L’Chaim! Highlights from itrek’s Let’s Toast to 10 Anniversary Event

On June 10th, we were proud to host “Let’s Toast to 10,” a virtual celebration of itrek’s 10-year anniversary. The event brought together hundreds of itrek supporters, Participants, Leaders, alumni, and team members from around the world to celebrate the organization’s growth and impact. 

The event kicked off with a warm welcome from Ilana Sidorsky, itrek’s Senior Network Manager and the event’s emcee. She shared a brief history of itrek and its origins, then spoke to the impressive community that itrek has built over the past decade, including 1,000 itrek Leaders who have brought more than 19,000 itrek Participants representing 103 nationalities on 450 treks. 

The celebration continued with individual stories from itrek Leaders and Participants throughout the years, including Ophir Wainer (Leader, 2018 & 2019 Toronto MBA trek), Kevin Lieberman (Leader, 2018 & 2019 Michigan STEM itrek), Antonie Prince Albert III (Leader, 2020 Georgetown Law itrek), Marina Linhart (Participant, 2013 Harvard Policy itrek), and Allia Mohamed (Participant, 2017 Columbia Policy itrek). These inspiring young professionals talked about their experiences with itrek and the lasting impact it has had on their careers, worldview and personal lives. 

“I had never been to Israel and never been to the Middle East and didn’t even know how to begin to understand a region that I had studied academically,” Marina Linhard said. “There is something that is really personal about understanding and being in a place and talking to people who live that reality every day…There is no better way to understand the world than experiencing it firsthand, and itrek let us do that.”

Event attendees were then split into breakout groups to share their experiences with one another and, in true itrek fashion, given a task worthy of discussion that leveraged each attendee’s unique perspective: Come up with a slogan that best captures itrek’s mission as we enter our second decade. Each slogan was equally powerful, for example, “itrek: Unpack your expectations” and “Embracing Israel and its complexity: Answering questions with more questions.”  

Attendees reconvened for two final virtual toasts, led by itrek Co-founders Gil Galanos and Rafi Musher and itrek Chief Growth Officer Evan Majzner. Gil and Rafi reflected on itrek’s growth and impact, citing itrek’s incredible community for accomplishing so much over the past 10 years. They both expressed their gratitude for and pride in the work that’s been done, and for all that’s to come. 

Throughout the evening, raffle winners were drawn for fabulous prizes including a roundtrip flight to Israel, awarded to Ron Kerbs (Leader, 2019 Penn MBA), a private tour of Jerusalem with itrek Educator Michael Bauer, awarded to Shir Abramov (Leader, 2018 Penn MBA itrek), and a six-month box subscription of special gifts from Israel, awarded to Asher Zlotnik (Leader, 2018 Columbia Policy itrek). 

The event also raised over $11,000 from attendees to support itrek’s future. This remarkable gift will be matched by a generous anonymous donor, doubling the impact. 

Thank you to everyone who attended the celebration, donated and celebrated with us- and a very special thanks to our Toast Committee, 48 members strong, which helped plan and promote the event, as well as led the event’s interactive breakout sessions. 

If you would still like to support itrek, please do so here. 

Here’s to another great 10 years! L’Chaim!