2 Philly Area Innovators Selected for Prestigious Global Summit

Photos: Danielle Selber (1) and Barr Yaron (2) (Courtesy).

PHILADELPHIA — Danielle Selber of Bala Cynwyd and Barr Yaron of Benn Valley were selected to join over 150 of the Jewish world’s leading young innovators from 29 countries who will convene in Jerusalem, June 24-28, to connect with other change makers, gain new skills, and find renewed inspiration at the 2018 ROI Summit. The summit is the flagship program of ROI Community, an initiative of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

Selber is assistant director for Tribe 12, a nonprofit that connects Philadelphia’s Jewish activist community. Selber is also the organization’s “in-house matchmaker” for the community – a role she created herself, and about which she is extremely passionate. To learn more about Selber, click here. Yaron is a data scientist for Facebook’s Internet.org, a project that is focused on creating products to bring connectivity to the 4 billion people around the world without internet access. Yaron is also devoted to getting more women into technology. She previously directed a national conference for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, mentored Middle Eastern girls interested robotics, and created advising programs to get more girls interested in math. To learn more about Yaron, click here.

This year’s ROI Summit participants bring a diverse set of interests and achievements, ranging from boosting political involvement; to promoting acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Jewish community; to leveraging 'maker' technology to create solutions for people with disabilities; and much more. These innovators share a commitment to building a more vibrant, inviting and inclusive Jewish future for the benefit of the Jewish community and the broader world. For a full list of this year’s participants, please visit this page.

The 2018 participants hail from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Inspired by Israel’s 70th anniversary and its accomplishments over seven decades, the summit will focus on the theme of independence and the interplay between dependence, independence and interdependence.

“The 70th anniversary of the state of Israel provides a theme and framework for the journey we hope our participants will undergo during the summit, both as individuals and as a community,” said No’a Gorlin, associate executive director of ROI Community. “By bringing greater awareness to, and understanding of, our relationships with others, we aim for these leaders to walk away with a heightened sense of intention, belonging and responsibility as they continue pursuing social change in the Jewish community and around the world.”

For more details on this year’s ROI Summit, visit this page.