Voices of Impact
Isaac Raskas Ohrenstein, a Harvard student and WJC-Lauder Fellow, sits down with leaders and changemakers in the Jewish world to explore their impactful work across business, politics, academia, and philanthropy. Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and the World Jewish Congress website.
Episodes
113 episodes
Origins, Outreach, Opera: Dr. Sharon Azrieli
Dr. Sharon Azrieli is a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist who serves as a director of the Azrieli Group and the Azrieli Foundation. A critically acclaimed opera singer, she has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Compan...
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31:59
Sovereigns, Statecraft, Bretton Woods: Josh Lipsky
Josh Lipsky is the Chair of International Economics and Senior Director of the GeoEconomics Center at the Atlantic Council. He previously served as an advisor and speechwriter to Christine Lagarde at the IMF and as a U.S. State Department appoi...
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23:07
Ethiopia, Tikkun Olam, Tenacity: Dr. Rick Hodes
Dr. Rick Hodes is an American physician who has spent the past 35 years in Ethiopia serving as the Medical Director for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Based in a public hospital in Addis Ababa, he treats children with s...
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24:26
Ideology, Influence, Institutions: Dr. Jehuda Reinharz
Dr. Jehuda Reinharz is the President and CEO of the Mandel Foundation. He was appointed by Mort Mandel in 2011, after serving as President of Brandeis University from 1994 to 2011. Dr. Reinharz’s prior roles at Brandeis include Provost, Directo...
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45:00
Responsibility, Reach, Recognition: Dafna Meitar Nechmad
Dafna Meitar-Nechmad is Chairwoman of the Board of Governors at Tel Aviv University. A former partner at Meitar Law Offices, she transitioned from a leading legal career to focus fully on philanthropy. Dafna is President of the Zvi and Ofra Mei...
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34:12
Momentum, Management, Milwaukee: Alex Lasry
Alex Lasry is the Chief Executive Officer of the FIFA World Cup 26™ New York-New Jersey Host Committee. Previously, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism at the U.S. Department of Commerce and spent nearly a decade as a...
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26:33
Influence, Negotiations, Power: Robert Wexler
Congressman Robert Wexler is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Ballard Partners, where he also serves as a Co-Managing Partner in Tel Aviv and a Special Advisor in Istanbul. He is also the President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for...
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32:14
Consumers, Communication, Loyalty: Laurie Ann Goldman
Laurie Ann Goldman is the President and CEO at Tupperware Brands Corporation. She previously served as the CEO of Avon North America and the CEO of Spanx from 2002-2014, where she built the brand from a small start-up to a global business. Befo...
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41:22
Innovation, Inclusion, Intelligence: Alan Feld
Alan Feld is the Founder and Managing Partner of Vintage Investment Partners. He previously served as a General Partner at Israel Seed Partners and Vertex Ventures. Before that, Alan was Managing Director of Evergreen Capital Markets/Robertson ...
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34:45
Diplomacy, Wisdom, Acquisitions: Amb. Alfred Moses
Ambassador Alfred Moses is an attorney and the chairman of UN Watch in Geneva. He has served as the national president of the American Jewish Committee, special counsel to President Carter, U.S. ambassador to Romania, and the special presidenti...
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31:46
Public Service, Philanthropy, Leadership: Eric Gertler
Eric Gertler is the Executive Chairman & CEO of U.S. News & World Report. He previously served as Commissioner, President & CEO-designate of Empire State Development, New York’s economic development agency. Eric is a trustee of the ...
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41:12
Stewardship, Succession, and Strategy: Matthew Bronfman
Matthew Bronfman is Chairman and CEO of BHB Holdings, a private investment firm, and Chairman of Bronfman Rothschild, Lincoln Avenue Capital, and Bronfman LLC. He controls the IKEA franchise in Israel and has extensive real estate holdings in t...
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34:20
Healthcare, Heritage, Giving: Sara Crown Star
Sara Crown Star is a Venture Partner at FemHealth Ventures, a firm advancing innovations in women’s health. FemHealth Ventures Fund I, with a 0.93x DPI and 40.2% IRR, ranked in the top 10% of VC funds in the 2021 vintage. She previously served ...
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31:04
Capitalism, Disruption, Venture: David Blumberg
David Blumberg is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blumberg Capital. Before founding Blumberg Capital in 1991, he managed international investments at the Bronfman Family Office (Claridge), Adler & Co. Venture Capital, APAX Partners, and...
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58:28
Chicago, Children, Commitment: Susan Crown
Susan Crown is the Chairman and Founder of the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) and Chairman & CEO of Owl Creek Partners. As a Partner at Henry Crown & Co., she helped manage investments across oil and gas, defense, banking, telecom, and real...
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46:14
Brokerage, Branding, Boldness: Michael Shvo
Michael Shvo is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of SHVO, leading a real estate owner, investor, and developer of unique and innovative luxury and landmark properties with a portfolio exceeding $8 billion. Since founding SHVO in 2004, he has rede...
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33:13
Tehran, Tolerance, Transformation: Dr. Sharon Nazarian
Dr. Sharon S. Nazarian is the President of the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation and founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA. In 2017, she was appointed Senior Vice President for International Affairs at t...
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41:44
Golden Age, Soccer, Imperialism: Franklin Foer
Franklin Foer is a staff writer and national correspondent at The Atlantic since 2016. Previously, he served as editor of The New Republic from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2014. An accomplished author, his most recent ...
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38:58
Matanel, Steinsaltz, Luxembourg: Joelle Aflalo
Joelle Aflalo is the Chairwoman of the Matanel Foundation and a founding member, CEO, and Managing Director of Gestman SA. She is also a founding member of Cofidom-Gestman Sàrl, a regulated company based in Luxembourg that specializes in corpor...
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38:40
Agriculture, Bipartisanship, Comedy: Sec. Dan Glickman
Dan Glickman is the former U.S. secretary of agriculture and chair of APCO’s International Advisory Council. He previously served as executive director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program, a nonpartisan educational initiative for membe...
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38:17
Urbanism, Tel Aviv, Diversity: Hila Oren
Dr. Hila Oren is the CEO of The Tel Aviv Foundation. Previously, she founded and led Tel Aviv Global, an initiative from the Mayor’s Office aimed at elevating the city’s global brand. Under her leadership, the "Startup City" vision was launched...
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33:33
Physics, Rabbinics, Organisms: Dr. Jeremy England
Dr. Jeremy England is a Visiting Professor of Physics at Bar-Ilan University and Vice President at GlaxoSmithKline, leading artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Physics at MIT an...
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52:09
Economics, Philanthropy, Synergy: Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner is the Chairman and CEO of Willett Advisors, which oversees Michael Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic investments. He is also the Economic Analyst on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and regularly contributes to The New York Times. Previ...
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25:24
European Jews, Anti-Semitism, Vienna: Dr. Ariel Muzicant
Dr. Ariel Muzicant is an Austrian-Israeli businessman, the President of the European Jewish Congress, a Vice-President of the World Jewish Congress, and a longtime leader of the Viennese Jewish community. He previously served as President of th...
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25:00