Karen is a proud native of Philadelphia, but “is madly in love with her adopted hometown of Jerusalem”. Karen is the deputy director and one of the founders of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, a summer music festival that showcases Jerusalem as a vibrant, musical, and creative city. According to their website, “Jerusalem is the greatest font of creativity in the world. For us, Jerusalem plays the starring role, forming a backdrop for the performances and acting as our primary source of inspiration. Jerusalem is both the reason and the instigator. We are permanently attuned to the voices emerging from within this city, the harmonious and discordant alike, and, despite all the background noise, we try to extract from them an open and clear sound of creativity.” Karen cares deeply about the city’s civil society and hosts her own radio show, Cosmopolitan Jerusalem that profiles activists, artists, and entrepreneurs from Jerusalem.

Naomi Fortis is best known for her tenure as CEO of the world-famous modern dance troupe, Bat Sheva. She left this position to head up the Jerusalem Season of Culture, which she manages to this day. Naomi’s creative approach, and her ability to fuse different cultures and points of view, is the driving force behind the refocusing of the Jerusalem Season of Culture on the spirit of the people and sacredness of Jerusalem, hence the name that symbolizes the festival: Mekudeshet (Sacred). Naomi’s passion is to enable the expression of the clashes of cultures that Jerusalem so aptly represents, through unique works of art, clashing points of view and original collaborations.