At just 16 years old, Eliyahu Masinter took a leap of faith. Leaving his home in Baltimore, he moved to Israel alone to study at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT). He had never been to Israel before. He didn’t speak Hebrew. But he had a hunger for knowledge, a drive for success, and a vision for the future.
Now, as both a student and an entrepreneur, Masinter embodies the spirit of young leadership, balancing rigorous coursework while running an innovative startup, ScheduLearn, which is transforming how schools design their schedules. His journey—from an unconventional education to leading a growing company—highlights the power of initiative and perseverance, demonstrating the impact of young leadership in Israel’s high-tech sector.
A Unique Path to Leadership
Masinter’s background was anything but traditional. Homeschooled alongside his siblings, he quickly realized by age 12 that he needed a different learning environment. After a brief stint in Jewish day school, he returned to self-directed study, determined to shape his own future. By 15, he had earned his high school diploma through online courses and community college classes, spending long hours working alongside his grandfather in coffee shops, learning the discipline that would later define his success.
When college applications rolled around, he found himself at a crossroads, having missed deadlines for U.S. universities. His mother’s research led them to JCT, an institution that integrates Torah study with top-tier academics. Despite the uncertainty, Masinter took the plunge and moved to Israel.
“I wasn’t interested in a typical yeshiva, but I wanted to be in a place that prioritized Torah learning,” he explains. JCT offered the perfect balance, immersing him in both high level academic and Torah studies.
From Hackathon to High-Tech Leadership
Masinter’s leadership potential came into focus when he joined JCT’s Great Minds Hackathon in 2022, organized by the Schreiber LevTech Entrepreneurship Center. Together with his teammates, Eyal Schachter and Benji Tusk, he took on the challenge of streamlining the complex process of school scheduling, a task that administrators often tackle manually over months.
Their solution, ScheduLearn, uses AI-powered software to generate optimized schedules in minutes while allowing for manual adjustments. Though their team didn’t win the competition, they gained something far more valuable—the foundation of a viable business. Today, ScheduLearn is working with 15 schools, with plans to expand to 50–100 next year.
Masinter credits the high-tech and entrepreneurial spirit of Israel with shaping his mindset. “Israel is a country where people see problems and immediately think of solutions. That energy is contagious. At JCT, we’re surrounded by people who believe in innovation and aren’t afraid to take risks.”
The Power of Young Leadership
Balancing a startup with academics hasn’t been easy. To dedicate more time to ScheduLearn, Masinter extended his senior year over two years. But rather than seeing this as a delay, he views it as an advantage. “One of the best parts of being a student-entrepreneur is that what we learn in class applies directly to our work. It even sparks new ideas for improving our technology.”
JCT’s support has been instrumental in Masinter’s success, providing mentorship, resources, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem through Schreiber LevTech’s accelerator programs. “JCT is a great place to be,” he says. “We’re more productive here than we would be working remotely from different cities.”
A Message for Future Leaders
Masinter urges other young people to embrace the unknown and take action. “There’s no better time to start a company than when you’re a student. You’ll always have obligations in life—family, work, responsibilities. Now is the time to build something great.”
As JCT continues to shape the next generation of leaders in Israel’s high-tech sector, students like Masinter prove that leadership isn’t about waiting for the right opportunity—it’s about creating it.
