Executive Committee

Martine Fleishman

Chair of the Executive Committee

Martine Fleishman grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she earned a BA in languages before moving to Westchester, New York with her husband, Stanley. With a graduate certificate in Non-Profit Management and Leadership, Martine has dedicated her career to the Jewish community, Israel, and social justice.

A Wexner graduate, Martine has served as president of the UJA Federation's Women's Philanthropy; as a cabinet member of the Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal and the Network Commissions of UJA Federation of New York; as board member of Westchester Jewish Community Services; and as co-chair of the UJA Federation's Rosenwald 90th Anniversary Mission to Israel.

She currently is chair of the Israel Education and Engagement initiative of the UJA Federation; president of Hillels of Westchester; an active member of the National Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee (and a board member of its Westchester chapter); and a member of the Taglit-Birthright Westchester council, the MASA North American committee, and the JFNA National Campaign Cabinet.

Martine was a recipient of UJC's Jesselson Young Leadership Award and the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Lion of Judah Award. She and Stanley live in Harrison, New York  with their three children.

 

Debra Cohen

On Behalf of The Jewish Agency for Israel

A member of The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors, Debra Cohen is a native Houstonian and has been active in many Jewish organizations. She has been a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston since 1996, receiving the Barbara Falik Young Leadership Award and serving as Women's Philanthropy Chair for two years. Presently, Debra is a member of various committees, including the Women's Cabinet, Israel/Overseas, and Fund for the Jewish Future.

Debra also serves as a board member of the Jewish Federations of North America (on the Israel/Overseas Committee); Jewish Family Service in Houston (where she is also on the executive committee and serves as Vice President of Program Services); the Houston Jewish Family Foundation; the Holocaust Museum Houston; and on the advisory board of National Women's Philanthropy. Debra was also on the National Young Leadership Cabinet for six years, holding several portfolios.

Debra is passionate about the global Jewish world. She has traveled extensively on local and national missions to Israel, Morocco, Czech Republic, Hungary, St. Petersburg, Argentina, Chile, and Ethiopia. Debra attended Tulane University. She is married to Steven Cohen and has two daughters, Courtney and Hilary.

She has been on The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors since June of 2011.

 

Melinda Goldrich

Goldrich Family Foundation

Melinda grew up in West Los Angeles and was greatly influenced by her father (currently age 85), who survived the Holocaust, emigrated to Israel, and has a strong commitment to the continuity of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. She writes: "As a single woman with no children, I feel that Jewish continuity is created by influencing others in my community and peer group, and those younger than I am, to get involved."

Melinda currently lives in Aspen, Colorado. She has owned and operated a number of tourism businesses, and is currently developing and remodeling residential real estate properties in Aspen. For five years she was the President of the Aspen Jewish Federation; she also has made connections and contributions to the general Jewish Federation system through The Jewish Agency, the JDC, and the JFNA. She sits on several local boards and supports multiple Jewish congregations. In the last decade she has become a supporter of Jewish camping as a means of Jewish continuity for American teenagers.

Melinda loves dogs, outdoor athletics, and traveling. She is also an aficionado of books, movies, and theater.

 

Yuval Limon

Yuval Limon co-founded the Lemetayel Group in 1979 and continues to act as its director. ("Lemetayel" is Hebrew for "For the Traveler.") The group includes a chain of 15 retail stores serving travelers and backpackers, as well as companies providing travel services, insurance, security services, web sites, and investment services.  Yuval also volunteers as the Executive Director of the "Goodwill Ambassadors" organization, and is active in educational organizations. He lives in Ramat Hasharon with his wife and two children.

 

Anita Siegal

On behalf of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Anita Siegal grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy, and from Cleveland State University with a Master's in Speech Pathology. She has worked with both pediatric and geriatric populations in need of improvement in communication, swallowing, neurological disease, or dementia. She currently works as a part-time speech pathologist at a long-term care facility in Cleveland, when her travel schedule permits.

Anita has been involved with Jewish and secular community activities for many years. She is currently an executive board member of the State of Israel Bonds Women's Division; and a board member of WomenSafe (a center for victims of domestic violence), the Forever Children's Home (for developmentally delayed young adults), and the Mount Sinai Healthcare Foundation.

Having visited Israel numerous times, including  as a Wexner graduate, she feels a strong commitment to Jewish education and the Jewish People. Anita is married and the mother of three grown children. She is also grandmother to Yoni, Nava, and Meital.

 

Debbie Cosgrove

On Behalf of UJA Federation of New York

Debbie currently serves on the UJA Global Peoplehood Committee and is a member of their King David Society. She is a former member of National Young Leadership Cabinet where she led the first NextGen mission to the annual Jewish Agency assembly and became part of the MASA North American committee. In addition, she has traveled on several missions around the world. Debbie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Jewish Theological Seminary with degrees in Elementary Education and Judaic Studies. Debbie is a teacher for the Melton Adult School and is married to Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. They have four adorable children.

Benny Levin

Benny Levin served in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) Intelligence Corps and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1978 during his army service he was awarded the Chief of Intelligence Decoration for Creative Thinking.

Benny co-founded NICE Systems a worldwide leader of multimedia digital recording solutions for business interaction management, where he served as NICE’s President and Director from its inception and as Chairman and CEO from 1998 to 2001. Under Benny’s leadership the company achieved impressive growth and raised significant funds, both on NASDAQ and the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

From 2004 to 2012 Benny served as Chairman of the Board of dbMotion. dbMotion enables forward-looking healthcare organizations to seamlessly connect and coordinate healthcare, linking clinicians within their facilities, beyond their walls and across their networks.

Since retiring from most of his business activities, Benny dedicates himself to a wide array of social and philanthropic activities. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Israel Venture Networks. IVN is a social investment organization, bridging social gaps and generating systemic change in Israel through high-impact programs and hands-on venture philanthropy for over 10 years.  
Benny serves as Active Chairman of the Board of the Ben Yakir youth village, assisting youth at risk mostly from the Ethiopian community and is involved in a variety of other philanthropic activities as a member of the Israeli Board of the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) and the board of Hakol Hinuch.
Benny is the Founder of JDOCU,  a group of philanthropists and photographers that use the camera as a tool for documenting the activities of Tikkun Olam ('Repair the World')  with the partnership of JDC, making it part of a global culture with special emphasis on Israeli and Jewish culture.

Benny has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.