Rita Winkler: Hi Uri, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?
Uri Pomerantz: I was born in Israel and moved to California during my childhood. I attended Stanford University as an undergraduate, after which I moved to Boston to work full time. I'm currently pursuing my MBA at Stanford and my MPA in International Development at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
RW: Describe your professional background pre-MBA.
Uri: Prior to the GSB I worked full-time at Microsoft in business development and part-time at a microfinance company I co-founded during college.
I first became interested in social entrepreneurship when my great-aunt was killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem in 2002. The event prompted me--an Israeli American who believed in peace--to critically assess the approach the international community had been taking to address the Arab-Israeli conflict. The issue of economic prosperity was being largely ignored.
Since 2000, over 120,000 young skilled Palestinian workers were left frustrated and unemployed, unable to commute to jobs within Israel. Governments were slow to respond to changes on the ground, and private-sector companies were waiting for tensions to subside before resuming investments.
I joined together with an experienced Palestinian businessman and an American entrepreneur to co-found The Shurush Initiative: a non-profit microfinance organization focused on alleviating poverty by funding small businesses throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
We raised our initial funding after winning the Stanford Social Venture Competition; since that time we have developed a joint partnership with the YMCA of East Jerusalem, distributed our first loans as part of a revolving (self-sustainable) loan fund, and to this day we have funded over 20 businesses.
We've also partnered with Kiva.org to allow donors to fund entrepreneurs directly through the internet. [Editor's Note: Kiva.org was co-founded by Jessica Flannery, MBA 2007]
Since starting graduate school, I've also had the chance to assist in setting up the first private equity fund in Sierra Leone and to work in the fledging South African venture capital industry.
Most recently, I've spent my summer working in Goldman Sachs' financing group. I hope to use the power and efficiency of the capital markets to engender economic change on a much larger scale. By developing new financial instruments, or building new funds to support entrepreneurship in the developing world, I hope to bring this dream one step closer to a reality.
RW: With such enormous accomplishements under your belt already, dare I ask what your plans are after business school?
Uri: I plan to work at an investment or advisory firm with a focus on international growth opportunities. Ideally, I would have a chance to spend time living in a developing region and working with key international financial institutions and private sector organizations.
In the long-term, I hope to lead an organization focused on finding investment opportunities in the developing world that are both profitable and promote economic prosperity. In doing so, I am interested in developing new financial instruments or building new funds to invest in regions largely ignored by capital markets.
RW: Why did you apply to Stanford?
Uri: I applied to Stanford because it is one of the few places in the world that brings together people wo are not only highly skilled and analytical leaders, but who think and dream big. The classmates and friends Iâ
