Meet Global Fellow Yishai Mizrahi Varon

Age: 23

Hometown:  Seattle/Jerusalem

Project: The Shemspeed Israeli Keffiyeh Project. I'm trying to inspire Jewish students on college campuses to have a stronger Jewish identity, and I'm using Hip-Hop and fashion to do it.

In one sentence, tell us who you are. 

My name is Yishai and I'm a pretty fly guy, 5 foot 7 brown eyes kinda shy. Born in Jerusalem, and moved to New York City, raised in Seattle proper, you know that I be witty :)

What inspired you to embark on the path of an innovator?

I didn't have a very strong Jewish identity until I moved to NYC and met Shemspeed founder Erez Safar. He was young, hip, and passionate about not only his music, but also his Judaism. He inspired me, and his vision for a Jewish record label that not only made quality Hip-Hop but also did outreach work in the Jewish community really called to me. If you were going to look at the chain of events it would go: met Erez and bought a Shemspeed T-Shirt at Jewzapalooza, went to a couple of events, became an intern, and now I'm a Jewish Social Entrepreneur at PresenTense working on the Shemspeed Showcase! It's crazy how things turn out.

What challenges do you foresee in your field?

Getting funders/Jewish organizations on campus to buy into engaging people through fashion and music will be a big challenge. To engage Jewish kids today, you can't simply preach to them the importance of being Jewish. You need to show them that you can be a hip and "fresh" individual in 2010 while still carrying your 2000+ year old religion and traditions with you. Passion, enthusiasm, relatability … these are the qualities that attract people, and once they are engaged emotionally they will be much more likely to engage Jewishly. Convincing the Jewish philanthropic community at large to buy into this innovative idea will be tough, but I'm very convincing!

Who can you relate to in Jewish history (or in your field of interest)?

Pharrel Williams. He's an artist, a founder of a record label, a fashion designer etc... He has hands in a lot of different areas which he finds interesting, and that's what I want to do eventually; be successful in everything that I'm interested in.

What is the most valuable thing you have learned from the PresenTense community?

It's all about research and networking! First you have to know everything you can about your venture and the area you are trying to enter into. Second, funders fund people, not ventures; if they don't believe in you, they won't believe in your venture.

Who have you met at PresenTense that has made the most impact on your project?

Shelby Zitelman—in order for me to succeed, I need to see someone who has done it before and has succeeded. She has been an invaluable source of connections and information, and her input has helped me really understand what I need to know and what I need to do.

What big question are you struggling with right now? 

How to get people to buy into the Jewish creativity and innovation we are producing at Shemspeed, both on a consumer level and on a funding level.

If all goes as planned, where will your project be one year from now?

Hopefully, the Shemspeed Showcase will be the first program launched by the Shemspeed Foundation, the non-profit arm of Shemspeed, LLC. Universities nationwide will have brought us to their campuses, and their students will have been inspired by our program. If this goes as planned, it will allow us to do many other outreach programs in the community to engage and preserve our Jewish heritage.

What do you hope to see change / to help change in your field in the next ten years?

I want people to not only think of Matisyahu when it comes to being Jewish in music and culture. There is a lot more talent out there that can be tapped, and if it is tapped the next generation of Jewish young adults will have have plenty of relatable role models they can identify with.

What is your vision for the future of PresenTense?

I hope PT continues to provide an outlet for Jewish entrepreneurs to further their ventures. The experience here has been amazing, and there is a wealth of talented people out there that, with PT's help, can change the world with their incredible ideas. 

Yishai is just one of 16 fellows from the PresenTense Global Fellowship's Class of 2010. Read and learn about the others here.