Keren Arazi

Keren Arazi is a researcher, mentor and strategist, specializing in business development for designers and creatives. She is intrigued and passionate about developing a new field she terms creativity management: recruiting managerial business tools and methods, supporting the creative community to enable it to thrive. She believes in creative leadership’s potential to manifest the new world economy of hope. Keren manages and develops designer accelerator programs at Design terminal Bat–Yam and is a regular guest lecturer at the design professional development program of the Edmond de Rothschild Center, and at the creative economy class at Shenkar College. After over a decade working in product development, business strategy, trend research, marketing and content creation for leading global commercial companies, she now uses her knowledge and experience to empower and support creatives.

Keren Bitan-Shemesh

Keren is a serial social entrepreneur and founder of the Academic Community Relations Department at Shenkar College. Keren brings over 20 years of experience in managing venture projects and collaboration between academia and the business sectors in Israel. In addition, she is a psychotherapist, lecturer, and a board member at 'Topaz - Leading Social Innovations' and volunteers with women and children in Africa. Additionally, Keren is the Head of Public Administration at the "Mirembe" project. A social enterprise focused on empowering disadvantaged women in Uganda, enabling economic independence for women through manufacturing traditional craft and art objects in collaboration with women in Israel. She is also a lecturer and mentor in a unique program for artists at Niaad University of Art and Design in Uganda.

Gretel Scheiner

An Argentina-born, curator, producer, design entrepreneur, and design researcher. She is the founder and CEO of Unicas Productions, a concept and content house specialized in experiential and sensory marketing. In addition, she is an advisory board member at ‘Inspiration International - Arts for Humanity,’ a mentor in the 'Design Terminal Bat Yam' and the Israel ambassador to ‘Food Design Nation’. Scheiner investigates the political and economic impact on design processes and believes in creating authentic relationships between brands, organizations, the environment, and communities. With more than 14 years as an experiential marketing producer in the events industry, she loves integrating curatorial perspectives, high-end content solutions, and a deep understanding of hospitality trends into everything she does. 

www.unicas.co.il

@k482gre

Noa Bartfeld

Noa is a service designer, researcher, and educator with over ten years of experience in various design sectors and disciplines, both locally and internationally. She holds an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design strategies from Parsons, The New School of Design in NYC (2017), and a B.Des in Textile & Weaving Arts, and Spatial Design from Shenkar college of Engineering and Design (2010). Noa loves using her creativity, critical thinking, and design capabilities to provide user-centered, meaningful, and tangible design solutions. In doing so, she has gone beyond designing usual outputs and alternatively developing improved systemic interventions, working towards a better future. In addition, she is passionate about exploring how design can impact society and sustainability and the role of designers' responsibility in a broader context. 

bartfeldnoa.com

@noabartf

Oded Ben Yehuda

Oded Ben Yehuda is a creative director, branding strategist, design and culture trends researcher, and academic lecturer. Oded Ben Yehuda has an extensive journalism background, including design columns at Maariv, Yediot Aharonot, and since 2021 at Haaretz daily newspaper. In addition, Ben Yehuda participated in local and international exhibitions as an independent designer, including a solo exhibition at the 2019 Jerusalem Design Week. Oded Ben Yehuda has a B.Des. from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, and an MA from the London College of Communication.

odedbenyehuda.co.il

@oded_ben_yehuda

Galit Gaon

Galit Gaon is the senior professor at the External Studies Department of Shenkar College. In addition she is acting head of Post Graduate Program in Design Curating, as well as the Head of Interdisciplinary Studies Unit. She also directs the annual interdisciplinary hackathon event known as JamWeek. Over the years, Gaon has designed, developed and curated museum programs, curatorial studies and industrial design grant programs that have supported and nourished the growth of a strong and successful design community in Israel and beyond. As well as initiating conferences and exhibitions of both Israeli and international design, Gaon also acts as accompanying curator of museums in Israel and abroad. She holds membership in numerous jury, steering and management committees of international design competitions and exhibitions, including the Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport; the Rothschild Design Award; the "Fresh Design" project of 'Mifal Hapayis' and many more.

Erez Nevi Pana

Erez Nevi Pana is a vegan and passionate animal rights activist who investigates natural phenomena and environmental processes through material exploration. Nevi Pana’s investigations of salt have developed into a long-term research project; he has been working with salt in the Dead Sea for the past eight years—investigating the devastating imbalance of an over-abundance of salt caused by industrialization and mineral extraction of the region. The culmination of this research is a body of work entitled Bleached (2018), where Pana submerges wooden structures encased in loofah into the Dead Sea to absorb the wasted salt, which then crystallizes like coral formations over time.Nevi Pana’s works have recently been included in the Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition (2018-19) at the Design Museum in London and inture: Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial (2019-2020) co-organized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, and the Cube Design Museum in Kerkrade, the Netherlands.

designboom.com/ereznevipana/installation

Daniel Nahmias

Daniel Nahmias is a Designer, Architect, and Entrepreneur, he is a founding partner of the Jerusalem Design Cooperative and the "Neighbor" bar - one of the first bars in the nightlife scene in the Mahane Yehuda market. As the owner of "ZAZ- Studio'', he specializes in working with communities, urban design, green and sustainable architecture, large-scale projects, and designing exhibitions and spaces. Daniel is a design activist, the co-founder, and curator of the "Matchmaker" project - In the Jerusalem Design Week. In addition, Daniel gives lectures in various places on entrepreneurship, culture, design, and planning.Today Daniel lives, creates, and works between Jerusalem, Barcelona, and Brazil.

"Design for me Is not about giving answers; It's about asking the right questions. Sound and sustainable design enable people to be active partners in your design strategy and process.”

@matchmaker.jlm

Lior Hermoni-Gati

Lior Hermoni-Gati is an industrial designer, technology and material trends researcher, and director of Aharon Feiner Eden Materials Library in the Design Museum Holon. She holds a BDes from the department of Industrial Design in HIT (Holon Institute of Technology) and has a 10-year of experience in managing, initiating, and directing various design projects. Lior is also a professionally trained pastry chef. As the manager of the Materials Library, Lior aims to locate and research new materials focusing on sustainability, initiate collaborations with the industry, and create an open-source body of knowledge for designers and creators everywhere. 

Materials_dmh.com
@materials_dmh

Professor Jonathan Ventura

Jonathan Ventura is a design anthropologist specializing in social and healthcare design. Ventura completed his Ph.D. in applied anthropology in a joint program of the department of sociology and anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the department of industrial design at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Ventura continued to complete a post-doctorate in social design at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London UK. Today, Ventura is an associate professor at the department of inclusive design at Hadassah Academic College and teaches at the design graduate program and the unit of history and philosophy of art design and technology in Shenkar. Jonathan specializes in applied design anthropology, social design, and the meeting points between theory, research, and practice, both in historic and theoretic layers. His latest publications include various articles and papers including 12 entries in the Bloomsbury Design Encyclopedia.

Professor Ezri Tarazi

Prof. Ezri Tarazi is a Full Professor at the Technion, chair of t-Hub, innovation and entrepreneurship center, chair of Design-Tech Lab, and chair of the Industrial Design program. He has been consulting the Israeli government on innovation programs in the industry for almost 20 years, and is  the founder of the “d-Vision” innovation program at the international Keter Group, a Design Lab that acts as a unique model for innovation and cooperation between Innovation Strategy and Design in the business sector. He is involved in a variety of startup ventures in multiple industries such as renewable energy, medical equipment and consumer products and has initiated and designed innovative products with global distribution. He also acts as a lead consultant to the Israeli Ministry of economy for promoting innovation and design in the industry. Prof. Tarazi is an award-winning designer with international reputation such as several ‘Red Dot’ awards, ‘Design Boom’ award, and ID magazine yearly award.

www.tarazistudio.com facebook.com/Tarazi-Studio

Renana Krebs

Krebs has 15+ years of experience in the fashion and textile world, holding various key positions in international fashion companies. She specializes in textile research and sustainable design processes, focusing on sustainability research in fashion and design. The experience, tools, and knowledge she has gained allow her to realize her transformative vision for the fashion and textile industry. In 2016, Krebs founded Algalife together with her father, Dr. Oded Krebs, intending to bring innovative solutions to the industry. She envisions Algalife's technology contributing towards a healthy, clean and holistic future. Algaeing™ (Algalife) has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Global Fashion Award, Vision Award, the first-ever winner of the VWS Pathfinder, and more.

www.algaeing.com

@algaeing

Tal Zur

Tal Zur is the  Co-Founder and CEO of IOTA. After a career in fashion design where she fell in love with textile and hand work, Tal finds magic in redefining the meaning of craft, combining between industrial and textile designs, and proving that design can create an impact. Tal is the face of iota, the visionary, the big dreamer. She brings her visions for creative ideas and new and inventive business models, inspiring the team and leading it to excellence in business strategy and design achievements.

Iota is a design social business, The vision behind it is to establish a movement that allows different people from around the world to learn a technique of traditional hand-craftsmanship, by providing them employment and allowing them to earn an honest living. This idea contains a social responsibility and a way to maintain traditional arts by extenuating the importance of knowledge and skills. iota is the first and the only Israeli brand to be awarded the Butterfly Mark by Positive Luxury for a company-wide commitment to sustainability.

iotaproject.com

@iota.softliving

Michal Hidas

Michal Hidas is an Israeli fashion designer, listed in the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list and the "Fashion Humanitarian Award" winner presented by Runway the Realway during New York Fashion Week, September 2017. Her premier brand, HÍDAS, offers a brave new perspective on the power of fashion and its role in society. Michal creates high-end fashion collections that aim to shine a light on complex and challenging global issues, making them accessible to many audiences. Her collaboration has inspired her collections with a Palestinian architect and an Israeli calligrapher from Jerusalem and her volunteer work with refugees in Leros, Greece, and Syrian patients under treatment in Israeli hospitals. Michal has devoted herself to leadership and building bridges between people who - at face value - have very little in common; she is a speaker, a curator, and a facilitator of workshops and conferences worldwide. 

www.HIDAS.net