Right In The Middle

I currently serve as the Director of the Office of Israel Initiatives where I coordinate and direct a host of strategic projects and programs aimed at educating and mobilizing people to be an effective force in standing for democracy and freedom in this hour.

I have a BA in History and Political Science, and worked as in intern at the U.S. Department of State in 1988 conducting research for the Bureau of Public Affairs in the Office of the Historian.  I received my MSW at Syracuse University and have worked in the fields of grant writing and non-profit development.

My Interest in Israel and the Middle East began after getting a brief glimpse of the political realities of the Middle East in 1999. I visited Israel in 2000, and then again in 2001 after Israel‘s withdrawal from Lebanon.  At that time I began researching and studying the global threat of radical Islam (and the accompanying international terrorist networks).  Then the events of 9/11 quickly thrust me into the sobering awareness of the critical lack of education that exists in Western society, and in particular in America, about the global threat of Islamismism.

I believe that for Americans, neutrality is no longer an option. As the benefactors of democracy and freedom we have a responsibility to awaken to the global realities that threatens these liberties and to effect positive change in regions where democracy and freedom are threatened.