Ms. Nahmias-Verbin was appointed in January 2022 as the Chairperson of The Israel  Export Institute. 

Ms. Nahmias-Verbin served as Member of Knesset on behalf of the Zionist Union/Labor  party between 2015 - 2019. She was a member of the Economic committee, defense and  foreign relations committee, and the house committee. Ms. Nahmias-Verbin also headed  the Industry caucus and was awarded "best parliamentarian" by the Israel Democracy  Institute in 2016. 

Following her tenure in the Knesset, Ms. Nahmias-Verbin assumed various roles and leading positions in the business and public sector, implementing her unique multi-disciplinary  expertise and knowledge. She currently serves as Vice President of the Manufacturer's  Association of Israel, Chairperson of Tavlit Plastic (a family-owned factory specializing in  irrigation and water technologies) and serves as a board member in several companies - in  technology, renewable energies and fintech. 

In addition, Ms. Nahmias-Verbin acts as the chair of Jready – the global crises management  network by the Jewish agency, chair of the fund for the victims of terror as well as Chair of  the Board of the Ben Gurion House in Tel Aviv, and as a leading expert in corporate  governance, she still makes the time to teach and train in senior management courses in  Lahav, the management faculty at the Tel Aviv university.  

Ms. Nahmias-Verbin graduated with an LLB from the Hebrew University and holds an LLM in  Commercial Law from the Tel Aviv university.  

Born and raised in Tel Aviv-Jaffa to one of the founding families of Israel, is married to Ivri  with three children – Yonatan, Asaf & Alma, their Dog Shilo and living in the heart of Tel Aviv.

Nili has 30 years of experience in diplomatic and public positions in areas of economic development, export promotion, Innovation policies and international R&D collaboration.

In her previous position Nili served as VP International Collaboration Division of the Israel Innovation Authority and as the Director General of ISERD - The Israel-EU R&D Directorate at the Israel Innovation Authority.Prior to that she served as Israel's Economic Minister to North America on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and as Israel’s Trade Commissioner in Australia and New Zealand. Among other positions she also managed the Start-up Fund in the office of the Scientist

Ms. Shalev holds an MBA (1996), and an MA in Communications (1996) and a BA in International Relations, all from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is married with two children

Ohad has been the Trade Commissioner and Director of the Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry since 2012.

He is responsible for an annual budget of 80 million USD and manages 300 employees in Israel and around the world, working in Israel and in 50 Economic and Commercial Missions, located in the most important economic centers globally. These Missions promote Israeli exports and attract foreign investments to Israel.

Ohad is in charge of Israel's international trade policy. As the Trade Commissioner, he led a strategic move to expand Israel’s Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreements network. In this framework, Israel signed a record number of new and updated agreements, among them with Guatemala, UAE, South Korea, Ukraine, Canada, Colombia, Panama, and the United Kingdom. In addition, Ohad initiated negotiations to establish FTA Agreements with several countries, including China. This agreement is still being negotiated.

Ohad initiated the establishment of the "Smart Money" program to assist exporters who are entering new markets abroad. Ohad is the committee chairman of the program, which had a budget of 30 million USD in 2022.

Before he was nominated as Director of the Foreign Trade Administration, between 2007- 2012, Ohad was the Head of Israel’s Economic Mission in Washington DC. In this position, he was responsible for strengthening and advancing the trade and investments between Israel and the United States and  enhancing the competitivity of the Israeli industry in the American markets by developing and promoting trade agreements, removing trade barriers, locating and creating business opportunities for Israeli companies, promoting Israel’s economic public relations, encouraging bilateral joint ventures and providing individual assistance to companies.

Ohad joined the Foreign Trade Administration as part of the prestigious cadet course of the Ministry of Economy and Industry, and has held several significant roles within it since then: Director of the South Europe Department, Cadet Course Manager, Head of the Economic Mission to Sweden, which covered the entire Nordic area, Deputy Director of the Bilateral Trade Agreements Division, and Head of the Economic Mission to Jordan.

Ohad was a member of the industrial cooperation committee in the Barcelona Process of the European Union (EU), whose objective was to establish regional economic cooperation between the EU, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Once he completed his academic studies and before he joined the cadet course, Ohad worked as an economist in the planning and development department at Zim, a large shipping company based in Israel.

Ohad holds a BA in Economics and MBA, both from the University of Haifa. He was born in Haifa in 1971, is married to Monika, and has three children: Eitan, Neta, and Doron. Ohad is a history enthusiast and an avid sports fan.

Danny Lacker is the Senior Division Manager of Security Emergency and Cyber in the Israeli Water Authority.

Danny Lacker served as colonel in the IDF' Combat Engineering corps and in various positions in the Home Front Command.

Since his release from the IDF, Danny managed one of the largest security companies in Israel, served as the security officer of the Raanana Municipality.

Danny holds a BY in history and public administration MA in Political Science and Public Administration Both degrees from Bar-Ilan University.

Danny Lacker was the head of number of aid delegations to countries in times of crisis. 

In 2016 Danny was marked on behalf of AIPAC for aid to the State of West Virginia during a water crisis

In 2018, Danny received a special award from the Civil Service Commissioner for his work in the field and gained extensive experience in the world.

Danny connected himself to the subject of water many years ago as a Water Polo player and still plays in an amateur league for veteran.

VP for Engineering, Technology & Strategic planning, Mekorot, Israel 

Yossi has 24 years, experience in the water industry. He started his career as a marketing director and project manager at EMS Mekorot Projects, a subsidiary of Mekorot, the national water company, and has acquired extensive experience in water and wastewater treatment, desalination, pumping equipment manufacturing and installation, pipe works, water supply systems through engineering and sales.

Yossi is the acting VP for Engineering, Technology & Strategic Planning since February 2022

Yossi holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering (1994) and an MBA (1997) from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Yossi is married with three children.

Dr. Şafak Başa is the General Director for Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ).
He is a member of the Advisory Board of Beykoz University and served a founder member of the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Başa became a member of the Advisory Board of Hacettepe University Application and Research Center for Local Governments in 2019 due to his successful academic and practical studies in the field of local government. He served as district governor (1995-2001) and Chief Civil Inspector (2002-2015). He was formerly appointed as General Director of Tekirdağ Water and Sewerage Administration in 2015.
Dr. Şafak Başa holds a B.S in Public Administration from Istanbul University, an M.S. from the TODAIE Public Administration Master Program, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Hacettepe University.
Dr. Başa is married with two children.

Dr. Hagit Schwimmer is a Senior Director for Climate and Health, in the Startup Division of the Israeli Innovation Authority, formerly a Senior Director in ISERD – the Israel-Europe Directorate for R&I, in charge of health, food, agriculture, energy climate environment, and mobility, Before that, the Deputy Chief Scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology and the Scientific Director of Bio-Medical Sciences in the ministry.

Dr. Schwimmer holds a Ph.D. in Physiology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and had her PostDoc at Stanford University, specializing in thermoregulation, sleep physiology, and chronobiology.

Steve Bieber is Water Resources Program Director for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). Mr. Bieber manages COG’s water resources programs including the regional Anacostia Restoration Partnership, the Blue Plains Intermunicipal Agreement, water quality programs, water security programs, drought management, long term infrastructure planning, and other environmental programs for local governments and utilities in the Washington, DC area. He has more than 30 years of experience working in the water sector and has been with COG since 2003. Mr. Bieber also volunteers as President of the Board of Directors for InfraGard National Capital Region.

lnfraGardNCR is a non-profit organization serving as a public-private partnership among U.S. businesses, individuals involved in the protection and resilience of U.S. criticalinfrastructures, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. InfraGard NCR's mission is to improve and enhance information sharing to protect the national capital region's critical
infrastructure. Mr. Bieber holds a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Oceanography from Old Dominion University, and an MPA degree from the University of Baltimore.

The Board of Directors of the French National Union of Water Industries and Enterprises (UIE) renews its confidence in Jean-Luc Ventura, Director of Corporate Venture at Suez.

Unanimously re-elected for the third time to the presidency of the UIE, Jean-Luc Ventura aims to make this term "one of action". The president is calling for the adoption of clear objectives, financial resources and appropriate regulations to implement an ambitious strategy for water infrastructures in France.

If France is lagging behind when it comes to water reuse or biogas production from sewage plant sludge, "it's because we haven't had the political will", warns the UIE. After the impact of the health crisis suffered by companies in the sector, with rising raw material prices and unavailability, increased transport and energy costs, "we now need to strengthen our production capacities to offer the best solutions and achieve these new objectives".

Career  review

Jean-Luc Ventura is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs de Génie Chimique in Toulouse. National School of Chemical Engineering in Toulouse.

Jean-Luc Ventura began his career in the petrochemical industry. In 1997, he joined Degrémont, where he successively took charge of industrial and municipal operations. In 2013, he became Managing Director of Degrémont in France and was elected Chairman of Synteau.

Jean-Luc Ventura is currently Corporate Venture and Integration Director at Suez.

Felipe Tavares is Superintendent of Water and Socioeconomic Studies at the Brazilian National Agency for Water and Sanitation, being responsible for issues related to water quality, supply and demand for water resources, climate change, management of the National Information System on Water Resources and economic studies applied to sanitation and water resources. He holds a master's degree in Applied Economics from USP, with extensive experience in quantitative methods, including mathematical and statistical methods. Previously, Felipe was the Director of Privatizations at the Brazilian Ministry of Economy. Prior to the government, he served as Senior Economist at Tendências Consultoria Integrada, where he was responsible for issues of economic regulation in the infrastructure sector and quantitative analysis applied to regulatory problems.

Gili is the co-founding Managing Director of ICI Fund, a US based fund investing in Israeli founders with a vision to transform the future using AI technologies. Gili serves on the boards of Kando, Genda, Suridata Tailor-ED and illustria. Previously, as Managing Director, Strategic Growth at SynTech Bioenergy, headquartered in Denver, Gili was responsible for bringing a gasification technology to Israel. Post her MBA studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Gili co-founded and led wordprom an Ed-tech company. Prior to her MBA studies at Stanford University, Gili provided tax advice at EY for US and European VC firms investing in Israeli companies. Post her Law studies at the Hebrew University (combined with BA studies), Gili was a Legal Clerk at Naschitz, Brandes Adv., one of the leading corporate law firms in Israel. Gili served at the IDF for over two years in a combat classified military unit.

Leadership management to the senior management level Business Development Manager with strong financial skills Advocate for technological infrastructure advancements in highly bureaucratic municipal environments

Elly Perets joined Utilis (now ASTERRA) in 2015. Previously, he founded Progressive Labs and served as the CEO, providing an innovative SAAS based software solution for retailers worldwide. Elly served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Pageflex Inc., a US based company, operating from Marlborough MA, providing web-based branding, documenting compassion engines and campaign management solutions. Elly has a vast knowledge in Theory of Constraints having served as a consultant at the Goldratt Group.
Prior to that, Elly served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Press-sense Ltd., a web-based software management systems provider.

Elly Holds a Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, The Wharton School and the School of Engineering & Applied Science as well as a Law degree (L.L.B) and a Business degree from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzlia, Israel.