Beginning

The last time I blogged was in August, with a post titled “Conclusion”.  I had just arrived home from ten weeks in Israel on the TAMID fellowship.  It was the program’s inaugural summer, and I was one of  the five pioneers who turned the dorm-room idea of sponsoring students to intern at Israeli companies into a reality.  We all held internships at some really awesome companies in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.  And we all had a full immersion into Israel’s business world.

Leaving Israel was a bummer.

In Israel, everything was so fast-paced, adventurous, and entrepreneurial.  We were working for amazing companies.  I was working for REAL Housing, building environmentally sustainable homes around the country.  Jon Hornstein worked in at MobilEye, a automotive-safety company whose products literally save lives.  Ally Berman interned at BioLine RX, a pharmaceutical company that develops drugs to treat such ailments as heart attacks, skin lesions, and schizophrenia.  Kevin worked with the team at Arba Finance, a merchant banking and venture capital firm that invests in some of Israel’s most innovative technology firms.  And Idan was at Thomson Reuters, a large multinational company that provides the information that is crucial for big players in the financial markets, health care services, and scientific research.

We all had such rewarding internships, but that was only part of what made the summer so special.  When we weren’t at our internships, we took upon the entrepreneurial endeavor of developing TAMID.  We had meetings with some of Israel’s most prominent business leaders.  We sought strategic advice from non-profit leaders.  We presented at conferences.  We shook hands and traded business cards with everyone who would listen.  And the reception was remarkable.

And then it was over.  Nowhere was a sadder place to be than the Ben Gurion Airpor departure lounge.  Sitting amongst the  Tel Avivian vacationers shopping at the duty-free, the Yeshiva students enjoying a last taste of kosher fast food, and the high-tech business travelers punching away at their smartphones–how much I love being amongst this medley of people and how much I hate to see it all be over.  It felt like a tangible ending.  We had all gone, had our “experience,” and it was time to go back home and rejoin the real world.

And then I looked up.  One story above, excited faces wheeled their luggage in an opposite direction.  The arrival corridor.  And it struck me that my departure was not an end, but the beginning of my mission to help new arrivals have the same experience that I just had.  America has so many high-achieving students with their eyes set firmly on Wall Street or Silicon Valley.  By working on the TAMID Fellowship, I could connect these students with high-level internships at Israeli companies.  I could contribute to a stronger generation of American commitment to Israel.  I could have a direct impact on tomorrow’s great CEOs, founders, and fund managers–crafting an experience where they will be comfortable their entire lives engaging with Israel, investing in Israel, and opening shop in Israel.

So here we are, at the dawn of summer 2011.   It has been an incredible year of growth for TAMID.  We speak of “tomorrow’s great CEOS, founders, and fund managers,” but in truth TAMID’s executive board is a group of students who are exemplifying great organizational leadership today.  We had a successful transition of leadership this year from previous executive director Brett Siegal to the incoming Ally Berman and Max Heller.  Under their helm, our leadership has accomplished amazing things.  In 2010-11, TAMID grew to six new campuses, significantly improved our consulting program, revitalized our investment fund, and spread our brand onto the international scene.  All this while we were enrolled in a full time load of University courses.

And I will be returning to Israel this summer to direct the Fellowship program.   For me it will be two-plus months of  program-developing, evangelizing, and relationship-building.  And for the amazing group of students who earned their way onto the 2011 TAMID Fellowship, I will help to guide what should be a life-changing experience.  Mostly, I hope they will reflect on their 2011 experience and be inspired to pay it forward.  Together we will work towards an even better experience for 2012.  When I titled my previous post “Conclusion“, boy was I wrong.

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