Ariel Markose
Director, The Jerusalem Model
Ariel, 32, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. When she was 12, her family came on an adventure to Jerusalem, and ended up coming on aliya. After finishing her army service Ariel spent 6 months volunteering in Nepal with the fourth cohort of Tevel Btzedek, where she taught English and experiential education in local village schools. Experiencing community development and its ability to effect change, even in the most dire circumstances, left a strong impression. This experience informed her decision to study law at IDC, believing that in order to change the system, she needed to learn how it operated. At IDC she participated in the Argov Fellows Program where she wrote a policy paper about Jerusalem as a microcosm of the State of Israel. This research led her to crystallize her professional direction: improving life in the city. After two years with the New Spirit organization, she was offered the opportunity to direct a new initiative, the Jerusalem Model, on behalf of the Leichtag Foundation. The Jerusalem Model is a coalition of bottom-up influencers and social entrepreneurs working towards a better future for all of Jerusalem’s diverse inhabitants, impelled by the conviction that Jerusalem’s diversity is not a fatal flaw, but rather its most precious asset.