Forbes Under 30 — The Impact of Global Community and Leadership
Birthright Israel Excel Fellows attended the Global Forbes Under 30 Summit in Israel as a way to network with other leading young professionals, expand our community’s reach and engage in personal and professional development through workshops on entrepreneurship and change-making. They got to meet Dr. Ruth, get to know each other over meals and activities, and even hike Masada together! Many thanks to the Paul E. Singer Foundation for enabling this opportunity for our Fellows.
We asked Tomer Diari ‘13 and Courtney Schatt ‘14 for reflections on the experience.
Tomer Diari
Excel 2013, IDC Herzliya 2017
Currently an Associate at Bessemer Venture Partners
As a Forbes Under 30 honoree, I was happy to learn that the Forbes Global Under 30 Summit was taking place in Israel this May. The Summit gave us the platform to meet and engage with business leaders from all around the world, and I was amazed and inspired by the wide range of ideas and achievements demonstrated by international professionals who have joined us for four days in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The world is quickly changing around us and many experiences that were once confined to specific locales are undergoing a globalization process. As governments and enterprises are adjusting to this new global world, opportunities to meet fellow young leaders from all around the world are essential to our personal and professional advancement. I feel proud and honored to be a member of several such global groups of young professionals, and I’m always excited to harness the power of these communities in professional and nonprofit contexts.
More than anything, I’m proud to meet fellow members of the Birthright Israel Excel community in every global event I attend and as members of many other distinct organizations of international leaders. Despite being a relatively young community, whose members are spread out across sectors and industries, meeting several of my peers at the Forbes Under 30 Summit was not a surprise. I feel empowered knowing that the network of the Excel community is amplified by every other network our members can tap into and believe this represents the global nature that Birthright Israel Excel offers.
It was truly a phenomenal experience to meet many young professionals and encourage them to recognize Israel as a vibrant business hub full of innovation and talent. Coming from the Venture Capital industry as an associate at Bessemer Venture Partners, I was especially proud that a large portion of the summit was dedicated to Israel’s robust VC and start-up ecosystems, and to the role of international stakeholders in Israel’s rapidly growing economy.
Courtney Schatt
Excel 2014, Duke University 2015
Currently a Client Solutions Manager at Facebook
First and foremost, this experience allowed me to form strong bonds with the Excelers there that I previously hadn’t known too well. Whether it was spending time with Adam, Shir and Tomer at the events or spending time with Omry and other Excelers at dinner in Tel Aviv, I truly gained a deeper appreciation for our wonderful network. That aside, I was able to use my experience having done Excel and having lived in Tel Aviv to guide those 30 under 30 participants that previously had never been exposed to the country, the city, the politics or the culture. Ryan and I found ourselves serving as almost a guide to many there in terms of recommendations and history but also in terms of serving as a sounding board for political and innovative discussion around Israel.
In all honesty, my favorite part of the conference was not necessarily the content itself or the speakers, but rather being able to engage with and learn from the incredible innovators that were there through night events, mid-day networking and dinners. Whether it was hearing about the founder of Pokéworks talk about how he unintentionally founded the booming business or chatting with two co-founders who started a non-profit to alleviate the amount of women and children that are sex trafficked, I found myself enthralled and inspired hearing the stories of everyone’s beginnings and understanding how they got to where they are. If I did have to pick one topic covered from a content perspective, I found the panel “How to Create Your Second Act” particularly interesting. It featured two panelists who have pivoted from their initial careers and have started/founded an entirely new and successful career based on their passions. This was particularly relevant for myself and most Excelers as most of us are in our “first career” now and trying to understand what that next career looks like.
Overall, I learned the importance of doing what you’re passionate about. Over 60% of those at the Summit were co-founders and CEOs and the trend that was abundantly clear was that those who were successful were those who chose to run with an idea and company that they’re passionate about.
This year, two Excel Fellows made the Forbes Israel Under 30 List: Tomer Diari represents Bessemer Venture Partners and Tom Bar Av represents MassChallenge. Both participated in Excel in 2013. We are very proud of Tomer and Tom for joining other Excel Fellows who continually gain recognition in international forums and publications for their innovative work.
