Benjamin Orbach

BENJAMIN ORBACH works in Jerusalem as the West Bank and Gaza Country Director for Creative Associates International, an international development company. He manages a grassroots small grant program that partners with women's associations, youth clubs, and village councils. Prior to joining Creative Associates in June of 2007, Orbach was the Deputy Regional Coordinator of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) at the U.S. Department of State for three years. He received superior achievement and meritorious achievement awards for designing and managing democratic reform projects in the Middle East and North Africa. Before joining the State Department, Orbach was a research fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he wrote analyses and essays on democratic reform in the Middle East, public diplomacy, terrorism, and Arab politics. Orbach has a Masters degree in Middle East Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). At SAIS, he was a Boren Fellow, CASA Fellow, and the David Kagan Fellow. A speaker of Arabic and Hebrew, Orbach has lived in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa. He previously taught special education social studies in Washington D.C. and worked with AmeriCorps in Colorado and Texas. He is a University of Michigan graduate and a Pittsburgh native. Orbach can be reached BenjaminOrbach at yahoo.com .