The hard work and dedication of a passionate team of lay leaders and staff around the world ensures ORT continues to have an impact through education.

You can find out more about our senior team here:

WORLD ORT OFFICERS

  • Dr Conrad Giles

    President

    Dr Conrad Giles was Deputy President for three years before being unanimously elected to the presidency at the General Assembly in 2016.

    Dr Giles is distinguished both in his career as a paediatric ophthalmologist and in his lifelong service to the Jewish community. He was President of the Jewish Federation of Detroit and the Michigan Jewish Conference, national Vice-Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal and President of the Council of Jewish Federations – and was part of the team that merged them to form United Jewish Communities, forerunner of today’s Jewish Federations of North America.

    His relationship with ORT stretches back more than 40 years to his presidency of Detroit’s Men’s ORT chapter. Prior to becoming Deputy President, he served as Chair of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, the umbrella organization of the 125 Community Councils in the US. He also served as a Vice President of the American ORT Federation and as a member of the Executive Committees of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Since 2007, he has been assisting World ORT’s fundraising team in the United States by acting as a liaison with the Federation system.

  • Richard Bernstein

    Deputy President

    Richard Bernstein was elected Deputy President of World ORT in 2016. A prominent corporate attorney, Mr Bernstein is a specialist in non-profit governance and operations as well as cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity.

    His communal service includes Chair of the Board of the iCenter for Israel Education, Chair of the Executive Committee of ORT America and Immediate Past Chair of the United Israel Appeal.

    In addition, Mr Bernstein currently serves on the boards of The Jewish Agency for Israel, The Jewish Federations of North America, the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, the Jerusalem International YMCA and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

  • Dario Werthein

    Chair Of The Board Of Trustees

    Dario Werthein was elected Chair of the World ORT Board of Trustees in 2016. One of Argentina’s leading businessmen, Mr Werthein has been a supporter of ORT in his home country as well as globally for many years. Together with his family, he has contributed greatly to one of the network’s flagship schools in Buenos Aires. He has served as Chair of Tzedaka Foundation, one of Argentina’s largest social welfare organisations, is a former member of the JDC’s Executive Board and has been a Board member of Vida Silvestre, an affiliate of the World Wildlife Fund.

  • Judy Menikoff

    Secretary and Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees

    A devoted supporter of ORT for more than 35 years, Judy Menikoff was elected as Secretary and Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2016. She has served as Treasurer of World ORT (2008-2012) and Interim President of ORT America.

    Previously, as President of Women’s American ORT, she advanced its fundraising capabilities, reached out to new members and increased its overall effectiveness and productivity. While Chair of World ORT’s Fundraising Committee she created the organisation’s elite donors’ group, the 1880 Society. Ms Menikoff also served as Assistant Treasurer of the American Section of the World Jewish Congress.

  • Peter Klauber

    Treasurer

    Peter Klauber became World ORT Treasurer in 2016. A former Senior Partner of Ernst and Young, Mr Klauber is now a plural entrepreneur and mentor with senior roles in fast growth, branded businesses and professional service organisations. He has more than 30 years’ experience in developing client and market relationships, advising and supporting fast growing middle market businesses and developing fast track people.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

  • Chair

    Dario Werthein

  • Members

    Simon Alberga, Gary Alexander, Vivien de Gunzburg, Robert Grey, George Gruenberg, Larry Kadis, Arturo Merikanskas, Alon Schuster, Alexei Semenov, Lawrence Wolfe.

HONORARY POSITIONS & COMMITTEE MEMBERS

  • Immediate Past President

    Mauricio Merikanskas

  • Honorary President

    Mauricio Merikanskas

  • Honorary Chair, Board of Trustees

    Jean de Gunzburg

  • Honorary Chair, Board of Representatives

    Moti Dotan

  • Honorary Chair, General Assembly

    Martin Behr

  • Honorary Chair, Academic Advisory Council

    Dan Shechtman

  • Honorary Vice Presidents

    Alexander Asmolov, Dorene Berger, Robert Equey, Reese Feldman, Marc Hamon, Doreen Hermelin, Lucien Kalfon, Mark Mishon, Bob Sill

  • Audit and Risk Committee

    Chair: Emil Kalo, Morris Gocial, Andre Touati, Yaacov Zitser

  • Finance Committee

    Chair: Yaron Tal, Robert Grey, Alain Huberman, Peter Klauber, Mario Rappoport, Shimon Rupa

  • Academic Advisory Council

    Co-Chairs: Alexei Semenov & Sidney Strauss. Vice-Chair: Jorge Grunberg, Orit Hasan, Radan Salomonovic

  • Development Committee

    Chair: Gail Lanznar, Deputy Chair: Arthur Silber, Simon Aron, Robert Taub, Bubba Urdan

  • Allocations Committee

    Chair: Linda Kirschbaum, Stuart Macdonald, Arthur Silber, Observers: Lynne Gamsu, Carlos Glatt, Aviezer Segal

  • Constitution and By-Laws Committee

    Chair: TBC, Terry Azose, Philip Baker, Arieyeh Hoffman

  • Investment Committee

    Chair: Marc de Gunzburg, Jean-Marc Choblet, Ros Wagman

SENIOR PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

  • Avi Ganon

    Director General

    Avi Ganon has been serving as Director General and CEO of World ORT since September 2017.
    Avi began his working career in the Former Soviet Union, serving as First Secretary at the Israeli embassy in Moscow on behalf of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. He then took on the role of Head of the Education Department of the Prime Minister’s Office, responsible for all the educational activities of the Israeli government in the Soviet Union. In 2003 to begin his career at ORT, becoming CEO and Head of World ORT operations in Russia.

    Following his return to Israel, Avi was appointed in 2011 to the leadership of World ORT’s Israeli arm, World ORT Kadima Mada, taking on responsibility for the organisation’s activities in Israel, focussing on educational programmes in the country’s periphery, and developing partnerships with governmental bodies, leaders of academia, donors and the media. During his leadership, World ORT Kadima Mada grew to become an employer of 1,200 people, with an annual budget of more than NIS 180 million ($51.2 million).

    Having overseen the establishment of the organisation’s Educating for Life educational network, Avi took over World ORT’s global leadership position, where he is using his experience of ORT’s two main operational regions to further ORT’s mission to bridge the gap between ability and opportunity.

  • Avital Govrin

    Chief Relationship Officer

    Avital is ORT’s Chief Relationship Officer and responsible for the ongoing relationships of the organization with its stakeholders - donors, lay leaders, supporters and overseas external relations, marketing and communications.

    Avital joined ORT’s family in 2014 as the Chief Development Officer at World ORT Kadima Mada in Israel. Her prior experience includes a role as a projects manager and social responsibility manager in high-tech companies and a cross-sector partnerships advisor for NGOs and businesses such as: Teva, Elbit, and HP in Israel.

    She holds a degree in media, communications and management. She completed her IDF service as a deputy commander of officers' training course, and is a married mother of four teenagers.

  • Dan Green

    Chief Operating Officer

    Dan is ORT’s Chief Operating Officer and has held the role since 2016.

    He is responsible for the central operations of ORT that run from its London headquarters, ORT House. Dan joined the ORT family in 2012 as CEO of ORT UK, where he was responsible for raising funds for ORT projects around the world.

    Prior to his roles at ORT, Dan worked in Consumer Media running sales departments across newspapers, magazines and digital at Time Inc Media, BBC Magazines and The Jewish Chronicle.

    Dan is married with three children and follows Arsenal Football Club. He collects whisky in his spare time and is a governor of his children’s high school.

  • Vladimir Dribinskiy

    Chief Program Officer

    An educator and engineer by training, Vladimir started his career at ORT in 1992 as the first Director of ORT St Petersburg after ORT re-established its presence in the place where the organization first began in Tsarist Russia in 1880.

    After joining the ORT team at the London administrative offices in 2002, Vladimir has been responsible for many educational projects and their implementation across the ORT network and in operational countries. As a team leader, Vladimir participated in a number of projects related to STEM in education as well as to Jewish Heritage.

    Vladimir is married with two children and one granddaughter.

  • Garry Hirth

    Chief Finance Officer

    Garry is ORT’s Chief Finance Officer. He is a Chartered Accountant having trained with BDO before spending 10 years as a Management Consultant.

    More recently, Garry worked as a global C-Suite Executive with international companies such as Liberty London, Tom Dixon, Neals Yard, London & Edinburgh Swallow Group and Goodenough College.

    Garry brings his vast commercial expertise to ORT and together with his team has been in charge of modernising the organisation whilst ensuring we continue to deliver our objectives to unleash the potential of young people around the world.

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