Gidi Mark's guest appearances

Gidi Mark

Two Nice Jewish Boys

Jews You Should Know

Start-Up Nation Voices

Career Up Now Socially Distanced Close Ups Podcast ISRAEL EDITION

Hillel Fuld

Yonatan Neril

Jamie Geller

Joe Lieberman

Chaim Bruk

Erica Brown

Kim Goldman

Abraham Riesman

Yoav Degani

Angela Buchdahl

Daniel Shapiro

Ari Bergmann

Seth Rogen

Brian Keating

Yehoshua Pfeffer

OwlTail

In this episode, Elan Arnowitz sits down with Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, who discusses his journey as the company’s first employee and how he built the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Mark also shares comical anecdotes that confirmed a successful marketing campaign and his thoughts on the greatest risks to the organization. Birthright Israel has generated more than $1.5B for the Israeli economy. Listen to the full episode below! 

In this episode, Elan Arnowitz sits down with Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, who discusses his journey as the company’s first employee and how he built the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Mark also shares comical anecdotes that confirmed a successful marketing campaign and his thoughts on the greatest risks to the organization. Birthright Israel has generated more than $1.5B for the Israeli economy. Listen to the full episode below!

Gidi Mark – CEO of Birthright Israel

6,744 miles. That’s the distance between Israel and America. Together, the two countries are home for 90% of Jewry around the globe. But while in Israel Jewish identity is obvious to almost everyone, from the moment they are born to the moment they punch their ticket - in America, things are a bit different. As the years progress, some young Jewish Americans feel more and more detached from their Jewish identity. Some are only half Jewish, or quarter Jewish, some don’t even know about their Jewish roots. It is feared, therefore, that within a few generations, not much will be left of the American Jewish, non-haredi community. To battle this possibility, an initiative named Birthright was established in 1999. The idea was simple - bringing young Jews from all around the world to Israel, so that they can understand their roots, get to know the country, and hopefully, fall in love. Since then, more than 750K people participated in the project, 75% of which are Americans and Canadians. It was a wild success.But now, as Corona emerged in our life, the future of the entire operation is being put to the test. So what does the future hold for Birthright? And did the project achieve any actual results?To answer these questions, we have Gidi Mark on the show today. Gidi is the CEO of Taglit. He started his career as a diplomat, and he served the country of Israel in many embassies, including Istanbul, Bonn and New York. He’s been serving as CEO since 2008, and let is to impressive success. We’re happy to be joined by Gidi Mark to discuss Birthright, American Jewry, and much more.

6,744 miles. That’s the distance between Israel and America. Together, the two countries are home for 90% of Jewry around the globe. But while in Israel Jewish identity is obvious to almost everyone, from the moment they are born to the moment they punch their ticket - in America, things are a bit different. As the years progress, some young Jewish Americans feel more and more detached from their Jewish identity. Some are only half Jewish, or quarter Jewish, some don’t even know about their Jewish roots. It is feared, therefore, that within a few generations, not much will be left of the American Jewish, non-haredi community.  To battle this possibility, an initiative named Birthright was established in 1999. The idea was simple - bringing young Jews from all around the world to Israel, so that they can understand their roots, get to know the country, and hopefully, fall in love. Since then, more than 750K people participated in the project, 75% of which are Americans and Canadians. It was a wild success. But now, as Corona emerged in our life, the future of the entire operation is being put to the test. So what does the future hold for Birthright? And did the project achieve any actual results? To answer these questions, we have Gidi Mark on the show today. Gidi is the CEO of Taglit. He started his career as a diplomat, and he served the country of Israel in many embassies, including Istanbul, Bonn and New York. He’s been serving as CEO since 2008, and let is to impressive success. We’re happy to be joined by Gidi Mark to discuss Birthright, American Jewry, and much more.

#202 - The Man Who Brings 36,000 Americans To Israel Every Year (Gidi Mark)

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Taglit-Birthright Israel is perhaps the most successful modern Jewish program, having to date brought over 500,000 Diaspora Jews to visit Israel for life-changing experiences. Its CEO and professional visionary, Gidi Mark, joins us this week for a deep-dive into the inner workings of this revolutionary organization. Along the way, we learn about his past and his passion for making the Jewish world a better place. -------------------- ABOUT THIS PODCAST Jews You Should Know introduces the broader community to interesting and inspiring Jewish men and women making a difference in our world. Some are already famous, some not yet so. But each is a Jew You Should Know. The host, Rabbi Ari Koretzky, is Executive Director of MEOR Maryland (www.meormd.org), a premier Jewish outreach and educational organization. MEOR operates nationally on twenty campuses and in Manhattan; visit the national website at www.meor.org. Please visit www.JewsYouShouldKnow.com, follow us on Twitter @JewsUShouldKnow or on  Facebook. Have feedback for the show, or suggestions for future guests? E-mail us at JewsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com. Want to support this podcast? Visit Patreon.com/JewsYouShouldKnow. A small monthly contribution goes a long way!! A special thank you to Jacob Rupp of the Lift Your Legacy podcast for his invaluable production assistance.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Taglit-Birthright Israel is perhaps the most successful modern Jewish program, having to date brought over 500,000 Diaspora Jews to visit Israel for life-changing experiences. Its CEO and professional visionary, Gidi Mark, joins us this week for a deep-dive into the inner workings of this revolutionary organization. Along the way, we learn about his past and his passion for making the Jewish world a better place. -------------------- ABOUT THIS PODCAST Jews You Should Know introduces the broader community to interesting and inspiring Jewish men and women making a difference in our world. Some are already famous, some not yet so. But each is a Jew You Should Know. The host, Rabbi Ari Koretzky, is Executive Director of MEOR Maryland (<a href="http://www.meormd.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.meormd.org</a>), a premier Jewish outreach and educational organization. MEOR operates nationally on twenty campuses and in Manhattan; visit the national website at <a href="http://www.meor.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.meor.org</a>. Please visit <a>www.JewsYouShouldKnow.com,</a> follow us on Twitter @JewsUShouldKnow or on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Jews-You-Should-Know-1455434437873344/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Facebook</a>. Have feedback for the show, or suggestions for future guests? E-mail us at <a href="mailto:JewsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com">JewsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com</a>. Want to support this podcast? Visit <a href="http://Patreon.com/JewsYouShouldKnow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patreon.com/JewsYouShouldKnow</a>. A small monthly contribution goes a long way!! A special thank you to Jacob Rupp of the <a href="https://liftyourlegacypodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lift Your Legacy podcast</a> for his invaluable production assistance.

Episode 034 - The Birthright Israel CEO: A Conversation with Gidi Mark