For Benji Lovitt, Jewish summer camp led to his first trip to Israel at the age of 15 and then to a life-changing year in Israel on the Young Judaea Year Course program. His fate was sealed. Benji was destined to live the rest of his life as a committed Zionist and Jew. After earning a degree in psychology from the University of Texas, he worked at several dotcom jobs before realizing that something was missing. He found his calling in the Jewish communal world. Since making aliyah in 2006, Benji has performed stand-up comedy for audiences throughout North America and Israel including Hillels, Birthright Israel, the Jewish Federations General Assembly, and more. His perspectives on aliyah and life in Israel have been featured on Israeli television and radio and in publications such as the Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, and the Jewish Daily Forward. His blog, videos, and annual Yom Ha'atzmaut list of things he loves about Israel have developed a huge following and he works regularly with Jewish organizations to promote Israel.

A seasoned social entrepreneur and strategy professional, David has several years of experience working in venture capital and technology-enabled companies.  Most recently, David was the VP of Product Development and Charity Partnerships for Ryzing, a prized-based social gaming company. David currently sits on the Executive Committee at The Spruce Foundation in Philadelphia, a unique fund that drives philanthropy and volunteer engagement among Next Generation professionals. David holds an MBA in International Business from Temple University and a B.A. in Political Science from Dickinson College.

Evelyn is from Argentina. She was born in Moises Ville, the first Jewish area of settlement in Argentina. Eve led at a Jewish youth movement - Tnúa Hanoar Hatzioni - in Moises Ville; she has taught at Hebrew schools; she is an informal educator and a director of cultural workshops for young adults in community settings. She has volunteered for many projects connected to investigating the AMIA bombing and has been involved in projects relating to the Holocaust in social media. Since 2010, Eve has been developing opportunities for fomal education for young adults, between 25 to 40 years old. She independently manages the projects that are related to corporate social responsibility, aiming to highten Jewish people's awareness of social responsibility issues in Argentina.

Heather Wolfson is currently a nonprofit management consultant and part-time Managing Director of the Avi Schaefer Fund.  She most recently served as the Western Regional Director for NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundations. Heather has been very active in the Jewish community. After being a dedicated USYer, an educator at a religious school and involved in her campus Hillel, she decided to pursue a career in the Jewish world. She worked at the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation as the Special Projects Coordinator and later left Arizona for LA. She started her early career with MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger as the Marketing Manager. Outside of work, Heather has been involved in many activities including with the Progressive Jewish Alliance as a Jeremiah Fellow and the Emma Fellowship. Heather graduated from the University of Arizona with a dual B.A. in Journalism and Communication and her M.B.A. from Loyola Marymount University. 

Jay Stone is a beat-boxing, globe-trotting, sustainability-consulting, humanitarian-thriving adrenaline junkie.  He advanced to the Hollywood Week Finals on Season 9 of American Idol with his beatbox rendition of "Come Together."  Jay has also served as a dedicated Israel advocate and performed his "Sh'ma Israel" beatbox in 2010 for a crowd of 10,000+ people, including Israeli President Shimon Peres.  Jay recently completed his MBA at NYU Stern School of Business and currently works with Deloitte Consulting's Sustainability & Climate Change practice. 

Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Lani Hart graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in Sociology, Jewish Studies and Hebrew. During college, Lani was active with Wisconsin Hillel and also spent a semester studying and volunteering in the Jewish community in Prague, Czech Republic. Following graduation, Lani worked for four years, first as a fellow at PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values and more recently as the Assistant Director of Young Leadership at The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She took more than 150 young adults to Israel on Taglit-Birthright Israel trips and engaged hundreds of alumni as a Birthright Israel NEXT professional. Lani is a first-year student in the NYU Nonprofit Management and Jewish Studies dual degree program and is a recipient of The Federation Executive Recruitment & Education Program (FEREP) scholarship. In her free time, Lani enjoys traveling, watching sports and exploring New York City.

Moti Taubin was born in Kfar Adumim, a unique village whose inhabitants, both secular and religious, live together. This experience has continued to influence Moti throughout his whole life. After he spent one year in a pre-military study program in the Golan Heights, Moti began his military service in a unit called Maglan. As an officer, he commanded two teams and then discovered his passion for education. After he was released from the army, Moti started to work with youth, both as a volunteer coordinator during the disengagement from Gaza and as a guide to street children in Jerusalem. After finishing his studies at the Hebrew University in bible and history, he worked as a teacher in two high schools in Jerusalem and as a manager of a secular midrasha for volunteers. During 2009 he and Uriel, a friend from his kindergarten, established in Ein Gedi a Pre-Military Academy for underprivileged youth from the social periphery, meant to empower and help them to realize their potential on all levels: personal, social and national. The first year just ended on March 2010 and now Moti is preparing with his staff for the next one. He's married to Yael and they live in Ein Gedi.

As an alum of Teach For America, Rachel has continued to pursue a career in special education and led training sessions for beginning teachers in the USA and abroad with affiliated programs.  Rachel is currently the Inclusion Team Leader and 4th grade teacher at DC Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, DC. In addition to her work at DC Bilingual, she provides consulting services for international schools that are working toward developing and/or improving special education and inclusive programs.  Outside of work, Rachel loves to read, run, go camping and spend as much time traveling as possible!

Shiri is a sociology graduate student. She is active in the Sociology department as editor of the department's journal, producer of a series of lectures and founder of TA's forum and was elected excellent lecturer by the dean of social science. She was recently the winner of the Erasmus Mundus scholarship for excellent students, which allowed her to spend a semester in Karl Franzes University in Austria. Currently, she a research assistant for a few Prof at the Hebrew Uni. active in the international peace education movement CISV .