Formation 2007 CEO Shoham Nicolet | Founded 2007 Chairperson Adam Milstein | |
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Region served Boston, Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle Website www.israeliamerican.org Profiles | ||
The Israeli-American Council (IAC; Hebrew: ארגון הקהילה הישראלית-אמריקאית) is an American nonprofit umbrella organization whose mission is "to build an engaged and united Israeli-American community that strengthens our next generations, the American Jewish community and the State of Israel."
Contents
Overview
The Israeli-American Council (IAC), originally known as the Israeli Leadership Council (ILC), was founded in Los Angeles in 2007 to organize and engage the Israeli-American community. A group of Israeli-American community leaders joined together to form its first Board of Directors. The organization's rapid growth established the ILC as the largest Israeli-American organization in the U.S. In 2013, the organization changed its name to the Israeli-American Council (IAC). In 2014, the IAC held the first Israeli-American Community National Conference in Washington, D.C. By 2015, the IAC had developed a national presence by establishing seven regional offices throughout the United States: Los Angeles (national headquarters), New York, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Miami, Boston and New Jersey.
Goals
The IAC outlines its goals as the following:
History
In the summer of 2006 during the Second Lebanon War, the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles organized a pro-Israel rally. While community and public officials, as well as hundreds of community members attended the rally, only a handful Israeli-Americans participated. The organizers were disappointed to see the low participation from the more than 200,000 Israeli-Americans residing in the area, particularly since Israeli-Americans were closely following the events in Israel and leading initiatives of support. As a community, they were not organized nor affiliated with any institution that was able to unite and lead them.
Recognizing the community's untapped potential, Israel's Consul General at that time, Ehud Danoch, called two local Israeli-American community veterans, Danny Alpert and Eli Marmour. Alpert set up a preliminary meeting with active community members Adam Milstein, Eli Tene, Steve Erdman, Naty Saidoff, Eli Marmour and Shoham Nicolet, and they founded the Israeli Leadership Council (ILC). In July 2007, approximately 80 Israeli-American business leaders gathered to at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the ILC launch event, featuring the Mayor of Los Angeles and Israel's Consul General. Shoham Nicolet served as the Founding Executive Director.
"Live for Sderot" was the ILC's first major initiative, benefiting the southern Israeli town under regular rocket attack. In a joint effort with the Israeli Consulate, the ILC brought together 1,800 attendees, including Hollywood celebrities and leading public officials. The 2008 presidential candidates, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, sent their support via video-messages. The funds raised at the event helped to bring educational technologies to schools in Sderot.
In 2008 the ILC launched project Tzav 8, utilizing technology to mobilize thousands of community members to publicly support Israel. The effort resulted in a rally of more than 6,000 people in front of the Los Angeles Wilshire Federal Building. Since then, the organization has been utilizing Tzav 8 whenever major crises take place in Israel. In 2009, the ILC held its First Annual Gala Dinner. Hundreds of Israeli-Americans came together for the first time for a major fundraiser with the goal to build their own united community.
In the following two years, the ILC started to support grassroots organizations. One of the first organizations was the Tzofim, the Israeli Scouts, which doubled its size with the help of the organization. Today the organization is a major supporter of more than 50 other non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. The ILC also developed new programs. In 2010 the ILC founded BINA, an Israeli and Jewish American young professional community, and in 2011, the ILC introduced its first national program, Sifriyat Pijama B'America (SP-BA), a Hebrew literacy program for children ages 2–8, which delivers free Hebrew children's books to thousands of Israeli-American families.
In September 2011, the ILC recruited its first full-time CEO, Sagi Balasha. In November 2011, the volunteer initiative ILC Care was launched with a concert attended by 6,000 people at Universal Studios, Hollywood. In April 2012, it initiated the Celebrate Israel Festival, a festival celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) attended by more than 15,000 people in Los Angeles.
In May 2012, Shawn Evenhaim was elected as the new Chairman of the Board . Between the summer of 2011 and the summer of 2012, more than 30,000 people participated in ILC programs and events. By mid-2013 the organization nearly doubled its activity, with more than 50,000 participants.
In October 2014, Adam Milstein became the National Chairman of the IAC, and Shoham Nicolet returned as the organization's CEO.
National growth
In 2013, the organization renamed itself the Israeli-American Council (IAC). In September 2013, the IAC's National Expansion Plan was launched, offering a model to engage more than 600,000 Israeli-Americans throughout the United States under one umbrella. By 2015, the council had established seven regional offices With more than 70 professional staff members, and an annual budget of $17.5 million, the organization has been serving 200,000 participants with a wide array of programming and events.
In November 2014 the IAC held its inaugural Israeli-American Community National Conference in Washington, D.C. The event drew over 750 community members and leaders from 23 states. The conference program featured political leaders from both the U.S. and Israel, as well as voices from the Israeli-American business and philanthropic communities.
Leadership
Regions
In addition to the Los Angeles headquarters, The IAC has local branches in Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Boston, and Washington, DC.
Programming
The IAC offers programming to develop and maintain a strong connection to Israeli-Americans’ Israeli heritage, Jewish identity and ties to the State of Israel. Additionally, it offers cultural, educational, leadership, advocacy, and family programming in both Hebrew and English for all age groups.
Main programs:
Israeli-American National Conference
The first annual conference of IAC leadership and Israeli-American community leaders from the United States was held in November 2014 in Washington, D.C. and drew over 750 participants and speakers.