Dr. Tomer Malchi, co-founder and CEO of CultivAid, has been awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize, the award’s organizers announced.
The $100,000 prize honors Jewish humanitarian leaders under 50 whose work is rooted in Jewish values and has measurable global impact.
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Former government minister Dan Meridor, right, and Professor Amitai Ziv, left, members of the award committee, with 2026 Charles Bronfman Prize winner Tomer Malchi
(Photo: Chen Galili)
Malchi was recognized for his work promoting food security, climate resilience and agricultural-based economic development in eastern and southern Africa. CultivAid, the international nonprofit he co-founded in 2016, works with farmers to shift from subsistence farming to market-oriented production, with the goal of increasing yields, strengthening local food systems and expanding economic opportunity.
Malchi, whose background is in water resources and agriculture, said the award represents both recognition and responsibility.
“If we have the ability to help others, we have the responsibility to deliver,” he said. He added that the prize "validates CultivAid’s decade of work and empowers us to expand our model and unlock economic opportunity and sustainable food security for millions of people.”
Malchi earned a doctorate from the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Born in Israel and raised near New York City, Malchi since the age of 18, he has been engaged in a wide spectrum of volunteerism, activism and international development work, ranging from community and workplace organizing to environmental advocacy and global agricultural development.
He said he returned to Israel at the age of 26 with the goal of addressing critical international challenges related to agriculture, water, and nutrition, the three core sectors that continue to define his professional focus. He founded CultivAid as an outcome of an agricultural development program he led through Engineers Without Borders Israel, with the aim of building long-term, knowledge-based infrastructure rather than short-term interventions.
He helped build CultivAid’s Agri-Helix approach, which integrates research and development, farmer production and market-driven value chains into a unified, self-sustaining framework. Under his leadership, CultivAid has established Agricultural Innovation and Technology Centers (AITECs) in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, with expansion currently taking place in Zambia. These hubs function as living laboratories that combine hands-on training, capacity building and technology transfer, while developing local experts and strengthening institutional ecosystems.
The prize is named for Canadian Jewish philanthropist Charles Bronfman, co-founder of Birthright Israel. Since 2004, it has recognized leaders working in fields including medicine, education, refugee support, humanitarian aid and human rights.
Bronfman said the prize remains deeply personal for him. “This prize is the greatest gift a father could receive — the fact that my children and their spouses have continued this initiative for more than two decades is tremendously humbling,” Bronfman said. “There is no greater honor for me.”
Emily Kane Miller and Avital Ferd, co-executive directors of the prize, said Malchi represents the kind of leadership the current moment demands.
“The last few years have reminded us that we can’t control the world, but we can refuse to be diminished by it,” they said. “Tomer embodies everything this prize stands for and is exactly the kind of laureate this moment calls for.”
Co-founder Ellen Bronfman Hauptman said the prize has been a source of pride for her family and, she hopes, the broader Jewish community.
“Each of the 20 laureates Tomer is joining has become part of our extended family, and we are thrilled to welcome him,” she said.
First published: 16:06, 05.05.26