ID² – Israeli Designed International Development, an exclusive three-day gathering of 70 young Jewish innovators, entrepreneurs and international development professionals from Israel and around the world, is scheduled for February 18-20 in Caesarea. Coming together across sectors – private, government and NGOs – they will be looking at how to harness Israeli innovations, technologies and the spirit of entrepreneurship to provide solutions to some of the Developing World’s most pressing challenges.
Under the theme “Entrepreneurship for Development”, the gathering is being organized and co-chaired by Danielle Abraham, policy advisor to MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Daniel Ben Yehuda, Deputy Director of the Pears Program on Innovation and International Development, Tel Aviv University. It was created as part of Schusterman Connection Points, an initiative launched by the Schusterman Family Foundation, a global enterprise that supports and creates innovative initiatives for the purpose of igniting the passion and unleashing the power in young people to create positive change in Jewish communities and beyond.
Technology is helping improve the lives of some of the world’s poorest populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Israeli companies are at the forefront of this technological advancement in some of the fields with the greatest potential to transform the lives of the global poor: water, dryland agriculture, health, ICT, renewable energy and educational technology. Participants of the conference will be challenged to draw on their personal experience to help tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges with the goal of finding ways to cultivate sustainable development. ID² will provide them with an opportunity to become leaders in this field and position Israel as the “Development Start-Up Nation”.
“We are looking to explore how entrepreneurship can be used to tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges,” said Abraham and Ben Yehuda in a joint statement. “Our goal is to transform Israel from the Startup Nation to the Development Startup Nation by encouraging and empowering young international development players and entrepreneurs from around the world to get on board. We expect amazing ideas to come out of ID2 and to move the entrepreneurship for development agenda forward into real action.”
Among those who will be attending the event are Sasha Fisher, from America, co-founder and executive director of Spark MicroGrants, a non-profit that has developed the first proactive, group-based micro-granting model; Errol Freeman, from South Africa, Managing Director of Lulaway, an online job portal linked to a network of job centers in the townships and rural areas of South Africa, to provide greater access to job opportunities for the unemployed in those areas; Vivian Lan, from Mexico, Co-founder and Executive Director of a medical test company that uses a dry blood method to make diagnosis accessible for everyone; and Gal Moore, from England, Head of Business Development at BOP Connect, a social venture that develops human-centric technology solutions for the rural poor in the areas of energy, sanitation, health, education and agriculture.
Among those scheduled to speak are Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and former Prime Minister of New Zealand; William Tevie, Director General at National Information Technology Agency in Ghana; David Hardin, Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in the West Bank and Gaza; and Danny Almagor, Founder of Small Giants in Australia.
The contributing partners for the ID² 2014 Connection Point include MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation which is a part of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pears Program on Innovation and International Development at the Hartog School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University.
“We are excited to help young Jewish innovators create spaces to explore how they can harness the spirit of Israeli entrepreneurship in furthering ideas for international development. I believe young people hold the key to building a vibrant global Jewish future, and we must invest in their passion and potential to do so,” said Lynn Schusterman, chair of the Schusterman Family Foundation.
About Schusterman Connection Points:
Schusterman Connection Points, an initiative launched by the Schusterman Family Foundation to put young Jewish leaders at the helm of creating a series of gatherings around the world. Designed as a new and meaningful way for young Jews to assemble with purpose, Connection Points are part of Schusterman’s broader investment in organizations and programs that empower young leaders to take an active role in shaping a vibrant Jewish future. For more information please visit http://www.schusterman.org/schusterman-connection-points.
