Seattle LGBT Non-Profit Leaders Meet with Executive Directors of Israel Gay Youth and Hoshen

by Zach Carstensen, Dir. of Governmental Relations & Public Affairs, Jewish Federation of Seattle

On Wednesday, March 14th, leaders from Seattle’s LGBT nonprofit community joined Irit Zviely-Efrat and Avner Dafi. Irit and Avner are the executive directors of Hoshen and Israel Gay Youth respectively.  They are two of the Israeli nonprofit organizations which comprise the Alliance of Israeli LGBTQ Educational Organizations. The lunch meeting was convened by the Greater Seattle Business Association and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. It was organized by A Wider Bridge, an organization whose mission is to build stronger connections between the LGBT communities in Israel and North America.

IGY - Israel Gay Youth

During the lunch meeting, Avner and Irit described the present conditions for LGBT people living in Israel and the challenges and opportunities for nonprofits seeking to serve the LGBT community. The group also opened a productive dialog on the future opportunities between the two communities including visitor exchanges, capacity building to help strengthen and enhance the Israeli LGBT and LGBT nonprofit communities. By sharing knowledge and expertise organizations like the GSBA, Jewish Federation, Hoshen and Israel Gay Youth will continue making progress for gay and lesbian people wherever they might live.    

Hoshen

The Greater Seattle Business Association and the Jewish Federation will be developing a road map for future activities to bring the two communities closer together for learning, deeper understanding and future action.