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'''Ron Bruder''' is a [[American Jews|Jewish-American]] [[entrepreneur]] and advocate for increased educational opportunities in the [[Middle East]]. He is the founder of the [[Education for Employment Foundation]] (EFE), which hosts programs that teach Middle Eastern youth basic workplace skills. The foundation has opened sites in [[Jordan]], [[West Bank]], [[Gaza Strip]], [[Yemen]], [[Egypt]], [[Morocco]] and soon [[Tunisia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan |last=Bronfman |first=Charles |authorlink= |coauthors=Solomon, Jeffrey |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location= |isbn= |page=37 |pages= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dOlDm56cthgC&pg=PA37&dq=%22Ron+Bruder%22&hl=en&ei=GrH6TdKfG6rSiAL_-bWZBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Ron%20Bruder%22&f=false |accessdate=June 16, 2011}}</ref> In 2011 Bruder was named on the ''[[TIME 100]]'' list of the 100 most influential people in the world.<ref name="Time 100">{{cite news |title=The 2011 TIME 100 - Ron Bruder |author=Joe Klein |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066447,00.html |newspaper=[[TIME]] |date=April 21, 2011 |accessdate=June 17, 2011}}</ref> He lives in [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]] in [[Westchester County]], [[New York]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Virtual Globetrotting|url=http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/ron-bruders-house/#}}</ref>
'''Ron Bruder''' is a [[American Jews|Jewish-American]] [[entrepreneur]] and advocate for increased educational opportunities in the [[Middle East]]. He is the founder of the [[Education for Employment Foundation]] (EFE), which hosts programs that teach Middle Eastern youth basic workplace skills. The foundation has opened sites in [[Jordan]], [[West Bank]], [[Gaza Strip]], [[Yemen]], [[Egypt]], [[Morocco]] and soon [[Tunisia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan |last=Bronfman |first=Charles |authorlink= |coauthors=Solomon, Jeffrey |year=2009 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location= |isbn= |page=37 |pages= |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dOlDm56cthgC&pg=PA37&dq=%22Ron+Bruder%22&hl=en&ei=GrH6TdKfG6rSiAL_-bWZBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Ron%20Bruder%22&f=false |accessdate=June 16, 2011}}</ref> In 2011 Bruder was named on the ''[[TIME 100]]'' list of the 100 most influential people in the world.<ref name="Time 100">{{cite news |title=The 2011 TIME 100 - Ron Bruder |author=Joe Klein |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066447,00.html |newspaper=[[TIME]] |date=April 21, 2011 |accessdate=June 17, 2011}}</ref> He lives in the Premium Point section of [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]] in [[Westchester County]], [[New York]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Virtual Globetrotting|url=http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/ron-bruders-house/#}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==
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[[Category:Founders and heads of educational institutions]]
[[Category:Founders and heads of educational institutions]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:People from New Rochelle, New York]]
[[Category:New York University alumni]]
[[Category:New York University alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Revision as of 21:48, 18 July 2012

Ron Bruder is a Jewish-American entrepreneur and advocate for increased educational opportunities in the Middle East. He is the founder of the Education for Employment Foundation (EFE), which hosts programs that teach Middle Eastern youth basic workplace skills. The foundation has opened sites in Jordan, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco and soon Tunisia.[1] In 2011 Bruder was named on the TIME 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[2] He lives in the Premium Point section of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York.[3]

Background

Childhood

Born in Brooklyn, Bruder was a part of a Jewish family that had migrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the early half of the 20th century. Both of his parents worked, with his father being a optometrist and his mother a teacher for remedial reading. After working as an encyclopedia salesman at age 17, Bruder discovered a new, better method for selling them, by hiring "welfare mothers to do phone solicitations and employ their children to stuff envelopes through doorways all over Brooklyn."[4] Bruder went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Economics at Adelphi University, a Master's Degree in Business Administration at New York University, and a Post-Master's Degree in Accounting and Taxation at Iona College.[5]

Career

Ron Bruder worked as a real estate developer for more than 30 years, and his earliest real estate activity involved converting an "electric generating plant in lower Manhattan to residential use". In 1977 he created the Brookhill Group, a real estate company that builds and turns around shopping centers and reclaims brownfields. From there, he went on to found a "medical technology company and an oil-and-gas business, and he redeveloped a number of shopping malls".[4] The medical technology company, titled Gynetech Laboratories Ltd., works toward "birth control and halting the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases."[6]

It was after this that he started working with brownfields in conjunction with Dames and Moore, a multi-billion dollar engineering company. Bruder invented a method of encouraging investment in tainted properties by capping clean-up costs and "securitizing the debt", which enabled the Brookhill Group to become "one of the largest buyers of distressed properties in the U.S."[4] The group quickly obtained properties in more than 21 states.[7]

The September 11 attacks were very traumatic for Bruder, as his eldest daughter was working near the World Trade Center and the event drove Bruder to "make a real impact" in something other than real estate.[8] This compelled him to investigate the circumstances and issues that led to the attacks and explore how to rectify them. He discovered the Middle East has a large youth bulge and the highest youth unemployment in the world. He believes that stable societies can only be built if youth have economic opportunity and jobs. After hiring the Brookings Institution to research methods of ameliorating the situation, along with traveling for several months in Middle Eastern countries, Bruder decided to create the Education for Employment Foundation.[9] His stated reason for doing so was,[10]

I was very lucky in my life. Kids I meet in the Middle East have the same intellect and drive as I had, but don't have the same opportunities...We can make a radical difference to their lives. Once they have a job, they feel part of society. They can become a breadwinner and maybe support eight or nine people, including their siblings.

— Ron Bruder, CNN News

The creation of the foundation cost $10 million, which Bruder paid for himself out of his savings. The base for the foundation was formed in Washington D.C. in 2002, from which he spread to other offices in the Middle East. In order to expand within each of the countries he opened an office in, Bruder partnered with "local companies that provide funding and agree to hire a set number of graduates from his training programs". This led to the first Middle Eastern office opening in Jordan in 2005 and in the Gaza Strip in 2006.[4][8]

In 2010, Bruder was invited to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting about raising awareness and helping increase education and employment for youths around the world.[11] During the same year, he received The Amy and Tony Polak 2010 Distinguished Advocate Award from the Anne Frank Center for his contributions to world education.[5]

In 2011, Bruder appeared on the Time magazine list of 100 Most Influential People in the World[2] and subsequently authored an op-ed for the magazine.

References

  1. ^ Bronfman, Charles (2009). The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan. John Wiley and Sons. p. 37. Retrieved June 16, 2011. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Joe Klein (April 21, 2011). "The 2011 TIME 100 - Ron Bruder". TIME. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "Virtual Globetrotting".
  4. ^ a b c d Richard McGill Murphy (April 3, 2008). "Jihad or Jobs?". CNN Money. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "The Amy and Tony Polak 2010 Distinguished Advocate Award". Anne Frank Center. 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Ron Bruder - the Brookhill Group: turnaround ace sees opportunity in many disguises". AllBusiness.com. November 12, 1997. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  7. ^ Lawrence Malkin (October 25, 1991). "European 'Vultures' Retarget America". New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Lisa Takeuchi Cullen (September 20, 2007). "Gainful Employment". TIME. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  9. ^ Alexandra Marks (September 12, 2005). "Moved by 9/11, some Americans changed their lives". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  10. ^ Catriona Davies (June 9, 2011). "How a U.S. tycoon is helping Mideast's jobless generation". CNN News. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  11. ^ "Youth Unemployment: The Next Great Global Challenge". Clinton Global Initiative. 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2011.

Further reading

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