JLC and Meta Jews@ Tech Founder Panel for the Jewish Community
The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) was thrilled to partner with Meta Jews@ to bring Jews working in tech together for a networking event. The idea behind this was a recognition that whilst there are many community events for Jews working in sectors such as property and finance, there were no equivalent events which specifically served this sector.
On Thursday 23rd January, we welcomed over 150 people working across the tech industry at Meta’s offices in London. The event was kicked off with a short presentation by JLC CEO, Claudia Mendoza. The audience was then addressed by our tech founder panellists Gabriela Hersham (Huckletree), Anthony Eskinazi (JustPark) and Josh Hart (YuLife) for a special conversation diving into their own professional journeys, hosted by Adam Benjamin who runs the Jewish employee group for Meta’s Europe & Middle East region. There was then an opportunity for a wider Q&A with the audience, which focused on advice to tech start-ups, how to foster a good working culture and employ the right people, and defining values that align with your identity.
Starting the panel discussion, Gabriela Hersham, Founder of Huckletree advised: “Spend time digging into the industry, its’ demand, and your margins- identify the potential for the business first.”
Anthony Eskinazi, Founder of JustPark added: “Follow your passion - I was passionate about solving a problem and the impact it could have on so many people. The journey is tough, if you’re not passionate, you won’t be motivated to persevere.”
Josh Hart, co-Founder and CTO of YuLife stated: “Decide if you’re innovating on a product level or disrupting distribution. You can’t do both without drowning - so choose one and run with it 100%.”
When asked how their Jewish identity influenced the company they’ve founded, Josh stated: “I found stepping into my Judaism and community when building this company had been the most rewarding and wonderful experience.”
Gabi added her “chutzpah” helped her command respect in her leadership role despite the male-dominated property field. She stated: “I grew up in a strong Jewish community with a sense of support- it’s why I set up a community-based business.”
Anthony stated his love of the togetherness he felt during Friday night dinners (FND) with his family was something he wanted to bring into his company culture: “We hired a chef and every day at 1pm we bring all teams and departments together to mingle. It encourages and develops friendships and stems from being brought up in a Jewish home with FND tradition.”
Reflecting on the evening, Laurence Rosenthal, Head of Programmes at the JLC stated: “The tech scene is thriving with contributions from the Jewish community, and it was a pleasure to meet so many people at the forefront of innovation. It was inspiring to hear about the journey the panellists have been on, and we were delighted they were able to join us. We look forward to continuing to build relationships with this group further and ensuring our member organisations have access to industry experts who can support us in digitalising the Jewish charity sector further. We are grateful to Meta for their partnership on this event and all the work they did to ensure this could go ahead.”
Adam Benjamin, Head of Meta Jews@ for Europe & the Midde East, stated: “The Meta Jews@ group organises many internal events each year for our region, so it was an absolute pleasure to work with JLC and have the opportunity to meet other Jews across the tech sector as well. The amount of people who showed up to participate demonstrated a real appetite in the community to learn from successful founders, as well as to forge connections across the community. The reception within Meta has been extremely positive and we look forward to collaborating with the JLC in future for similar events.”
