Israeli is Time ‘Next Generation Leader’
Adi Altschuler’s day job is at Google, but in her free time she’s using kindness to radically change the world
Debra writes for the JTA, and is a former features writer for The Times of Israel.
An Israeli who believes in that kindness can change the world has been named one of Time magazine’s six “Next Generation Leaders.”
Adi Altschuler, the 27-year-old Israel manager of Google for Education, was hailed in the magazine’s latest issue as a social entrepreneur who has created “communities of kindness” through the establishment of Krembo Wings, a nationwide youth movement that runs after-school activities for children with disabilities.
“Israel is a country often in the news for its conflicts with its neighbors and for internal tensions, even between Israeli Jews. But there’s a less immediately visible Israel that thrives even while the conflicts continue to flare – an Israel of high-tech start-ups, a thriving cultural scene and a burgeoning social entrepreneurship movement,” wrote journalist Ilene Prusher in her profile of Altschuler. “Altschuler is part of that Israel.”
The article also details another project Altschuler created, Memories@Home, which aims to keep the next generation of Israeli youth connected to the emotional weight of the Holocaust.
Both endeavors were done in Altschuler’s spare time; in her day job at Google, she trains Israeli teachers on innovative methods for integrating technology into their classrooms.
“Maybe it will sound cliched, but the key is really to imagine,” Altschuler says in the Q&A portion of her profile. “To think of reality as it is right now and to picture the world as if it were different.”
Altschuler is in impressive company in the magazine’s list of inspiring young leaders: others honored in the issue include 28-year-old Indian architect Alok Shetty, who builds hope in India in the form of flood-proof housing; 22-year-old Chinese scientist Zhao Bowen, who does cutting-edge work improving medical testing; 34-year-old Tunisian women’s rights activist Ikram Ben Said; 24-year-old British music video mogul Jamal Edwards; and 28-year-old Nigerian Ola Orekunrin, who founded Nigeria’s first-ever flying ambulance service.
