Introducing Three New Members of itrek’s Board
We are thrilled to welcome three new members to our itrek Board of Directors! Cyril Berdugo, Jim Hirshorn, and Katie Paradies will bring their intellect, professional know-how, passion for itrek, and experience serving on our Advisory Board to further itrek’s mission.
Cyril led the 2017 itrek of Stanford MBA students, and is the Co-Founder and CEO of Landis, a company that helps Americans reach homeownership. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and an MBA from Stanford University, and is a recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30 award. “I’ve always been committed to working on educational and cross-cultural programs,” Cyril said. “I look forward to helping the organization and its mission-driven goals.”
Jim Hirshorn has decades of experience in consulting, business operations, and private equity. His significant lay leadership experience includes serving on the Board of Directors for several organizations, as well as serving as the Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School. Jim is a Partner at Ares Management where he focuses on portfolio management. “I am passionate about providing our future leaders the opportunity to engage with Israel in a real way,” Jim shared with us. “Now, more than ever, it is critical for people to experience firsthand Israel’s culture, beauty, history, economy and complexities. The itrek team has built a unique and compelling way to engage with and develop future leaders across so many graduate programs.”
Katie Paradies led the 2021 University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School itrek. She is a Consultant at Bain & Company, where she has worked across M&A strategy, Finance Transformation and post-acquisition strategy. Prior to business school, Katie worked in investment banking and corporate development. Katie graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College. About joining the itrek Board, Katie said “I look forward to ensuring more participants and leaders share in one of my most fulfilling and rewarding business school experiences, and working to continually improve this magical, and incredibly important, opportunity.”
itrek Co-Founder and CEO Gil Galanos shared his enthusiasm for Cyril, Jim, and Katie: “We’re extremely honored to have such great people joining the itrek Board. The valuable capacity building and lay leadership experience, operational expertise, and strategic thinking that these three members bring will allow us to achieve our aggressive goals for itrek’s second decade.”
Join us in congratulating Cyril, Jim, and Katie. We are grateful for their continued commitment to itrek, and we look forward to seeing how their contributions impact our work.