Adam Herman had a long track record in sales and business, with over 14 years of experience as the president of various companies, before he joined Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds as its executive director in 2016, where his professional background comes in handy while providing fundraising support domestically for the state of Israel.
Now, Herman works to connect people with Israel, which is a primary objective of his efforts, and to provide an “insurance policy” for Israel if it finds itself in a time of need, as they do today.
Can you take me through your career path up until Israel Bonds?
I started my career in sales selling personal insurance. And then I did a 180 and I went into IT project management at a global consulting company. Then I left to start a few different companies in the insurance world. While running my company, I had my first real experience working with a nonprofit that I helped start, which was then called the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project – now called Momentum. They originally started doing Birthright-type trips for moms and dads. So, along with the founding director, I helped to start the organization back in 2009. The first year, we sent 300 women to Israel, in the second year, we sent 600 women to Israel, and in the third year, we sent 900 women to Israel. I started off as a volunteer for the first year and then as a consultant. It’s one thing to sell insurance and say, hey, I just saved them 10%. That’s great, but really having an impact on people [is amazing]. I worked there – along with running a company at the same time – for about three or four years. And then, I kind of retired. I left to focus on my own company, which I ran for a couple more years, and then I ended up closing the company just due to market changes and looking for the next opportunity. And I didn’t necessarily want to go into working for a nonprofit again, but I really liked the aspect of helping people or doing something for good.
What are your responsibilities as executive director at Israel Bonds?
I manage a team who manages parts of Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. We really focus on sales, new business and keeping our existing clients happy. A very important part of our work is helping clients to reinvest maturing funds and investing new funds. It’s really managing our clients and helping them to make the process as easy as possible. So, with that, too, we have different events, we’re looking to connect with the community, to connect people with Israel.
How has your job changed since Oct. 7?
In general, we sell about $1 billion per year. Last year, in 2023, probably because of the rates, we’d already sold $1 billion by October. We sold another $1.3 billion from October until the end of the year. We’ve already done another $1.1 billion more in the first quarter.
Can you talk about some of your local Jewish involvement and how that came about?
I grew up traditional/Conservative in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Then in 2006, we [my wife and I] got involved with Aish HaTorah [of Greater Washington]. We started learning and growing and taking on more, being more Jewishly involved, becoming a lot more observant.
How has that involvement impacted you?
It’s brought me more connected to Jews and Judaism, especially to a big love of Israel. I went to Israel when I was 17 with BBYO. The second time I went back in 2007 was with Aish, and I was in a different place in life and really connected. Since then, I kind of lost track of how many times I’ve been there. Probably more than 20-plus times. There’s just really a love and a connection with Israel, Judaism and with God in general, just having a better understanding. I feel like being part of Aish HaTorah, learning and growing, we’ve been given such a gift that part of that I’m looking to pay it forward. And I want to share more, get more people involved and get more people connected to Judaism, because most of us who didn’t grow up with that don’t really know much, or you know what you’re thinking now, and you have your preconceived ideas until you learn and you can make up your mind, and I encourage people to learn and to grow.
What are some things that you hope to be able to continue to do?
My biggest goal is connecting people to Israel. One significant way for people to connect and help Israel is to invest in Israel Bonds. An investor can invest part of their portfolio in our bonds for as little as $36 to $100 million and everything in between. The state of Israel has asked us to raise significant dollars now to help support the country.