It’s no secret that business moguls such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are heavily invested in Israel. Technology leaders such as Intel, Microsoft, and Apple selected the Jewish state—which is nicknamed the “start-up nation”—for their first research facilities outside the U.S. As such, Israel has become a fertile training ground for future business leaders in a global economy.
For Master of Business Administration (MBA) students studying at the top business schools in the United States, a placement service has been developed to help students obtain a paid summer internship in Israel. InsideIL, a non-profit organization, is the brainchild of two Harvard University-educated women who understand the business experience and opportunities that come from living, working, and learning in Israel.
Sara Greenberg is a Philadelphia native and second-year Harvard Business School student pursuing a joint degree with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Della Heiman was born in Cincinnati and is a recent graduate of Harvard Business School. In 2014, both women co-founded InsideIL in order to connect their classmates and fellow alumni to Israeli companies across a variety of industries, including biotechnology, cybersecurity, venture capital, and e-commerce.
“InsideIL works with companies in Israel to identify and structure summer internships that will be beneficial for both interns and host companies,” Greenberg said in a statement. “InsideIL markets internship positions, and supports the matching process from start to end by assisting with travel, housing, visas, and grants. The program also offers supplemental programming in the form of lectures from prominent Israeli figures, networking events, and excursions.”
Greenberg told the Salomon Center for Truth & Accountability, “We had a very successful pilot program last year that concentrated on helping Harvard Business School students find internships in Israel. Last week, InsideIL announced over 20 new positions for summer 2015.”
“I got to experience the ‘start-up nation’ firsthand in ways that would have not been possible without the [InsideIL] program,” said recent Harvard graduate Jorge Fernandez-Gallardo. “The business side of it was incredibly interesting, but what surprised me the most was how much I grew from the cultural and personal experience. It turned out to be one of the most fun and enriching experiences of my life.”
InsideIL is currently targeting MBA students at 12 of the nation’s top business programs.
“We are working with companies from Shaldor, Israel’s leading consulting firm, to UPnRide Robotics, a company developing innovative devices to help people with limb disabilities, to OurCrowd, the world’s largest equity-based crowd funding platform based in Jerusalem,” Greenberg said. The schools InsideIL is targeting include Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Haas School of Business at University of California Berkeley, Columbia Business School, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, New York University Stern School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Students at other top MBA programs are welcome to apply. Each company reviews applications and conducts all interviews based on its own internal policies and individual criteria.