Eli Kazhdan

Chief Executive Officer, StartUp Jerusalem

Eli Kazhdan, 36, was born in Moscow, Russia, and immigrated with his family to the United State in 1975. Brought up in a religious Jewish home in Boston, speaking Russian, English and Hebrew, Eli Kazhdan was an activist in a number of Zionist and Jewish organizations and throughout his high-school and university career. Upon receipt of his BA cum laude in Government and International Relations from Harvard University in 1991, Eli made aliya to Israel.

In Israel, Eli became involved with the immigrant community from the Former Soviet Union, working at the Soviet Jewish Zionist Forum, a non-profit advocacy group serving this community's needs.

In 1996, Eli was among the small group of immigrant leaders in Israel, headed by Natan Sharansky, who established "Yisrael B'Aliya," the political party that showed unprecedented success in the 1996, and then 1999, elections. Eli served as the Cheif of Staff in the Ministry of Industry and Trade and then in the Ministry of Interior, and was intimately involved with the policy development of these two ministries. He served on a variety of governmental committees, and was a member of numerous business delegations abroad.

Prior to serving as the CEO of StartUp Jerusalem, Eli was the CEO of a management consulting company, assisting Israeli businesses and organizations in reaching the international markets, as well as US companies reaching the Israeli market.

Eli Kazhdan, who in addition to his degree in International Relations completed his Law studies at the Hebrew University, is married to Adina Kamien-Kazhdan and is the proud father of a 4-year-old daughter Alicia, 2-year-old son Yonatan, and new-born Amichai, Eli resides in Jerusalem.