Simon van Dam brings a wealth of experience as an initiator and manager of large multi-disciplinary cross-border projects. He has successfully obtained over €140M in funding for numerous EU-funded multi-disciplinary cross-border research, development and innovation initiatives. Simon’s organizational and managerial skills, coupled with his extensive network in Israel and Europe, have been instrumental to his achievements.

In 2006, Simon founded Agora Partners, a company specializing in initiating, developing and managing large publicly funded multi-national projects. The company has become a  leading provider of a variety of value-added services to large EU-funded projects in Israel and Europe. The experience and expertise of Agora will be implemented in Israel4Africa.

He previously served as the Israeli point of contact for the EU Regional Capacity Building Initiative, playing a pivotal role in the European Neighbourhood Policy Initiative (ENPI) – Cross Border Cooperation (EU appointment).

Simon has also held significant positions such as the EC Project Coordinator in the Liaison Office of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, as well as senior management roles in corporations like Applied Materials, Inc. and El Al Israel Airlines.

Simon holds a MBA from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.