Rachel founded the Hoops For Kids program over 10 years ago while residing in Israel with her family. She has since worked to expand the program in Israel, Kenya and beyond. Rachel earned her Bachelor in Communication from the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel. She is also the Director of the Kids Connect Network program. She currently resides somewhere in the world with her son, Elijah, and husband, Adrian.   

Dubbed “The Jewish Jordan” by Sports Illustrated in 1999, Tamir Goodman is a former professional basketball player and current successful entrepreneur, coach, educator and motivational speaker. In 2002, Tamir moved to Israel when he was signed by top Israeli and European League basketball team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2004, Tamir took a break from playing basketball to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where he was awarded “Most Outstanding Soldier.”  In 2009 Tamir retired from professional basketball. He currently runs a world class summer overnight basketball camp in Jerusalem for players from around the world; leading sports based programming for trips, schools and organizations.

Marina is a Consultant for non-profits and companies looking to expand thier Coorporate Responsibility platform. She was the former Head of Partnerships and Director of TAG-USA, our non-profit partner based in Seattle, Washington. Marina has extensive experience in corporate responsibility and international development in Israel, USA, UK, Sri-Lanka, and Georgia. Prior to working at Tag, she worked as the Deputy Head of Business Development at Shelter UK, as Manager at Business in the Community, led research at Save the Children, and delivered monitoring and evaluation at Mercy Corps. She is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and Brandeis University.

Ira is a retired High School math teacher of 37 years in the United States and coached High School basketball for over 30 years. Ira has worked as the Sports Director of various overnight summer camps as well. Since arriving in Israel, he has earned his coaching certificate from Tel Aviv University and has coached both High School and professional teams. Ira initially started as a HFK coach and now looks forward to applying his coaching and administrative skills as Operations Manager of the Hoops For Kids organization.