“I want to be able to give back to the community the way my parents do.”

Ben is no stranger to starting new ventures.  In fact, if you look at his Linked In profile Ben bills himself as someone who “helps to create new companies, business ventures and transactions that are “win-win” and generate value.”

But I think that what makes Ben even more proud are the projects that he has started that help others, such as Tees at Risk which markets t-shirts featuring innovative and thought-provoking designs by current and former teens at risk and Ten Partners.

Ten Partners is an innovative, community-driven, sustainable non-profit partnership that creates new and unique programs to enrich local Jewish life and community.

A TEN partnership is a local, non-profit venture managed and funded by ten members of a Jewish community who create, run or co-sponsor great programs for their local Jewish community. The goal is to make Jewish community service more grass-roots, “by the people for the people”, collaborative and accessible to a new generation of young lay leaders. TEN partnership’s programs should be financially sustainable by somehow returning their cost to the local TEN partnership, so that the partnership continues to operate and run programs without needing further funding after inception.

Since Ten Partners launched a few weeks ago, partnerships already are forming in six communities.  Ben is now in the process of creating the infrastructure needed to support the initiative, including raising the funds necessary to create the procedures and materials which will guide the partnerships around the world.

Ben was recently named one of the two winners of the 2011 Jewish Futures Competition, sponsored by the Jewish Education Project and JESNA’s Lippman Kanfer Institute.  As part of the competition, his winning video was shown at the Jewish Futures Conference held at the GA in Denver last month and his remarks at the GA were published by eJewish Philanthropy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Ben comes from a family where giving back to the community has always been important.  Both of his parents have been very involved in Jewish education, both locally and nationally.  Ben attended Yeshiva University and Columbia Law School. Upon completion of his law degree, Ben clerked for Justice Yitzchak Zamir on the Israel Supreme Court, but decided he was headed for a business rather that a law career.

After making aliyah in 1998 Ben worked briefly as a corporate lawyer before starting a number of software companies. He was then an executive at IDT Corp., mainly managing international business development and corporate acquisition projects, and then in 2006 formed his own private equity and venture management firm, Portofino Equity Advisors, which he runs today.

Ben and his wife Shafrira live in Jerusalem with their seven children.

These three organizations are working together for the sake of the encouraging business and community female leadership.

In the last two years, due to the global economic recession, many non-profit organizations have added profit making and business achievements to their agenda and have created collaborations with business organizations. Alongside those collaborations, we have also seen business organizations adding social, political and ecological issues to their agenda.

Together, businesses and non-profit organizations are opening “coffee shops” with the goal of coexistence and mutual learning which comes from an equal place. These “coffee shops” provide • income to families • allow business organizations to incorporate workers with disabilities • empower womens’ micro-businesses coming from different ethnicities and colors and creates cooperation which indicates a financial need and provides solutions to multicultural communities.

These instances demonstrate that economics motivates social change and connects between men and women coming from diverse background.

Speakers at the conference include:

Safa Younes, Founder and CEO of Arus al-Bahar

sviva_invitationProf. Benny Gidron, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Alisa Gutsman, Social investments Advisor

Panel participants include:

Esti Doron, National Supervisor of Community Work Service, Ministry of Social Affairs

Efrat Bekler-Kahana, CEO of Yoseftan Institute

Hagit Rubinstein, Manager of Micro-Businesses Area, Koret Foundation

Lena Gurary, Founder and CEO of Supportive Community

For more information regarding the conference contact:

office@svivatomehet.org.il

The Ziv Neurim non-profit organization (named after Ziv Levi, a fighter in the Israeli marine commando who died in office) was established in order to give youth at risk of dropping out a true experience of success. Using various marine vessels, Ziv Neurim is a leader in developing participants’ personal and social abilities, and ensuring their successful integration into educational and social frameworks.

Beginning in 2007, Ziv Neurim worked towards the establishment of an income generating project.  The need for a Sea Center of their own grew out of the hardship placed on the organization in the rental of facilities for their activities up and down the coast.  By establishing their own marina, this hardship was reduced.

During 2008 a business plan was created for the Marina and a firm partnership was established with the Ashdod Marina and the ORT School for Marine Officers.  More than 50 marine vessels were donated to the Center allowing it to both have the equipment needed for its own activities as well as offer a range of activities to outside groups.

Today, Ziv Neurim is proud to offer at its Ashdod Sea Center a wide variety of activities to business, community centers, educational institutions and the public.  These include fun and challenge days for companies, businesses, schools, and boarding facilities, end of the year events, sea activities for sports matriculation students, Outdoor Training Seminars, sailing courses, physical education for college students in the south, activities for youth at risk, etc.

Although the marketing of the project is only beginning, the center has already earned significant income for Ziv Neurim during 2009 and helped the organization cut down its expenses.