OUR BOARD

Jay M. Shultz - President

Jay M. Shultz is the President of the Am Yisrael Foundation and self-proclaimed “Struggling Philanthropist”, founding multiple non-profit organizations in both the US and Israel. Jay was raised in Fair Lawn, NJ, graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in art history, focusing on archaeology, which was supplemented at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During school, Jay spent time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Israeli Antiquities Authority, and Albright Institute of Archaeology, including a summer volunteering on Tel Nof Airforce Base with the IDF. Upon graduation, Jay entered Fordham University School of Law, graduating as the President of the Student Body. After obtaining his J.D. and New York State Bar admittance, he worked in entertainment and intellectual property litigation.

Jay is a member of board of The American Zionist Movement, a representative for the World Jewish Congress on Jewish-Christian relations and at the Muslim-Jewish Conference, a diplomat for the Jewish Diplomatic Corps, a Nexus global member, a Nahum Goldmann Fellow, a member of the ROI Community, Fellow of the Tikvah Advanced Institute, Global Jewry Advisory Board Member, and recipient of the WeWork Creator Award. Jay moved up to Israel in 2006 from New York City and currently resides in Tel Aviv with his wife Rachelle, son Wolf and daughter Rae. He plays piano and is an avid collector of art, antiques, Judaica, and antiquities.

“There has never been an easier time in history for a Jew to live in the Land of Israel. This is your Home, come build it. We already have a country, now we need a Nation.”

Alana Rubin - Director

Alana Rubin is currently the Israel representative for the international crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Alana holds a B.A. in Art History from Rutgers University and a M.A. in Jewish Art History from the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University. Alana has spent time working at both Christie’s Auction House, and the Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy. Alana is an active lay leader in the young professional Jewish community in New York City, on the board of multiple significant community Jewish & Zionist organizations, and is a member of the ROI Community. For over a decade, Alana was the Program Director of Congregation Shearith Israel: The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City, the oldest Jewish community in North America. In 2007, American Jewish Life Magazine chose Alana as one of the six most important Jews in the US. Alana has the merit of having saved the life of an Israeli woman as a bone-marrow donor, and currently is a leading advocate for bone marrow registries globally. Alana is an prodigious world traveler and has a deep interest in connecting to Jewish communities, specifically those that are isolated around the world. She currently resides in New York City with her husband Slava and sons, Lev & Jacob.

Denes Ban - Director

Denes Ban has dedicated more than 10 years to fostering growth and shaping corporate strategy for companies around the globe. Denes is a Vice President at OurCrowd and Managing Partner of OurCrowd Asia, a leading Venture Capital firm, and co-founder of PocketGuide, the world’s leading travel guide mobile app with millions of users across 100 cities. Prior to building PocketGuide, he served as Chief Revenue Officer at Futureal, one of the largest Central European real estate investment partnerships. In addition, Denes led one of the European sales and consulting units of Exportradet, where he set international corporate strategy for over 100 companies including Ericsson, H&M and Absolute Vodka. Denes holds an MBA from Umea University in Sweden and an EMBA from the Stockholm Business School. He is a veteran community organizer in both Europe and Israel, and on Saturday nights you can often find him playing the blues and jazz on one of his many harmonicas with his band in Tel Aviv.

Chaya Sherman - Director

Chaya Pomeranz-Sherman serves as the CEO of Aringo Consulting, an educational consulting company. Chaya is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper where she served as Curator of the New York City Hub, and currently serves as an Executive Committee Member of the Boston Hub. Chaya is also a Rotary International member, and a Jewish Diplomat for the World Jewish Congress and recently completed a year and a half term as an Alumni Committee Member of the Coaching Fellowship. Prior to this, Chaya served as a Political Consultant for International affairs, was elected Chairperson of the World Union of Jewish Students, WUJS (2012-2014) and was founder and President of the Israeli Model UN Association (2010-2012), including the UN, EU, and Israel’s diplomatic missions, and has worked closely with young leaders from across over 80 countries on areas relating to women empowerment, interfaith, migration, and cross cultural development. She holds a Masters degree in Political Communication and Bachelors degree in Political Science and Communications from Bar-Ilan University. She is a graduate of the ‘HOW Institute for Society NXT-GEN Fellowship for Moral Leadership’, the Jewish Statesmanship Center for Strategic Planning, an alumnus of the Microsoft Ventures Tapsa MBA Program, The Tikvah Institute, and a professional cake decorator. Chaya grew up in Israel and in 2018 moved temporarily to Boston.

Scott Kluge - Director

Scott Kluge has over two decades experience in film, Broadway and television production. In 2009, Scott Kluge founded Tremendous Entertainment, Inc., an independent production company that develops and produces high quality content for A-list talent Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore, Dylan McDermott, and Sienna Miller. Personally, Scott has dedicated his life to Jewish community by committing his time to several charities including founding The National Entertainment Fund for the Cultural Arts (NEFCA), a non-profit theatrical production company in New York City. He developed, produced, hosted and directed over a dozen Broadway Productions at NEFCA that has contributed millions of dollars to Jewish charities such as Birthright-Taglit. Scott is based in TriBeCa, New York, and is a passionate supporter of Israel, Jewish education and Jewish life, especially among young professionals around the globe.

Janet Zagorin - Director

Janet Zagorin serves as the Client Service Officer at Sidley Austin LLP. In that capacity, she is responsible for key client service initiatives, working with management on business initiatives, leading client teams and client advocacy and overseeing Corporate Responsibility activities. Janet has also been on the Board of New York Cares since 1988 and currently serves as a Vice President, and is a member of the Executive, Audit and Communications Committees. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Arts and Business Council of New York, the Friends Committee of the Bronx Charter School for Excellence and serves as a member of the Nominating Committee and a Co-Chair of the Global Agenda Committee of the Financial Women’s Association. Janet was named to the Board of TIAW, The International Alliance of Woman, in 2016. Ms. Zagorin is also a member of the Board of Directors of Facing Addiction. Most recently, she was named a recipient of the 2015 TIAW World of Difference Award, which honors 100 women around the globe who make a difference.