Avraham Hayon
CEO and Co founder, SAHI - Nochah
Avraham was born and raised in Jerusalem, where he lived until his early twenties. During his mandatory army service Avraham was a combat soldier with the Nahal infantry unit, and served in Lebanon. The experience was intense and meaningful and upon his discharge from the army Avraham found himself looking for the sense of purpose and belonging that serving his country had brought him, and which he tended to bring into whatever he did. For example, while working as a delivery person for a local restaurant Avraham started distributing the restaurant’s excess food to families in need, and volunteering with people with disabilities who ordered from the restaurant. Over the course of the next decade Avraham spent time in India and in Europe, even living in a tent in the desert for a while. He worked variously as a carpenter, a repair man, a DJ, and an operations manager for a production company. In 2009 he received the news that his father was terminally ill and decided to return to Israel. It was soon after that, that he and his friend Oded Weiss co-founded a SAHI group in Kiryat Gat, where Avraham was as its first counselor. SAHI is a game-changing approach to working with at-risk youth that focuses on the strength and good each person has within them. Youth in the program focus on giving back to the community:  distributing food, visiting lonely seniors, celebrating birthdays with kids with disabilities, etc. In 2013, Avraham took on the role of CEO of SAHI and his goal as head of the organization is to lead its growth and expansion with the aim of transforming Israeli society from the bottom up.