itrek Leader Spotlight: Shai Kivity, Harvard 2020 and Wharton 2019

The itrek Team

December 3, 2020

Our itrek Leaders hail from the world’s leading MBA, Law, Policy, and STEM programs and want to share their passion for Israel with their peers. In our Spotlight series, we ask about the experience of leading an itrek, how itrek has impacted past leaders personally and professionally, and where their path has taken them.

Name: Shai Kivity

Age: 31

Schools: Harvard Kennedy School (Master of Public Administration) and Wharton (MBA)

Current Location: Waltham, Massachusetts

Job: Manager at Alvarez & Marsal

Date of itreks: December 2017 (Wharton MBA Global Immersion Program itrek); May 2018 (Wharton MBA itrek); March 2019 (Harvard Kennedy School Public Policy itrek)

Tell us about some of the highlights of your treks.

For Wharton students, the best speaker by far was retired IDF Colonel Miri Eisin, who gave a very good debrief on the Golan Heights and the Syrian border. For Harvard, it was Yossi Cohen, the current head of Mossad. He was able to get everyone super engaged and to feel like they’d met a modern-day James Bond. He was in a position to explain both the threats posed by Iran and their implications for Israel in a way no other speaker could.

It’s a lot of work to plan an itrek, and you’ve led three of them. What kept you motivated?

I was planning to lead a fourth in March 2020 when COVID hit! So, first off, I enjoy it. It’s the most fun week of the school year. You get to bring people to your home country and show them around, but it’s also important. Many participants don’t come with strong opinions, but they are open to learning. If you show them the facts in a balanced way, and also let them experience the country first-hand, they will love it.

Since graduating, in addition to starting a new job, you’ve also launched a new startup, hPass. Can you tell us a bit about that?

We, like everyone, were trying to lend a hand and do whatever we could when COVID hit. We ended up developing a symptom tracking app that facilitates the reopening of schools. It is currently live on the Apple App Store and on Google Play and is being used throughout the U.S. It was really an impactful experience. Within six months, we were able to move from an idea to a working product with paying customers and a term-sheet from a VC firm. hPass is still running, and now with the next wave of the pandemic hitting the U.S., we can really feel the importance of this work.

I wouldn’t have been able to do it without itrek. When I reached out to [itrek’s CEO] Gil in April, he immediately shared hPass with the alumni network, and we ended up hiring Daria Schitrit, a Columbia Policy itrek Leader, as a summer intern. Her role was paramount in acquiring our first customers as well as getting the investment term-sheet. Now that the product is live, it is mostly about deploying it in additional organizations and trying to help as many people as possible. Daria is leading the charge on that front.

What advice do you have for fellow itrek alumni as they navigate the COVID world?

It’s so important to have something outside of work that brings you joy. For me, that’s my daughter Leanne—and soon, in December, my wife and I are expecting our second daughter to join the Kivity Family.

Mazal Tov!

Thanks so much!

I heard that you were also appointed the Co-President of the Wharton Israeli Alumni Club and have exciting news for future Israeli students?

I’m honored to take on the role, and our exciting news: for the past three years we have been telling the school that if it wants to remain competitive and attract top Israeli students, it needs to help out with the funding. I am glad to report that after three years of hard work with a group comprising dozens of alumni and school administrators, we found funders to provide full-time MBA tuition for up to six Israeli students per year!

We’re always looking for itrek Leaders to highlight. Nominate a fellow leader here.