​Following October 7th and everything that followed since, we think it’s time to bring together two communities that have thrived in parallel for far too long. We invite you to a special evening where the Jewish American and Israeli tech communities will finally unite, not just as professionals but as a united family.

​​This event is more than just networking—it’s about building bridges. It’s a call to connect, collaborate, and create something greater than the sum of its parts. By combining our strengths, experiences, and unique perspectives, we can ignite new ideas and forge partnerships that will shape the future of tech.

​​Join us as we take this significant step forward. Together, we’ll break down the barriers that have kept our communities separate and build lasting connections that will drive innovation and growth for years to come.

​*The sessions will be held in English only

​**By registering, you agree to share your information with The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades for security screening and registration

​​Schedule (still in development!):

​​6:30 pm - Gathering & Networking

​7:30 pm - Inspirational Panels:

• ​The Agentic AI Era Is Here: Lior Kanfi, CEO & Founder of Tikal, will introduce the 9th edition of the Israeli Tech Radar—a practical, experience-driven guide to the technologies and practices actively used across the Israeli tech ecosystem. Built in collaboration with leading tech companies and backed by a broad community survey, the Radar maps tools and frameworks across Backend, DevOps, Web/Mobile, and a new ML/AI quadrant—highlighting what’s worth exploring, adopting, maintaining, or phasing out. In this session, Lior will present five key cross-domain trends shaping engineering today, including the evolution of Agentic AI, shifts in data infrastructure, smarter approaches to cost and operations, and the growing complexity of modern fullstack development. You'll leave with a clearer view of where engineering is headed—and how top teams are adapting.

• ​When Life Gives You Startups: Turning Setbacks into Lemonade -

  • ​Maya Prosor, Chief Business Officer and part of the founding team at Lemonade: Behind every LinkedIn success story lies the unglamorous reality of late pivots, failed bets, and near-breakdowns. In this talk, Maya will share the untold story behind Lemonade’s rise — the hurdles, the hard calls, and the human side of building a challenger brand in a legacy industry. A candid look at how entrepreneurs can turn obstacles into their greatest assets.

• ​

  • ​Investments in Israeli companies -

    • ​Moderator: Sharon Remer, a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in banking and finance, currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Head of Israeli Tech Banking at Valley Bank on the East Coast. In her role, she provides comprehensive support to startups at various stages of growth, drawing upon her extensive expertise to drive their success.

    • ​Panelists:

      • ​ Shay Grinfeld, Founder & Partner at Greenfield Partners, an investment fund, focused on early growth-stage Israeli technology and tech-enabled businesses.

      • ​Matt Golub, Co-Founder and Managing Partner 18n Ventures.

• ​From Code to Community: Tech Leaders Driving Impact -

  • ​This session will explore why social responsibility matters from the very first stage of a company, and how the skills and vision of founders can transform the third sector and beyond. We’ll also take a candid look at the realities of being Jewish post Oct 7th, and how the Jewish and tech communities can strengthen and support each other in this new era.

    • ​Moderator: Sivan Aloni-Olidort an organization builder with experience in cross-sector collaborations in the Jewish and Israeli spaces. From 2015-2020, Sivan served as Advisor to the Consul General of Israel in New York.

    • ​Panelists:

    • ​Yadin Kaufmann, Founder & Chairman, Tmura/ A Good Option

    • ​Yaron Galai, Co- Founder & Chairman, Outbrain/Teads

​8:15 pm - Profesional Panels:

• ​The Growth Overload: Brand, Performance, and the Race for Attention -

  • ​Moderator: ​Moti Elkaim, Founder of Atlantic Brands, a premier storytelling and branding agency that helps scale dozens of startups each year.

  • ​Panelists:

    • ​Osnat Lidor, Osnat Lidor, a growth marketing leader with 20+ years of experience driving revenue through demand generation and GTM strategies. Now a fractional CMO, she helps growth-stage startups accelerate pipeline and capture market share.

    • ​Nadav Perry, VP Global Brand, Taboola, lead Taboola's Sales Strategy and global business development of our relationships with Brands and Agencies.
      

• ​AI conversation - Where are we headed, and do we have a choice?

• ​

  • ​Moderator: Russel Pinilis - Partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Over 20 years of experience working on a wide variety of leveraged buyouts, strategic acquisitions, and complex structured transactions.

  • ​Panelists:

    • ​

      • ​Jonathan (Jonny) Rosenfeld - ​is the Co-Founder and CTO of Somite.ai, a biotech startup leveraging AI to revolutionize regenerative medicine by producing human tissue for cell-based therapies. He also leads the FundamentalAI group at MIT FutureTech, focusing on the foundational safety and performance limits of deep learning and artificial general intelligence (AGI). Dr. Rosenfeld holds a Ph.D. and MSc in Computer Science from MIT, as well as a BA in Physics, BSc in Electrical Engineering, and an MBA from the Technion. 

      • ​Anat Heilper - Tech leader with 10+ years in AI accelerator architecture and 20+ years industry experience. Expert in HW/SW/algorithm integration from concept to product. Collaborated with Fortune 500 clients on customized solutions. Innovation demonstrated through multiple AI optimization patents. Skilled in tech strategy, team leadership (80+ engineers), complex project management with hands-on approach to new technologies. Experience analyzing LLMs and optimization techniques including KV cache, Mixture of Experts (MoE), quantization and more, with comprehensive understanding of software/hardware architectural implications across diverse platforms, edge AI, RAGs, and AI agent implementations

• ​From Dashboards to Decisions: Evolving Data Platforms for the AI Era -

  • ​Data leaders today face the dual challenge of keeping traditional analytics reliable while building the foundations for AI-driven innovation. This panel explores how fast-growing startup are evolving their data platforms to balance security, compliance, and innovation supporting both SQL dashboards and enterprise-grade AI in a rapidly changing environment.

  • ​Moderator: Roy Masuri, Partner, Arnon, Tadmor-Levy – a leading law firm advising entrepreneurs, startups, investors, venture capital funds, and multinational corporations across the global tech ecosystem.

    • ​Panelists:

      • ​TJ (Tsion) Gonen - a seasoned cybersecurity entrepreneur and investor with over 30 years of experience. Currently, he serves as an Operating Partner at Nautic Partners ;

      • ​Lior Solomon - VP of Engineering, Data & AI at Drata, the fastest-growing company in compliance automation. At the forefront of GenAI innovation in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), his team delivers scalable data infrastructure and AI-powered experiences that serve both Drata’s customers and go-to-market teams—accelerating trust, automation, and growth. Before Drata, Lior led data and machine learning initiatives at Vimeo.

      • ​Gabi Steele - Founder & CEO @ Preql. Professional moderator, keynote speaker, data thought leader -- building the future of data transformation with AI.

• ​Can AI Make Us More Human? - What if the true AI revolution isn’t about automation, but humanization?
  This session challenges the belief that technology dehumanizes work, showing instead how AI can decode emotional undercurrents, reveal hidden team dynamics, and foster deeper, more authentic leadership. It leaves us with a bold question: can machines teach us to be better humans at work? Smadar Tadmor is the CEO and Co-Founder of Claro Mentor, an early-stage startup developing an AI-powered platform that harnesses intrinsic motivation to drive robust business results. With over 20 years of experience in HR and organizational consulting, she has helped global organizations shape the future of work. Smadar holds an M.A. in Applied Sociology and is also a keynote speaker, columnist, and academic professor.

​​

​​8:45 pm - keynote speaker

​​Yev Gelfand is a Partner at VC firm Alumni Ventures, ranked among the Top-5 most active venture investors, both in the U.S. and globally. Previously responsible for Portfolio Monitoring across all 1,400 Alumni Ventures investments, Yev is now dedicated to the Blue Ivy and Nassau Street funds (focused on the Yale and Princeton communities, respectively), and leads the firm’s Israel Investment practice, where he supports Israeli startups and founders globally (a deeply-rooted personal passion).

​Prior to joining Alumni Ventures, Yev spent 15 years as a serial innovator at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. He was part of the original “skunkworks” team that seeded PennyMac Mortgage (exited successfully via IPO). He was also a founding member of the advisory group that counseled the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, Bank of Israel, and over a dozen foreign governments on fiscal and monetary policy. Yev separately founded and led the Risk Advisory practice, which he grew to over $1 trillion in Assets Under Advisory.  Internationally, Yev drove the expansion of BlackRock in India — growing the employee base to 1,500 in two years — and the Middle East (focusing on Israel & the GCC). 

​Prior to BlackRock, Yev conceived, prototyped, and patented a new design for the internal combustion engine. He is a CFA charterholder and holds the CAIA designation, in addition to several FINRA regulatory licenses (series 7, 24, and 63).

​Yev received his BA in Economics and Biomedical Engineering from Yale University in 2006.

​

​We look forward to seeing you there!

​

​​​Event Code of Conduct

• ​​​Attendees must adhere to all venue rules, policies, and applicable laws, as administered by the hosts, while maintaining a considerate and respectful demeanor.

• ​​​Attendees are expected to consume alcohol responsibly, if at all.

• ​​​Prohibited behaviors include harassment, discrimination, intimidation, unwelcome sexual advances (verbal or physical), threatening language, demeaning conduct, and unauthorized photography or recording.

• ​​​By attending, you grant the event organizers and hosts the right to use any photographs, motion pictures, recordings, or any other media captured of you during the event for promotional and marketing purposes, including on the hosts' website, social media, event recaps, and future event promotion, with no additional compensation provided.

• ​​​Violation of this code of conduct will result in immediate removal from the event and may lead to exclusion from future events.

• ​Please note that all registration information will be shared with the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades for security reasons.