After 19 years of thought partnership and meaningful collaboration, our Israel Director, Binny Shalev, will be retiring at the end of 2024.
Nineteen years ago, The Russell Berrie Foundation was just beginning to develop its strategic priorities in Israel when we met Binny. Together, we embarked on a learning journey that shaped the direction of our giving in Israel.
Binny’s presence in the North anchored our strategic focus on that region. He brought keen insights, innovative ideas, and extensive connections to our philanthropic startup. His leadership in convening, fostering collaboration, and backing entrepreneurial approaches led to many of our most satisfying grants.
Binny has an extraordinary ability to bring together grantees and investors as trusted partners around a big vision. He connected us to partners across three countries to establish Bar Ilan’s Faculty of Medicine in Safed, which became the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine. This collaboration was the foundation for the creation of the Russell Berrie Galilee Diabetes SPHERE, an innovative diabetes prevention and treatment initiative that will transform health outcomes in underserved communities across the North.
“Binny and our team focused us on opportunities where our dollars could make the most difference by achieving the greatest impact. ”
Over these 19 years, we planted seeds in the North and in Jerusalem that have taken root and grown. Among the most significant efforts are: promoting pluralism in Israel’s education system with the Be’eri program through the Shalom Hartman Institute; building regionalism via local and regional municipalities through JDC ELKA; strengthening leadership and human capital through MAOZ North; and investing in institutions like the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, Tel-Hai Academic College, and the Russ Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion. Binny was instrumental to these and other anchor investments that will continue to strengthen the ecosystem in the North and reinforce Israel’s position as a global innovation pioneer.
Binny regards building the Foundation’s outstanding team in Israel as his most meaningful and satisfying contribution. He recruited, mentored and nurtured the careers of our program officers Amit Granek and Naomi Feiner, and discovered our super-assistant, Ady Yariv.
His leadership through the pandemic and during this devastating war has been nothing short of extraordinary. Together with our team, Binny pivoted and adapted swiftly and strategically to identify the most critical needs of grantees and the country at a moment of grief and uncertainty.
“ We are grateful for Binny’s friendship, partnership, and commitment to our shared vision of a strong, secure, Jewish, and democratic future for Israel. ”
With donations flooding into Israel, his steady hand guided us in responding with urgency while keeping a long-term view of needs for the Day After. Binny and our team focused us on opportunities where our dollars could make the most difference by achieving the greatest impact. Even in these darkest of times, he has continued to inspire us to accelerate our efforts and remain hopeful.
We are grateful for Binny’s friendship, partnership, and commitment to our shared vision of a strong, secure, Jewish, and democratic future for Israel.
It has been a gift to walk with him for almost two decades. We will miss his sharp mind, warm smile, and humble approach to the work, but are excited for all that lies ahead as he pursues this next chapter.
We wish him many new adventures and look forward to celebrating his achievements with his wife, Miriam, and his beloved family in the coming months.
At the Berrie Foundation, we don’t bid our partners goodbye. We say “L’hitraot!”