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'Land Of Inspiration'

CEO Mission to Israel brings "startup nation" ideas back home.

Adam Finkel I Contributing Writer

M

ark Davidoff is a man on a
mission.
Consider: Who chaired the
2015 Mackinac Policy Conference bringing
civic and community leaders together for
the annual can't-miss forum for top busi-
ness and civic execs?
Who is board chair-
man of the 2015-2016
Detroit Regional
Chamber spearheading
activities that move the
economic needle forward
in Michigan and Detroit?
Who is the presiding
officer of the next Detroit
Mark Davidoff
Economic Club meet-
ing that will present the
2015 Alan E. Schwartz
Community Leadership Award?
That leader is Mark Davidoff.
He's the Detroit booster extraordinaire
who runs a mile a minute as Michigan
managing partner of Deloitte LLP, where he
oversees more than 1,200 professionals for
the $16 billion professional services firm.
It's no wonder that Davidoff, treasurer of
the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and
the former COO of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, was recently ranked
as one of the single-most connected leaders
in the Detroit business community.
Perhaps one of Davidoff's most impres-
sive initiatives was realized last month when
he led a high-powered group of more than
20 Michigan business leaders — top execu-
tives of companies that collectively employ
more than 100,000 people in Michigan — on
a fact-finding mission to Israel centered
around economic development. Most were
non-Jewish; most hadn't been to Israel before.

BIRTH OF A MISSION
The 2015 CEO Mission to Israel started with
a February 2014 editorial Davidoff penned
in a widely read Crain's opinion piece titled
`As Israel can revitalize, so can Detroit"
He talked about Israel as a "land of
inspiration where the spirit of innovation
is grounded in deeply rooted commit-
ments to economic development, prosper-
ity, social justice, education, responsibility
for the environment and caring for all"
He knew that leaders need to go to Israel
to appreciate both the spirit of the country
and the fact that headlines don't always tell
the story, or even the truth.
The 2014 editorial ended with compari-

,

•.A. mission to Israel not to help Israel
but to benefit Michigan and Detroit.

, _

),*

At the Western Wall, Michigan CEOs pose in the men's section.

sons between Detroit and Israel, articulat-
ing how, as Detroiters, we must persevere,
like Israel's early pioneers, until the state of
Detroit's renewal is a tale recanted around
the globe.
The piece was published at 8 a.m. Feb. 23.
Shortly after, Davidoff heard from a range
of business leaders in the state who desired
to travel to Israel to learn how the "startup
nation" has found economic success in the
face of enormous adversity. Earlier this year,
the Detroit Free Press published a similar
piece penned by Davidoff.
After hearing from enough CEOs who
said they'd like to visit Israel but had never
gone before, the CEO Mission was born.
Davidoff said the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit was critically impor-
tant from the outset. Federation CEO Scott
Kaufman was key to the mission, working
with Davidoff and Federation resources to
create the most dynamic agenda possible
around a highly focused business paradigm.
The itinerary included private meetings
with Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist, the
mayor of Jerusalem, the founder of technol-
ogy company Mobileye, and diplomat and
political adviser Dore Gold.
Kaufman and Davidoff said a mission
objective was to bring back one idea that

Scott Kaufman

could be injected into
Michigan's economy to
create more opportu-
nity locally or improve
the quality of life for
Detroiters.
Davidoff sought to
put together a group that
could use insights from
the mission to further
economic and com-
munity development in

Detroit.
"These are leaders that know each other
and have a proven track record of leadership
in Michigan's economy; he said. Mission
co-chairs were Meijer CEO Mark Murray
and Cindy Pasky, CEO of Strategic Staffing
Services.

INSIGHTS GAINED
For Nancy Schlichting, CEO of Henry Ford
Health System, one of the takeaways from
meeting the remarkable people of Israel was
the importance of a culture of innovation
and the engagement of young people to
create a vibrant nation — despite the daily
threats of violence and the long history of
discrimination and horrific losses.
The challenges we have in Detroit and

Michigan, Schlichting
noted, can be solved
with a greater level of
collaboration and leader-
ship by all stakeholders.
"The public-private
partnership to support
startup companies and
entrepreneurship was
Nancy
inspiring and should be
Schlichting
copied as we reinvent
our region and state"
she said. "We should emulate the level of
public service of young people in Israel —
not necessarily military service, but some
type of mandatory service that enhances the
commitment to our communities and our
country"
She also noted that the trip created won-
derful new relationships among the people
who had the privilege of being part of the
delegation.
"We need to use these great relationships
to serve our community in a reinvigorated
way" she said.
Kaufman said most missions to Israel
revolve around strengthening Jewish com-
munity.
"This trip was unique because it revolved
more around promoting a vibrant state;

continued on page 12

10 December 17 • 2015

