Dr. Haim Emil Dahan is a JFN board member, the founder and President of Ofanim and a board member of Friends of Ofanim. Ofanim is one of the few organizations which work to minimize the gaps in education through enrichment, exposure and experiential activities for the children residing in small, weak and peripheral communities. Ofanim brings approved supplemental education directly to children of the periphery of Israel where schools are limited and outside educational opportunities do not exist. By outfitting buses with state-of-the-art facilities that travel to them, Ofanim literally brings educational opportunities to this kids’ backyard. Ofanim believes each child has the ability to succeed regardless of where they are from or their socioeconomic level. Ofanim acts as a motivator, using its mobile classrooms and other enrichment activities to expose children to new experiences that empower them to make full use of their capabilities. Friends of Ofanim was founded in 2006 to support Ofanim in Israel by increasing awareness of the organization in the U.S., bringing Americans to Israel to see Ofanim at work, and raising funds for Ofanim. Ofanim is a social start-up that represents a model of a real and unique partnership between Israel’s business sector and the American friends of Ofanim in the USA.
Dr. Dahan, an entrepreneur lived in the US for 14 years during which he founded and served as Chairman and CEO of International Computex, Inc. (ICI), a software company that went public on the NASDAQ in 1999, and was later sold to Information Handling Services, Inc. In 2000, Dr. Dahan returned to Israel founded and serves as the CEO of ASYD Investments Ltd, IHD Investments Inc., and Kaizen Bio-Tech (2011), Ltd. In addition to his philanthropic work at Ofanim, Dr. Dahan served as the Chairman of the Board of the Yemin Orde Initiatives until 2010 and as member of the Board of the Koret Foundation in Israel until 2013. Dr. Dahan serves as active board member of several private technology companies and non-profit organizations.