ACTIVISM AND INNOVATION

Sivan Yaari

Founder and CEO, Innovation: Africa

Sivan Ya’ari is the founder and CEO of Innovation: Africa, a New York-based nonprofit that brings Israeli solar, agricultural and water technologies to rural African villages. Through her work, more than 1 million lives in the most remote villages on the African continent have been impacted, thanks to Israeli innovation. “We are committed to bring water where there is drought, to bring light where there is darkness, to bring hope and dignity where there is despair,” Ya’ari told a conference at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in July 2019. Aside from running Innovation: Africa, Ya'ari is a prominent businesswoman in Israel. iSpa Express, the nail salon chain she founded, was operating in 10 locations and employing 160 female workers throughout Israel when she sold the company in 2018. (Photo: Lior Sperandeo / CC BY-SA 3.0)