Mark A. Cohen is the Justin Potter Professor of American Competitive Enterprise (Emeritus), Owen Graduate School, Vanderbilt University. Previously, he served as VP for Research at Resources for the Future and as a staff economist at the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Sentencing Commission. Professor Cohen is an economist who has published 100+ articles on topics ranging from environmental regulation, corporate sustainability, and crime. He has served on various governmental advisory panels and was appointed an inaugural member of the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative. At Vanderbilt, he taught MBA and Law students courses on corporate social responsibility strategy and sustainability. Since 2014, he began taking Vanderbilt MBA students to Israel during Spring Break, where they traveled around the country touring and meeting with business executives and VC firms. Students were matched up with and spent time with Israeli start-ups who were looking to enter US markets. Upon their return to the US, students conducted research and reported back to their Israeli clients. Cohen found this experience to be valuable both for students and the start-up clients. Along with EFI, he started Link.IL was a similar goal of linking start-ups to US mentors.

Yael's career in software engineering includes positions in software development and engineering, with a focus on the semiconductor industry, in particular, ASIC, System on Chip, and EDA. In her last position Yael served as Engineering Director at Cadence Design Systems, a leading EDA and Intelligent System Design provider. Yael is a Technion Alum (B.Sc. software engineering, 1997).

Ayla Matalon is the Chairperson of the Entrepreneurship Forum Israel (EFI) and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Israel. Ayla has extensive experience teaching entrepreneurship in academia, pioneering hands-on learning, and has managed over 50 entrepreneurship courses in MBA and undergraduate programs. In her past, she served as an analyst at Steps Investments in Technology and managed the US-Israel Science and Technology Center. She graduated with honors from the Technion in Computer Science, holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the Technion, and an MBA from INSEAD. Ayla specializes in supporting and mentoring entrepreneurs in high-technology and has lectured worldwide on entrepreneurship and the Israeli high-tech scene. She specializes in the challenges facing high-tech entrepreneurs, and has advised entrepreneurs across 4 continents.

Erez is a Technology Transformation Leader | Future of Business & AI Innovation | Intersection of Business, Technology & Humanity | Advisor | Speaker |