We welcome Leora Hessen as the new chairperson of the Herzlia Alumni Association. Leora matriculated in 1992 and is the co-founder and creative director of Artjamming South Africa. She also owns Lulu accessories & shoes and Fred Tsuya clothing.

Prior to Artjamming, she worked in the textile and clothing industry as a sourcing and trends director – travelling and working extensively within The Far East and Europe for over 25 years.

Leora has a Bcom Degree, specialising in systems analysis and design. Recently, Leora founded the African NFT Art Collective. This initiative assists African artists in establishing their presence in the Metaverse. In September 2022 she was nominated as one of the top 5 women in Africa in the field of Web3, by Women-In-Tech. Also, in 2022 Leora was chosen as one of the first 20 women, worldwide, to join the Taara Quest Metaverse leadership programme, which she graduated from in November 2022.

Since 1996 Leora has been involved in various community outreach projects and is especially passionate about the Jewish Community of Cape Town. Leora worked with the Young Adult Division (YAD) of the UJC for many years, and as chairperson for 2 years. In 2017 she was chosen as one of 50 changemakers in South Africa by the Changemakers Hub. In 2018 Leora graduated from the EOLI leadership programme. Leora co-chaired the Alon Ashel PA from 2017-2020.

Leora and her husband, Harold, are proud supporters of Israel. In 2020 Leora joined the SA Zionist Federation & was nominated as Co-Vice Chairperson. Leora is a mom to a beautiful daughter in Grade 2 at Weizmann and two gorgeous stepdaughters, who also went to Herzlia.

We are thrilled that Leora has chosen to join the Herzlia Alumni team.