Barak Stella
Consultant
Tzomet Games

Barak Sella is an educator, community organizer, writer and researcher, recognized as one of Israel’s leading experts on U.S.–Israel relations and global Jewry.

Born in Texas and raised in Israel after moving there in 1994, a year before Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, Barak’s worldview was shaped by that defining national trauma and its lessons on peace and democracy.

Barak began his career in Israel’s National Labor Youth Union, where he rose from youth educator to national spokesperson, leading nationwide campaigns on youth poverty, workers’ rights and access to education. He later founded Stand for Democracy, a U.S.-based coalition honoring Rabin’s legacy, and edited Class of ’95, the first literary anthology on the Rabin assassination.

As Executive Director of the Reut Institute, one of Israel’s foremost strategy think tanks, Barak partnered with Israeli government agencies and U.S. NGOs on issues including antisemitism, Israel–diaspora relations, radicalization and global democracy. He also led civil society initiatives such as Israel’s first humanitarian response for Syrian refugees and one of the country’s largest volunteer networks during the COVID-19 crisis.

Since October 7, 2023, Barak has emerged as a leading Israeli-American voice confronting antisemitism and extremism on U.S. campuses. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he organized student rallies, advised Jewish organizations and spoke widely to Jewish and civic audiences, helping shape the international conversation on antisemitism and Jewish identity.

A published author and frequent media contributor, Barak’s work bridges research, activism, and storytelling to strengthen democratic and Jewish life worldwide.

He holds a B.Ed. and teaching diploma in history from Beit Berl College, an M.A. in American Jewish Studies from the University of Haifa, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, where he is currently a Middle East Initiative Fellow at the Belfer Center working on building an Isarael program.