ISRAEL
LEIB BOLEL Arizona Israel Technology Alliance's CEO coming to Portland to share innovative ideas By Mala Blomquist 50
MARCH/APRIL 2020 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE
LEIB BOLEL is the president and CEO of the Arizona Israel Technology Alliance. He will be in Portland on March 16 to give a talk about “Israel’s Boom in Tech, Venture Capital and Innovation and the Power of the American People.” Lieb will return to Portland on April 2-3 to be a judge at TechfestNW 2020. Arizona Israel Technology Alliance’s mission is to promote and strengthen business, investment, entrepreneurship, technology and trade relations between the technology communities of Arizona and Israel. AITA’s purpose is to increase and support bilateral trade and investment between Arizona and Israel, with each offering resources and opportunities across the technology industry. In November 2019, Governor Doug Ducey announced the opening of Arizona’s first trade and investment office in Israel. This new office in Tel Aviv creates a platform for business in both the United States and Israel to increase international trade and foreign investment opportunities. There are currently 20 Israeli-owned companies operating in Arizona in fields that vary from aerospace and defense to financial services. With more than a decade of experience in the area of new business development, startups, marketing, funding acquisition and general operations management, Leib has been instrumental in building organizations from the ground up. He holds an MBA from Walden University in Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree from Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum College in Israel and he is fluent in both English and Hebrew. Leib is also a venture partner at Grayhawk Capital. Grayhawk Capital provides venture capital to companies located in the Southwest United States and Israel. The sectors for investment include mobile computing, cloud/ SaaS, security, enterprise and application software, business intelligence, healthcare IT and financial. Honored with The Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award in May 2019, Arizona Jewish Life posed some questions to this young entrepreneur.
AZJL: Where did your entrepreneur spirit come from, did your family own a business? LEIB: I first got the entrepreneurial bug when I began selling candy and soda in school. Even at that young age, I always looked for opportunities from a supply and demand mindset. The hustle was rewarding and filling gaps in the “market,” and being of value to consumers is what drove me to think bigger and better. AZJL: You served as a rabbi of Beth El Jacob Synagogue
