The Zoé Experience: Thought leaders gather to inspire hope and tackle global challenges
The Zoé Experience: Thought leaders gather to inspire hope and tackle global challenges
Experts in the fields of technology, climate, society and investments discussed solutions to the most pressing challenges and opportunities of society and the world
More than 70 thinkers and leaders gathered earlier this month for a weekend of growth of personal trust and information sharing between them as part of the Zoé Experience, an event that is dedicated to co-create solutions to the most pressing challenges and opportunities of society and the world. Among the participants were venture capital investors, university professors, startup founders, educators, and agricultural experts, who led and participated in deep discussions on significant global challenges through an interdisciplinary approach and a search for opportunities for their resolution.
Some of the participants shared their desire to improve the education system, while others discussed their own fight for maintaining and strengthening democracy. Some discussed the amazing potential of peer tutoring at scale, while others the dangers of informational warfare. Among the participants were Yossi Matias (VP AI at Google), Barak Ben Eliezer (Managing Partner at Deep Insight), Wendy Singer (former Executive Director of Start-Up Nation Central), Karine Nahon (Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at Reichman University) and many more thought leaders.
The immersive three-day event took place in Slowness at Kibbutz Moran, and brought together exceptional individuals from different domains, provided them with a unique opportunity to deeply get to know each other on a personal level, which cultivated personal trust and allowed information sharing between them, leading to the discussions. Domain experts were tasked with introducing topics for discussion and analysis, based on their vast personal experience, interests and research. Other experts joined the discussions bringing in their multidisciplinary and diverse viewpoints, offering new thinking and modalities to new and existing problems.
Some of the topics discussed were the emergence of regenerative agriculture as an alternative to our existing food-growing mechanisms; the new technologies and approaches we should take in order to combat informational warfare; the future of Artificial Intelligence in medicine; the evolution of human consciousness; democracy in Israel and challenges presented; finding common grounds for the future of the Israeli society at large; and challenges for the Arab high tech community.
Zoé was founded by Daniel Leviathan and Michael Matias. The idea behind the Zoé Experience is to bring together exceptional individuals from different domains, provide them with a unique opportunity to deeply get to know each other on a personal level, and allow for growth of personal trust and information sharing between them, leading to deep discussions of significant global challenges through an interdisciplinary approach and a search for opportunities for their resolution. The first half of the experience was dedicated to a collective creation of an environment of enrichment and deep trust, where participants shared values and aspirations, centering on the impact that each participant wants to have on the world and our individual role within creating that impact. The end of the second day culminated in a Zoé Elysium, a night-long group discussion and celebration.
The leaders then convened for the Zoé Symposium, an opportunity to bring together the shared trust and friendship that has been built between them, their aspirations and ambitions to discuss the existing and emerging challenges and opportunities we are facing in the world today. As the group spent the first two days of the Zoé Experience building strong personal alliances, trust and sharing personal values, these complicated topics appeared to be discussed with a newer, forthcoming, open, optimistic and actionable outlook. The discussions spanned far beyond the allotted time slots, and groups of individuals were naturally formed to continue tackling them outside of Zoé. Ultimately, it was the expertise and collective motivation of the multidisciplinary and diverse group for change and action that brought the magic to the conversations.
