Board
Shmuel Sorek
Chairperson & CEO of Topaz International
Shmuel is a Mechanical engineer with close to 40 years of senior management experience of various companies, factories and of associations, and active public service. Born in Jerusalem to a Holocaust Survivor mother and Second War veteran father, he started his professional career as an R&D engineer in I.M.I (Israeli Military Industries) Jerusalem, became there a plant manager and for the last 20 years has been consulting, managing & rehabilitating companies & businesses that have failed up too even receivership and closure, being appointed by the courts, banks & the owners themselves.
He also recovered and managed a home for very disabled people. His public activity started when he was elected as Chairman of Engineers representative committee in I.M.I, later being elected as the Chairman of the Association of Engineers & Architects in Israel (AEAI).
His regular army service had been in the Golani infantry brigade. On reserves, his last duty had been a battalion commander holding the rank of lieutenant general before retiring from active service.
Shmuel has vast experience in managing associations, a deep knowledge of the operation of the parliament (Knesset) and government offices, local authorities, and academic & public institutions.
Shmuel also served as the Chairman of the association – Next Generation of Holocaust & Heroism Legacy – Israel. He is still a member of the Executive Committee, and he is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Center Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel.
Professor Rivka Lazovsky
Vice-President of TOPAZ
Professor Rivka Lazovsky is a Professor in Education throughout the life time [from birth to Golden Age included], an experienced Educational Counselor, an academic Lecturer and Researcher in Education and Counseling who published many articles and books, a Social Activist since she was a young girl. She has more than 30 years of management experience. Recently, she finished 2 terms as Chairperson of World WIZO [volunteer work!], an international women movement with hundreds of educational and social projects in Israel, and branches all over the Jewish world.
To date, she serves as Vice-President of TOPAZ [C.S.O.], including Topaz in Israel and in the world, through its international departments: Brit Olam, Inspiration, Improve, IGI –Israeli Global Initiative. She also serves as member of the Public International Council of SID [Society for International Development] in Israel.
Formerly, she served for 13 years as Educational Counselor in the famous “Gimnasium Herzlyia” in Tel Aviv [the first Hebrew high school]. She was the founding President of the “Association of Educational Counselors in Israel” [IAED] and led it many years. She wrote the Code of Ethics of counselors, founded the professional and academic journal “Educational Counseling” and served as its first editor, and in the board. She was elected and served for 6 years, representing Israel, in the International Editorial Board of the 2 most important Counseling Journals in the world [“Counselor Education and Supervision”, “Professional School Counseling”].
Prof. Lazovsky is also the founding President of the “Association of WIZO Graduates” [October 2018]. She wrote the first WIZO’s Code of Ethics for this centennial organization, went on mission to Jewish communities in 32 cities. She knows 6 languages.
Prof. Lazovsky has been awarded twice, by the Ministry of Education and IAED, the Educational Counseling Award for her outstanding professional and academic work. And she received 4 awards from World WIZO for her volunteer work throughout the years, including Life Honorary Membership.
Prof. Lazovsky received her Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University, School of Education, in 1992. She is married to Leon Lazovsky, an architect and town planner. They have 2 children and 4 grand-children.
Prof. Efrat Broide
Strategic Consultant
Efrat was involved with studies in Celiac Disease, IBD and liver diseases from the beginning of her residency. She was also involved in many multicenter studies, especially in IBD, and lately, investigating the factors associated with patients' adherence to treatment and patients' preferences to treatment outcome in IBD.
Efrat believes that understanding this issue might improve patient-physician communication. Her presentation of the summary of my work at the annual conference of the Israeli gastroenterology association won the prize of the best presentation of the conference in 2018. The results of Efrat's studies led her to believe that patient's physician communication in need of improving inflammation, disease activity and quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Efrat is looking forward to the opportunity to further explore this relationship in other chronic gastrointestinal diseases.
Today, Efrat works as a specialist in adult and pediatric gastroenterology, Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit in Shamir Medical Center, Israel.
Dr. Efy Halperin
Acting chairperson – Israeli Medicine on the Equator
Efy was born in 1953 and graduated from the Hebrew University medical school. Efy is a specialist in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases in the USA & Israel, holds a Tropical Medicine & Hygiene diploma from the Royal College of Physicians in London, England.
The former director of the ID Unit in ‘Bikur-Cholim’ Hospital in Jerusalem. Since his retirement, he volunteers periodically as a senior physician in the ‘Israeli Medicine on the Equator’ project in Kiboga district, Uganda, and dedicates the rest of his time to his family and to writing.
Over the years, he has published two books and many short stories, essays, and poems in Hebrew and English in various literary journals.
Maria Radinski
Chairperson Brit Olam
Maria has worked with community development platforms and as a social activist by nature on several local and national election campaigns. She holds a B.A in Communication, political science and international relations, and M.A from Tel Aviv University in Education Policy, with a speciality in Democratic Education. Maria currently manages an enterprise that advances the relationship between government agencies and public, nonprofit and business organizations.
Maria has volunteered in different fields as children and youth at risk, veterans and holocaust survivors. Maria has been an active volunteer in Topaz International since 2022.