Boaz Nol

Boaz Nol, 37, is an Israeli entrepreneur and social activist. One of the leaders of Israel's young generation grassroots movements, Boaz led the social protests in summer 2011 and the national campaign for equal service for all. He was a candidate for the Knesset in Tzipy Livni's political party and a campaign manager for the Labor party during the last Israeli election.

Boaz's political "fever" began at the age of 16; he held the position of Young Labor Party Chairman, working directly with PM Yitzhak Rabin and President Shimon Peres. Acting as a political advisor for many ministers and MK's over the years, Boaz then moved on to live in NYC, where he earned his MA degree in International Affairs at Columbia University, worked with President Bill Clinton, and was an Investment Banker on Wall Street for Banks such as Lehman Brothers and DB.

Over the last two years, Boaz founded and led the popular grassroots movement "Common Ground," which organized a massive campaign across Israel for equal army service for all. He led thousands of Israelis to the streets and the campaign ended with a huge victory - the cancelation of the Tal Law and a new Knesset bill in the process of being passed for equal service for all. 

Today, Boaz is the Director of Resources and Development at the Open University of Israel, the largest Israeli University with over 48,000 students. His work involves making higher education accessible to all sectors of Israeli society, developing special programming for the Haredi community, Arab Israelis, Ethiopians, student from the Periphery and more. 

In his lecture Boaz will discuss the recent challenges of the Israel political arena and ways to evoke change. A society of different tribes living in an ongoing conflict, an unstable political system and growing social gaps are topics that will be discussed, along with realistic solutions and how the young generation abroad can get involved to make positive changes within Israel.