TAMID fellow Tammy Ellenhorn (L) with summer co-workers at PR firm Blonde 2.0
Photo: Nathan Glison
TAMID fellows attending June's Jewish Agency Assembly
Photo: Nathan Glison
Pioneering the next generation
TAMID Fellowship sponsors American business students for a summer of work and immersion in Israel
Now a junior at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Justin Federbush spent his last two summers interning at a hedge fund in New York.
In the fall, Justin joined a student organization called the TAMID Israel Investment Group.
He figured that he would continue building his experience in finance, and with enough hard work, earn a full-time position at a prestigious international investment bank.
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Justin played a key role in picking stocks for the TAMID Fund, an entirely student-managed portfolio that invests in Israel. He attended lectures from prominent Israeli business leaders like thefamed Jerusalem-based venture capitalist Jon Medved.
When it came to making summer plans, Justin eschewed jobs in New York and instead chose to come to Israel as a TAMID fellow.
The TAMID Fellowship is a selective program that funds TAMID’s most promising student leaders for an eight-week internship and business immersion experience in Israel.
TAMID fellows at Ein Gedi (Photo: Nathan Glison)
Justin ended up working at Giza Venture Capital, one of Israel’s leading investors in seed and early stage startups.
"TAMID’s structure is unparalleled on campuses. Building pioneers is ordinary. Putting the pioneers in positions to immediately transform the landscape is extraordinary," Federbush says.
TAMID’s story begins three years ago at Michigan, where founders Sasha Gribov and Eitan Ingall sought a way to connect their business-minded classmates with Israel’s exciting economy.
Students begin with a semester of education about Israel’s business scene. Each student then chooses to either work on a consulting project for an Israeli startup or manage a portfolio of Israeli stocks. And in the summer, TAMID brings them to Israel on the Fellowship program.
TAMID is growing, with chapters at seven campuses across the United States, including Harvard, University of California-Berkeley, and Penn State.
Allison Berman, one of TAMID’s executive directors, says, “Our founders saw that ambitious, business-minded students are joining consulting groups anyway, joining investment clubs anyway, and finding summer internships anyway.
"These are tomorrow’s great founders, CEOs, and fund managers. There is so much benefit to channeling all of that talent and energy towards Israel.”
The Fellowship debuted last summer with five student interns. This year, the program has doubled to 10.
“We hoped to send more interns, but the growth in our funding could not keep pace with growth in the number of qualified students who are interested. TAMID is led entirely by student volunteers and we do not pay for office space, so all funding directly bolsters our programming,” says Nathan Gilson, director of the TAMID Fellowship.
When the students are not at work, they enjoy sightseeing trips around the country and networking meetings with Israeli leaders.
To learn more about TAMID, visit http://www.tamidgroup.org/
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