Wayne Firestone
{{Short description|American playwright and non-profit executive}}
Wayne L. Firestone is an American playwright and veteran non-profit leader. He co-produces and hosts The America-Israel Friendship League’s (AIFL) live webinars created during the COVID Pandemic— over two hundred episodes since March 2020. He served as Executive Director of AIFL 2019-2021.{{Cite web |title=AIFL Leadership |url=https://aifl.org/leadership |access-date=2021-03-24 |website=America-Israel Friendship League |language=en-US}} In March 2022, he was named the Jewish Plays Project inaugural 21st Century Playwright Fellow. An alumnus of three Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive cohorts, his plays have appeared in festivals in New York, Washington, DC, Israel and the United Kingdom. A member of the Dramatists Guild of America, in 2018 he founded Plays2Gather to perform diverse stories in homes and non-traditional venues.{{Cite web|last=NEWS|first=THEATRE FESTIVAL|date=2020-12-03|title=Rise Esperanto at Rogue Theatre Festival|url=https://www.localtheatreusa.com/single-post/rise-esperanto-at-rogue-theatre-festival|access-date=2021-03-24|website=localtheatreUSA|language=en}}
Previously, Firestone served as the President and CEO of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the largest Jewish student organization in the world with more than 500 college campus affiliates across the globe;{{cite web |title=Office of the President, Biography |url=http://www.hillel.org/about/president/biography.htm |work=2012}} CEO of DC based International Lifeline Fund;[https://www.devex.com/news/what-you-may-have-missed-from-barack-obama-s-africa-trip-86669 "What you may have missed from Barack Obama's Africa trip, August 7, 2015], [http://nextbillion.net/blogpost.aspx?blogid=5476 "Industry Emerging from the Rubble in Haiti,"], June 23, 2015, and President of the Genesis Prize Foundation.[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/army-of-heroes-is-ready-to-fight-the-good-fight-2013-10-15 Wall Street Journal Market Watch 'Army of heroes' is ready to fight the good fight][http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/139103/an-evening-with-the-genesis-prize-president Tablet An Evening with the Genesis Prize President]
Early life
Firestone grew up in North Miami Beach, Florida,{{cite news|title=Mazel Tov: Wayne Firestone Leads Hillel|url=http://www6.miami.edu/miami-magazine/fall06/Departments/alumnidigest/alumnistory10.html|newspaper=Miami, the University of Miami Alumni Magazine|date=Fall 2006}} where he participated in the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) and an educational study abroad experience through the Alexander Muss High School in Israel program.
As an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Firestone focused on Judaic studies, politics and public affairs. During two semesters at Tel Aviv University, he learned that a refusenik in the Soviet Union had been imprisoned for teaching Hebrew. This inspired him to write a play called "Trial and Error," which he later produced on dozens of campuses in North America, working with a coalition of diverse student groups to spread the word.{{cite news|last=Blaylock|first=Debbie|title=Musical Parade Tunes In To Young People|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-02-20/news/8601110505_1_soviet-jews-trial-and-error-soviet-treatment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212405/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-02-20/news/8601110505_1_soviet-jews-trial-and-error-soviet-treatment|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 3, 2016|newspaper=Sun Sentinel|date=Feb 20, 1986}} In recognition of his student activism, Hillel granted him membership in the 1985-1986 B'nai B'rith Hillel National Student Secretariat.
After graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center, Firestone served from 1990 to 1994 as the lead case management associate in complex multinational litigation with Patton Boggs LLP, in Washington, D.C. There he developed clients' international trade strategies under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
Israel
In 1993 Firestone moved to Israel. During his seven years there, he worked in Jewish communal affairs, high-tech expansion, and academia, including as an administrator and adjunct lecturer at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hillel.org/about/leadership/default|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717222930/http://www.hillel.org/about/leadership/default|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-07-17|title=Hillel President Bio}} From 1998 to 2001, he helped to strengthen Israel's high-tech industry as founder and CEO of Silicon Wadinet, Ltd., a firm that helped foster the capitalization and growth of technology companies. From 2001 to 2002, he served as director of the Israel Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League.{{Cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/presrele/IslME_62/3756_62.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010624221633/http://www.adl.org/presrele/IslME_62/3756_62.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2001-06-24|title=ADL Appointment}}
In September 2002, Firestone returned to the U.S. to serve as Executive Director of the Israel on Campus Coalition, a partnership between Hillel and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation that brings together 35 pro-Israel groups working on college campuses.
Hillel
In 2005, Firestone was named Executive Vice President of Hillel. In that role he directed the organization's U.S. operations and helped craft the organization's comprehensive five-year Strategic Plan.
In 2006, Firestone was appointed President and CEO of Hillel. His tenure focused on shifting Hillel from being a place where Jewishly identified students can come to do Jewish things, to being a force that goes out where Jewish students are and helps them have meaningful Jewish experiences. Innovative initiatives emerging from this effort include the Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Senior Jewish Educators program, which have twice been honored with the Slingshot Award, and Ask Big Questions, which was named by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark one of the 12 major organizations to change the world in 2012.{{cite web|title=16 People and Organizations Changing the World in 2012|date=26 December 2011 |url=http://craigconnects.org/2011/12/changing-the-world-in-2012.html#.TwSgMdsrEPU.twitter|accessdate=Dec 26, 2011}} Firestone also focused on expanding Hillel's global network. Firestone announced in September 2012 that he would resign, effective June 2013.[http://www.jta.org/2012/09/21/life-religion/wayne-firestone-stepping-down-as-ceo-of-hillel JTA: Wayne Firestone Steps Down as Head of Hillel]
Genesis Prize
In April 2013, Firestone was named President of the Genesis Prize Foundation, which is a $1 million annual award in cooperation with the Israeli Government and the Jewish Agency for Israel.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/europe/russians-establish-1-million-jewish-prize-with-israel.html NY Times Russians Establish $1 Million Prize]
"The Genesis Prize seeks to recognize individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the character of the Jewish people through commitment to Jewish values, the Jewish community and/or to the State of Israel. Beyond demonstrated qualities of achievement and commitment, the Genesis Prize, in keeping with the Jewish values for which it stands, serves to recognize the laureate's contribution to the betterment of mankind.
The Prize, in the amount of $1 million US — endowed by the Genesis Philanthropy Group and awarded annually by the Prime Minister of Israel to a single individual— is administered by a unique partnership, which includes the Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, the Genesis Philanthropy Group, and the Office of the Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Through this partnership and a worldwide nomination process, the goal of the Genesis Prize is to inspire unity throughout the global Jewish community."[http://www.genesisprize.org/component/content/article/2-main/38-welcome.html Genesis Prize Mission Statement]
Publications
Firestone's articles and publications include "Blurring Boundaries: Creating and Consuming" in Sh'ma magazine; "Engaging a New Generation: Hillel Innovates for the Millennials," published by the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America; "Peoplehood: What Students Can Learn and Teach," published by United Jewish Communities; and "Organizing On Campus," published by Jewish Family & Life (JFL Media).
Firestone's op-eds have been published by outlets such as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Colleges playing catch-up on Israel|url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/02/01/3091469/op-ed-colleges-playing-catch-up-on-israel|newspaper=JTA|date=Feb 1, 2012}} New York Jewish Week,{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Standing Again at Sinai, This Time with Facebook|url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/opinion/standing_again_sinai_time_facebook|newspaper=New York Jewish Week|date=June 22, 2010}} Washington Jewish Week,{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Fighting the new divestment effort on campus|url=http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=12808&SectionID=31&SubSectionID=49&S=1|newspaper=Washington Jewish Week|date=May 19, 2010}} the Forward,{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Back to School: Raise the Bar for Jewish Campus Life|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/113759/back-to-school-raise-the-bar-for-jewish-campus-li/#ixzz1sKysYf5s|newspaper=Forward|date=Sep 9, 2009}} Times of Israel,{{cite web|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Four Questions for Campus Activists|url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/four-questions-for-campus-activists/|publisher=Times of Israel|accessdate=April 1, 2012}} e-JewishPhilanthropy{{cite web|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Getting Next Generations|date=5 December 2011 |url=http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/getting-next-generations/|publisher=eJewishPhilanthropy|accessdate=December 5, 2011}}{{cite web|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Ahad Ha'Am At Last|url=http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/ahad-ha%E2%80%99am-at-last/|publisher=eJewishPhilanthropy|accessdate=August 2, 2010}} and the Chronicle of Higher Education{{cite news|last=Firestone|first=Wayne|title=Yearning for Civil Discourse? Listen to Your Students|url=http://chronicle.com/article/Yearning-for-Civil-Discourse-/129415/|newspaper=Chronicle of Higher Education|date=October 16, 2011}}