Aliyah group presents: Getting started in Start-Up Nation

Practically everyone’s heard about the Start-Up Nation – but many potential immigrants to Israel wonder how they can get started in a career in the new high-tech Israeli economy.

Nefesh B’Nefesh is going to help. In cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA, the immigration promotion group is holding a special event called Impact Israel to introduce potential immigrants in the New York and Los Angeles areas to the inner workings of Israel’s tech economy. The event is geared towards Jewish students and young professionals who have thought about careers in Israeli high-tech, but weren’t sure how to make it happen.

Among the speakers at the event will be Americans who moved to Israel and integrated successful in the tech economy. They include Emily Bernstein, 27, an investor relations associate at Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP); Marc Nash, 26, who represents Israeli high-tech companies that manufacture abroad; and former IDF spokesperson Eytan Buchman, 31, now marketing director of an Israeli start-up called Freightos, working to bring the shipping industry into the high-tech era.

Non-tech careers, such as social work, will be also covered in the events. The conference will comprise breakout sessions on how to thrive professionally in Israel, sessions on the benefits of Aliyah, a discussion of life in the IDF, and an Israeli university marketplace to explore options to acquire a free graduate degree. In addition to the breakout sessions, there will be informal meet-ups with past and future lone soldiers (those who immigrated without immediate family and served in the IDF), alumni of post-college programs like the MASA Israel Experience program, entrepreneurs, and more.

“Over the past three years, we have been seeing an increase of interest in Aliyah from millennials – those born around the turn of the century — across North America, whose main concerns have been their professional and educational possibilities in Israel,” said Marc Rosenberg, pre-Aliyah director at Nefesh B’Nefesh. “As part of our efforts to assist these future Olim, we thought it would be very beneficial for those contemplating the move to meet and hear from former Olim from an array of professional and social backgrounds who can present firsthand how they, too, can make an impact on Israel.”