4. Avigail Levine - Amplifying Voices; Restoring Belonging

Avigail Levine is head of marketing and ecosystem relations at Samsung Next TLV in Tel Aviv. She originally studied law, and spent the first years of her career in legal roles, and moved into the tech industry in 2013, where she has held a series of roles including head of portfolio development at a venture capital fund. She is a co-founder and advisor at Restart, whose goal is to help wounded soldiers reintegrate into “real life” after a life changing event. She is also a fellow podcaster at Ma Batafkid, where she broadcasts about non-techie roles in the start-up ecosystem. Our discussion covers Avigail's decision to leave law and build a career in tech, even if it meant starting at a lower level on the career ladder, and how she advanced through the area. I had first learned about Avigail's role in venture capital through her quote in this article: https://news.crunchbase.com/news/more-women-are-needed-in-israels-vc-community/ and reached out to her in a cold-call. She graciously agreed to share her story. We move to discuss the stats regarding female founders and venture capitalists in Israel and why representation is not what it should be. We then examine what is changing and how affinity groups and enabling women to find their voice, even through podcasting, can improve the landscape. Finally we discuss two of Avigail's other passions, her charity helping wounded soldiers and her own podcast series, as well as some famous tech figures who have inspired her with their biographies. This podcast series on Inspiring Israeli Women in Tech and Beyond was made possible by the generous support of Elissa Bayer and Avital Eusgeld.