Michal Avera Samuel

Michal Avera Samuel is Researcher and Coordinator for SCP. A seasoned leader with 20 years of experience pioneering and leading cross-cultural community-building and educational efforts, Ms. Avera Samuel was born in Gondar, Ethiopia, and walked with her family to a refugee camp in Sudan at the age of 8, from which they were airlifted to Israel in the 1984 “Operation Moses” rescue. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Researcher and Coordinator of the Shalom Curriculum Project, she was a community shlicha in Ohio. In Israel, Michal served as the CEO of FIDEL Association, advocating for the successful integration of Ethiopian Israelis and serving on the prestigious national Round Table Panel on Social Issues and research assistant for the Israel Democracy Institute. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Counseling from Haifa University and sits on numerous boards and volunteers with organizations, including serving as spokesperson and advisor to the Scholarship Fund for Ethiopian Jews in Boca Raton, FL.