Dr. Yossi Bachar was the director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance from November 2003 to January 2007, after which he was asked to serve as the interim general manager of the Israeli Tax Authority. Dr. Bachar has a B.A. in economics and accounting from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a licensed CPA and has a MBA and Ph.D. in finance from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his governmental roles, Dr. Bachar was managing partner of Arthur Andersen in Israel and oversaw the firm’s merger with Ernst and Young. Dr. Bachar has served as a faculty member at Tel Aviv University and on various professional committees at the Israel Securities Authority and at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel. From 1986 to 1991, Dr. Bachar was a faculty member of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. 

Michael Emery is a partner at Wolff Olins (WO, London), a multinational branding consultancy firm which is part of Omnicom (U.S.). He is also the CEO of WO’s Israeli partner firm, Brand Central Ltd. Mr. Emery has over 30 years of experience in Europe, the U.S., and both the Middle and Far East. His personal portfolio of clients has included Lloyds Bank, British Airways, British Petroleum, Time-Life Inc., Burger King, Bass-Charrington, Holiday Inn, Grand Metropolitan, Independent Television Publications/TV Times and the Virgin Group. In Israel, Mr. Emery was the consultant and strategist for HOT, following other successful brand creations by Wolff Olins in Israel (e.g. Orange and YES).

Dr. Yoram Friedman is an adjunct lecturer at IDC Herzliya. He has a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in economics and statistics and an MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a faculty member at Tel Aviv University for a decade, during which he taught operations research, operations management and statistics. He then co-founded Yeda Computers Ltd. to introduce, market and distribute Apple Computers in Israel. He served as the company's CEO for 10 years and brought the company to IPO in 1991. He recently served as the CEO of Infogate Ltd., an IPTV software company. Dr. Friedman presently provides consulting services to early stage start-up companies.

Dr. Eyal Maoz is the director of the MBA programs at the School of Business at Ono Academic College. He has a Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago and a B.A. and MBA from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Maoz is also a visiting assistant professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the academic director of EMBAIM at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Ayal Shenhav is the senior partner at Shenhav and Co. Dr. Shenhav represents many venture capital funds and private equity funds. He has been a member of the Israel Bar Association since 1991 and of the bar association of the State of New York since 1992. Dr. Shenhav has a JSD degree and an LL.M. in taxation from the New York University School of Law and an LL.B. (cum laude) degree from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Shenhav practiced law for several years at the New York office of Davis Polk and Wardwell. He has served as Deputy Dean for business, law and technology studies at the Radzyner School of Law at IDC Herzliya.

Dr. Etay Shilony is a clinical and management psychologist and his consulting firm assists prominent Israeli companies on personality and human resource aspects of managers and management. Dr. Shilony has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, an M.A. in psychology from Boston University and a B.A. from Tel Aviv University. After completing an internship at Harvard Medical School and holding management positions at clinical facilities in Boston, Dr. Shilony returned to Israel to be the clinical director of an outpatient treatment center at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. He has been teaching at IDC Herzliya since 2000 and at Tel Aviv University since 1993. Dr. Shilony has held teaching positions at Boston University and at the Harvard Medical School.

Ms. Lior Student is an associate at Sheerr Communications Inc., where she provides consultation and training services for Israeli NGOs and high-tech companies in communication skills, fundraising and donor relations. Ms. Student studied at Clark University, Tel Aviv University and the Sorbonne after finishing her military service in Israel. Ms. Student served as a community emissary in Nancy, France, and has held key positions in international relations and donor affairs within major international organizations such as the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Hayesod and JDC – the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She also managed Israel Venture Network’s (IVN) prestigious social entrepreneurship fellowship program.