Resources and Development Sociology. At Cornell he was involved in a variety of community projects. In addition, Adam was the manager at Cornell’s student-run organic farm. At BTF Adam projects focus on building community readiness by connecting and empowering residents.

Erica is BTF’s business analyst and designer. She specialized in program evaluation, analysis and data visualization.

Dyanne was BTF’s Administrator for many years and made sure everything ran as smoothly as possible!

Efrat helped build the framework for community development in the Valley of Springs. She specializes in youth at risk and has worked with a wide range of communities in Israel (religious, secular, and from different ethnic backgrounds). She has two masters degrees in social work and emergency and crisis management. Before joining the Valley of Springs Regional Council she was the general secretary of Kibbutz Tirat Tvi in the Valley of Springs.

Fathi was born and raised in Jisr a-Zarka. He is currently studying for a degree at the Beit Berl Institute in the field of Society and Community Studies. Fathi is very involved in various aspects of community work within the village and without. His work centered on coaching teenagers in the fields of social involvement, and personal and group empowerment. In addition, he was central to the vacation activities of the village children. Fathi organized a theater group of 14 teenagers who perform, with emphasis on social and community issues. He also works as a guide for the Nature Reserve Authority.

Gila is a former head teacher and is now a specialist in community development. For over ten years she was an advisor to Neighborhood Renewal in the areas of social capital and community involvement in strategic planning. For many years she was also a member of P2K’s Steering Committee in a voluntary capacity. She also lectures in medical ethics at the Technion and is an assessment manager at Yesodot, an organization that deals with issues of democracy in the religious sector.

Hema was born in Morocco into an Indian-Jewish family. Hema moved to Israel in 2001. She qualified in Tourism and Hospitality in Morocco and later specialized in languages and inter-cultural communication. Hema speaks seven languages. In Israel she re-trained and holds an Israeli real estate licence. She has a range of community development experience gained through working on several community projects abroad and in Israel. Hema now lives in Beit Shean, and is studying environmental sciences at the IDC in Herzliya.

Ilana specializes in establishing multi-disciplinary teams across both public and third sector agencies. She has recently retired from the Ministry of Education, where she was the Regional Supervisor for Education and Welfare in the Haifa region.