Members of our Young Professional Forum excel in fields such as law, journalism, policy, politics, and academia. We provide professional mentorship to young people who have demonstrated significant talent in these fields. Some of the young leaders we work with are represented below.
Tal Fortgang
Tal Fortgang is a law clerk on a federal court in Washington, DC. Since participating in a Tikvah high school fellowship over a decade ago he has remained active in Tikvah programming as a College Summer Honors (Beren) Fellow, a Krauthammer Fellow, a Legal Fellow, and an instructor for various Tikvah educational programs. Additionally, he has held fellowships at the Manhattan Institute, SAPIR, and the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty. He writes frequently on a variety of topics for Commentary, Law & Liberty, National Review, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Tal earned an AB in Politics and certificate in Judaic Studies cum laude from Princeton University. He earned his JD from NYU Law, where he was Senior Notes Editor of the Journal of Law & Liberty, a Bradley Fellow, and research assistant for Professor Richard A. Epstein. After his clerkships he is slated to practice appellate and administrative law at a leading Philadelphia law firm.
Harry Halem
Harry Halem holds an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MA (Hons) in Philosophy and International Relations from the University of St Andrews. He is a researcher at the Hudson Institute's Center for American Seapower and the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum. He is primarily interested in maritime strategy, international security, and the history of political thought.
Kennedy Lee
Kennedy Lee is a Public Interest Fellow. Previously, Kennedy directed the campus outreach program and was a research associate at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. She holds a BA in Russian Language & Civilization and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she formerly studied in St. Petersburg, Russia and Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kennedy has participated in various Tikvah Fund programs and focused her summer fellowship research on increasing ties between Israel and Central and Eastern European countries. Her writings can be seen in outlets such as Deseret, Providence, and New Eastern Europe. Kennedy is a native of Fennimore, Wisconsin.
Daniel J. Samet
Daniel J. Samet is a Ph.D. student in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a Graduate Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security. He researches U.S. foreign policy with a focus on relations with the Middle East. Daniel previously worked at the Atlantic Council and the National Endowment for Democracy. He holds a B.A. magna cum laude in History and French from Davidson College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and competed in cross country and track & field, and an M.A. in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Daniel’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the National Interest, Foreign Policy, and National Review Online, among others. He speaks French and some Hebrew and Arabic.
Join the Young Professionals Forum
The Young Professional Forum is a community comprised of young and mid-career professionals around the United States, Israel, and across the world. Young Professionals join us after completing other Tikvah programs and fellowships at the high school, college, and professional level. Others may apply to join the forum directly after graduating.
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