Ronit Avni
Ronit Avni is a tech and media entrepreneur and Peabody award-winning producer. She is the founder and CEO of Localized, a platform that connects students and recent graduates from emerging markets to global professionals who share language, culture and roots - drawing on diaspora networks--as well as to employers looking to hire talent in growth markets. Localized serves business and engineering students from Tunis to Bangalore. Localized was a finalist for the 2018 Next Billion Prize at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, overseen by the Editor-at-Large of TechCrunch, and a Vinetta Finalist in Washington, DC. Ronit was named a "2018 Power Woman in Tech" by DCA Live and a Young Global Leader through the World Economic Forum. Previously Ronit founded and served as the first Executive Director (2003-2014) of Just Vision. Her work has been featured in dozens of major international news outlets, including The Washington Post, The BBC, NPR, The Economist, Al Jazeera and many more. For over a decade, Ronit led a diverse team, ensuring Just Vision's relevance, credibility and success. She is a frequent speaker in think tank, community, government, international, educational and influential media settings. Ronit co-produced the documentary film, Naila and the Uprising, executive produced Just Vision's Peabody Award-winning film, My Neighbourhood, and produced the documentary film, Budrus, which was hailed in The New York Times as "this year's must-see documentary." Budrus screened in 185 cities, premiered in 53 film festivals and won more than 15 awards. Under Ronit's leadership, Just Vision won the highly competitive 2012 PUMA Creative Impact Award for Budrus. Ronit directed and produced the documentary film, Encounter Point, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and received numerous awards including two Audience Awards for Best Documentary in San Francisco and Montreal. Encounter Point has screened in 200+ cities worldwide and continues to be used in classrooms and community centers. It reached millions of TV viewers on networks such as CBC, Al Arabiya, HBO Latin America and more. During Ronit's tenure, Just Vision initiated and launched the growing news and analysis site, Local Call (mekomit.co.il), in partnership with 972 Advancement of Citizen Journalism and ActiveStills. In its first six months, the site garnered more than 500,000 viewers and has now exceeded 3,200,000. Previously, Ronit trained human rights defenders worldwide to incorporate film and digital media into their advocacy campaigns while working for Peter Gabriel's human rights organization, WITNESS. She co-edited the book, "Video for Change - A Guide for Advocacy and Activism" with WITNESS and now sits on the WITNESS Advisory Council. Ronit has been recognized with a variety of honors, including the King Hussein Leadership Prize, Search for Common Ground’s Common Ground Award, the Circles of Change Award, Auburn Seminary’s Lives of Commitment Award for women who “bridge religious divides, build community, and pursue justice,” the Trailblazer Award from the National Council for Research on Women.