Members

Micah Bergdale is an Iowa native with a passion for entrepreneurial activities and Jewish community building. Micah was raised in a predominantly Christian home with small reminders of his maternal Jewish history interspersed as part of his upbringing. When he began attending college at the age of 15 at Northern Arizona University, he explored Judaism further and how his Jewish heritage related to his personal belief structure. After graduating from NAU at age 18 with a 4 year Bachelor's degree, he pursued his passion in technology by working for a dot.com startup in Kansas City, MO. After watching the collapse of the dot.com bubble in 2000, he moved to Chicago to work for Apple for a few years. It was during this time in Chicago that he was further exposed to the Jewish community and began to develop an interest in engaging with the Jewish community to connect with his heritage. After working at Apple for 3 years, he started his own IT consulting company all at the age of 21. As his business began to expand, he developed a niche base of customers within the Chicago Jewish community and became more involved with the community by celebrating the Jewish holidays and engaging in Jewish communal activities. In 2005, Micah was given the opportunity to expand his company, Digital Criterion, to New York from Chicago. It was in New York, where he was exposed first hand to Birthright Israel and took the first step in his journey to a stronger Jewish identity. The Birthright Leadership Trip allowed Micah to meet Shimon Peres and be exposed to Israeli leadership across the board. After his participation in the BRI 400 trip managed by Oranim, Micah was invited to participate in the first annual ROI conference sponsored by the Schusterman Foundation. The connections and relationships developed out of this program created a passion for the Jewish community and the future of Jewish continuity that still exists today. Over the past few years, Micah has collaborated with fellow ROI alumni to develop programs, goals, and missions to create a more interactive and entrepreneurial approach that is vital to the success of American Jewish communal life. It is through these efforts, that Micah came to develop the Israel 360 program with the help of fellow board members of Executive Director, Robert Socolof.