OUR TEAM
Batsheva Baraban
Batsheva is the founder and former CEO of a bootstrapped startup, a seasoned entrepreneur with experience in business, education, and non-governmental organizations as a fundraising manager. She is passionate about bridging the gap between conflicted communities and creating platforms for transcultural dialogue. She holds a MA degree from Harvard University and a BA (summa cum laude) from Tel Aviv University. Aside from her role as the general manager of 50:50 Startups, Batsheva serves as a board member of Integraliah, the startup she co-founded.
Marwan Meqbil
Marwan is the Program Director of 50:50 Startups. He has over a decade's experience liaising between the tech sector and non-governmental organizations as a Project Manager. He also has extensive experience in the Palestinian innovation ecosystem across multiple sectors, including four years as Program Coordinator for the Palestinian Internship Program (PIP), matching Palestinian professionals with high-tech internships at Israeli companies. Marwan also has experience working in the conflict resolution arena with the Center For Emerging Futures (CEF) NGO. He holds a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Palestine Polytechnic University and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Entrepreneurial Operations: Launching a Startup.
Board of Directors
At 50:50 Startups, we believe that Arabs and Jews should be equal partners, which is why our Board is composed of Palestinians and Israelis, as well as international experts from across the world. Their experiences include corporate management, academia and investing, representing CEOs, professors and key plays in the global tech startup ecosystem.
Eran Heyman
Founder of Ericom Software, a leader in cybersecurity and virtualization, with clients including Fortune 100 companies. Eran brings more than 20 years of technical and business experience in the software industry in the US, Israel, and APAC. Ericom was acquired by Ericsson in 2023 to become their cybersecurity business unit
Amir Grinstein
Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University, Boston, and VU Amsterdam. Amir specializes in marketing for the greater good (e.g., health communication, sustainability, non-for-profits), the marketing of startups, and country branding.
Ruud Kronenburg
Professor of Marketing & Organizational Development at ICD (Paris) and a visiting professor at Birzeit University. Ruud has extensive senior-level international Fortune-100 business management experience as well as essential people development expertise.
Ely Sandler
Economist and strategist with wide experience in financial services and technology. Ely worked for many years within Morgan Stanley's senior management and has a background in international capital markets. He also has worked raising capital and advising on strategy for startups, particularly in the renewable energy space.
Inbal Shenfeld
Startup Angel investor, having previous held senior HR and operations positions at Intel, Comverse, and Veolia Environment, overseeing their activities in Israel Europe and Asia. Inbal is also a founder of a dynamic medical device startup.
Liz Cohen
Vice President of Marketing & Investor Community at OurCrowd, a leading global venture investing platform and VC with branches across the world. Liz has worked with dozens of startups and companies both in Israel and abroad, consulting brands at the pre-funding stage as well as established revenue-generating companies.
Alit Wiel-Shafran
Served as Head of the Har HaNegev Environmental Unit. Alit is also a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, holding her PhD in environmental studies.
Mahmoud Khweis
Entrepreneur, speaker, mentor, and the author of several successful books. Mahmoud has more than 20 years of experience in strategy, business development, and as a CEO.
Tad Brockway
Corporate Vice President of one of Microsoft's largest divisions, Azure Storage Media and Edge. Tad is a 21-year veteran of Microsoft and has been in leadership roles in the Microsoft Azure team since 2011.
Ghada Abu Ta’a
Director at Elevation Ventures not for profit company - an incubator for innovation, scalable solutions that addresses emerging market challenges and opportunities. Ghada is an active member of the Palestinian and Israeli ecosystems with over 12 years of experience in management and providing consulting services
Lian Ryan-Hume (Najami)
Social entrepreneur, international public speaker, and the first Arab-Israeli Rhodes Scholar advocating for equality and inclusion, with a focus on women and people with disabilities. Holds a Master of Public Policy and an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. Recently selected as the 2021 EUI Policy Leader Fellow.
Luna Shtay
Managing Director of Einar - Jerusalemite Youth Center. Luna is a Academic lecturer at Hadassah College. She also has experienced in career coach, strong community and social services professional. Holds a Master of Organizational Consulting and Development, and a bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management.