IDEAS

Dr. Avi Naiman, President, Avi.Naiman@ideas-us.org

After retiring from an Assistant Professorship in Computer Science to raise his children, Avi spent much of his free time assisting charitable organizations as a lay leader. With his available time, skills and interests, he contributed to numerous ventures, including the: formation a private day school; organization of large-scale lobbying missions; launching of a sister-city relationship between Bergen County, NJ, and Nahariya, Israel; establishment of various committees and activities to educate about Israel in the local community; development of proactive media relations about Israel through educational, non-profit organizations such as The Israel Project, The Jewish Community Relations Council, and The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America; and lay leadership of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey’s Israel & Overseas Committee.

Michael Blumenthal, Secretary

Michael Blumenthal is a practicing attorney with more than twenty-five years’ experience in representing individuals, small businesses and public corporations. For the past six years, in addition to maintaining his private practice, he has served as Contracts Counsel to Emisphere Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company, drafting documents relating to company activities, and serving as in-house counsel to the company. Michael serves on the Executive Board of Congregation Ahavath Torah (Englewood, NJ), the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Center (Tenafly, NJ), and was Co-Chair of the NORPAC Mission to Washington in 2004.

David Schlussel, Treasurer

David Schlussel is one of the founding members of Key Properties LLC, a diversified development, investment, and management real estate firm.  He has a BS from Yale University and a Masters Degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary.  David is the founder and chair of the Yale Alumni Real Estate Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ramapo College.  He is very active in communal activities, including: chairing and running adult education programs; having been on the Board of Education at his children's school; Chairman Emeritus of a large Political Action Committee; served on the Maywood CCG working with the US Dept. of Energy, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection; and lectured on real estate at New York University.