Mark Gerson
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Mark Gerson is an American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He co-founded the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG)[1] and Thuzio. Gerson is also involved in philanthropic organizations African Mission Healthcare Foundation and United Hatzalah.
Gerson grew up in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, New Jersey and attended Millburn High School.[2] He had his bar mitzvah ceremony at Temple B'nai Jeshurun.[3] Gerson received a BA from Williams College and a JD from Yale Law School.[4]
Business
[edit]Gerson and fellow Yale Law School graduate Thomas Lehrman founded the Gerson Lehrman Group in 1998. Gerson Lehrman group, otherwise known as GLG, is a peer to peer business learning company. GLG is a knowledge brokerage and primary research firm with a stated membership-based platform of more than 600,000 independent consultants.[5]
Gerson also co-founded Thuzio, a professional booking marketplace, with former NFL player Tiki Barber,[6] and Create, a venture studio.[7]
Gerson helped found the Tel Aviv Angel Group which invested in early stage Israeli startups and later on Maverick Ventures Israel, a venture capital fund composed of private investors that invests in early growth Israeli startups. Gerson serves on the fund’s board of advisors .
Philanthropy
[edit]Gerson is the co-founder and chairman of United Hatzalah, a network of volunteer medics in Israel.[8]
Gerson co-founded African Mission Healthcare Foundation with Dr. Jon Fielder in 2010.[9] The Foundation seeks to improve access to medical care in Africa.[10] AMHF supports the work of Christian medical missionaries serving in Africa in three areas: clinical care, training and infrastructure.[11]
AMHF has forged partnerships with Christian Broadcasting Network[12] and Samaritan's Purse[13]
As part of AMHF, Gerson helped create the Gerson L'Chaim Prize[14] in August 2016.[15]
In September 2021 Gerson donated US$18 million to Christian medical missions in Africa. [16]
L'Chaim Prize for Outstanding Medical Missionary Service
[edit]The L'Chaim Prize for Outstanding Medical Missionary Service was founded by Gerson and his wife Erica Gerson.[17] The L'Chaim Prize is a $500,000 grant aimed to award medical missionaries for their service and help them fund their mission.[17] Due to the rise in independent churches, Gerson believed that there was a shortage of medical missionaries and believed this prize would help the field.[18] The prize's name, L'Chaim, means "to life" in Hebrew.[17]
Recipients
[edit]| Year | Applicants | Recipient | Nationality | Country of Service | Intended Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 26 | Jason Fader, MD | American | Burundi (Kibuye Hope Hospital) | Expand hospital and laboratories, purchase orthopedic equipment[19] |
| 2017 | 24 | Russel E. White, MD | American | Kenya (Tenwek Mission Hospital) | Train cardiac surgeons, implement ultrasound, purchase antibiotics[18] |
| 2018 | Rick Sacra, MD | American | Liberia (ELWA Hospital) | Train Liberian Family Medicine Physicians, install solar capacity, establish ICUs[20] | |
| 2019 | Tom Catena, MD | American | Sudan (Mother of Mercy Hospital) | to strengthen and expand the Gidel Mother of Mercy Hospital [21] | |
| 2020 | Dr. Sister Priscilla Busingye, MD | Ugandan | Uganda (Banyatereza Sisters of Uganda) | She ‘loves the stranger’ every day in a genuine and tangible manner [22] | |
| 2021 | William Rhodes, MD | American | Kenya (Kapsowar Hospital) | Train teams of surgical care providers for "surgical deserts"[23] |
Media
[edit]On Gerson's podcast The Rabbi's Husband with Mark Gerson he interviews a thinker with religious, political or theological perspectives regarding a passage from the Torah. Guests have included United States Senators Cory Booker, Tom Cotton, William Cassidy, Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi, speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz and Bishop Robert Stearns.[24] He also hosts a weekly Bible study with Eagles Wings, an international Christian organization supporting Israel initiatives.[25]
He is the author of the national best-selling book The Telling: How Judaism's Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life (St. Martins Publishing Group, March 2, 2021)[26] [27] and The Telling Workbook: An Interactive Guide to the Haggadah (St. Martins Publishing Group, March 8, 2022).[28]
Politics
[edit]Gerson is the author of the books The Neoconservative Vision: From the Cold War to the Culture Wars (ISBN 1568330545) and In the Classroom: Dispatches from an Inner-City School that Works (ISBN 0684827565), and the editor of The Essential Neoconservative Reader (ISBN 0201479680).
He is active politically, with most support going to Republican candidates.[citation needed] In 2015, Gerson joined other Republicans in signing an amicus curiae brief supporting a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, which was submitted to the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges.[29]
Personal life
[edit]Gerson is a fan of Elvis Presley and his friend appeared at his wedding as an Elvis impersonator.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Who We Are". GLG. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ Gerson, Mark. "Molding the Good Citizen: The Politics of High-School History Texts.", National Review. Accessed July 19, 2021. "I remember taking an Advanced Placement class in government at Millburn High School in New Jersey with a wonderful teacher, Mr. Stivers."
- ^ a b "Interview with Mark Gerson". Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ^ "Mark Gerson". Militarist Monitor. October 21, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ "Overview".
- ^ "Thuzio | Julius | Thuzio Executive Club". www.thuzio.com. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- ^ "About Create". madebycreate.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020.
- ^ "FAQ | Saving Lives in Israel with Rapid Emergency Response". November 9, 2017.
- ^ "From Williams to Africa". williams.edu. November 28, 2016.
- ^ "Modern Missionaries". philanthropyroundtable.org. 2018.
- ^ "Providing much needed care for Mothers and Children". africanmissionhealthcare.org. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "$500,000 Medical Prize Unites Christian, Jewish Faiths". cbn.com. October 13, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "WORLD MEDICAL MISSION - ON CALL" (PDF). 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ "Allies in good works - WORLD". world.wng.org. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- ^ "The $500,000 Gerson l'Chaim Prize". August 17, 2016.
- ^ "Jewish Couple's Desire to 'Love the Stranger' Leads to 'Largest Private Gift Ever' to Christian Medical Missions in Africa". September 22, 2021.
- ^ a b c Donald G. McNeil Jr. (October 27, 2017). "Jewish Philanthropists Create a Prize for Christian Missionaries". New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Lipman, Steve (February 9, 2018). "'Doing God's Work' In Rural Africa". The New York Jewish Week. pp. 5, 8. ProQuest 2002969522.
- ^ "The Only Surgeon For Millions of People Wins First Annual Gerson L'Chaim Prize". PRWeb. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ "Gerson LChaim Prize". www.amhf.us. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ "Heroic American Surgeon Dr. Tom Catena Earns Top Medical Missionary Award for Saving Lives in Africa's Forgotten War Zone". prnewswire.com. January 28, 2020.
- ^ "First African Woman to Receive L'Chaim Prize for Providing Life-Changing Care in Rural Uganda". missionbox.org. October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Dr. William Rhodes (2021)". africanmissionshealthcare.org. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
- ^ "The Rabbi's Husband on Apple Podcasts".
- ^ "Bishop Stearns hosts National Pastors for Special Passover Presentation". April 2, 2020.
- ^ "The Telling | Mark Gerson | Macmillan".
- ^ "Bestsellers List Sunday, March 28, 2021". Los Angeles Times. March 24, 2021.
- ^ Gerson, Mark (March 8, 2022). The Telling Workbook: An Interactive Guide to the Haggadah. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-250-84319-7.
- ^ Avlon, John (February 28, 2013). "The Pro-Freedom Republicans Are Coming: 131 Sign Gay Marriage Brief". The Daily Beast.