The Intercultural Communication Center was established in 2012 to facilitate intercultural communication events for Academia and Business.
Since then, we are committed to delivering powerful intercultural experiences with love and responsibility.
We believe in Intercultural Communication Trainings and Study abroad programs as a fundamental tool for peace achievement and social development.
About Us
Our mission
To create sustainable up-to-date study abroad programs through transformative experiences and encounters that open students' hearts and minds.
We are on a mission to make global education accessible to everyone.
Our vision
We envision study abroad as being absolutely inclusive and accessible everywhere, anytime and for everyone.
We see global education as one of the most powerful tools to increase intercultural relations, world peace, and collaboration.
Our values
Every improvement starts with one's individual improvement.
We believe in repairing the world through human actions as well as encounters.
We believe that people, science and also businesses can act as peacemakers.
We believe in education as the way to evolve.
Our Goals
The goal of the organization is to build and enhance educational opportunities at the most relevant sites to learn and embody Intercultural Communication strategies for successful coexistence.
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The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
We at the ICCenter believe that education will make these goals a reality and want to “walk the talk” by adding some of these goals to our owns.
Our Team
We are a group of passionate people,
obsessed with what we do.
We are educators who love to share what we learned through many years of experience and what we continue to learn daily as eternal students.
Licensed Tour guides, lecturers, and organizers.
We know we are influencers and take that responsibility very seriously.
Do we always agree? We do not. Our backgrounds and cultures are very different, and we love that!
We teach the Intercultural Communication we practice day by day.
Monica Shakèd Wasserbach
Our Founder and Director
Working in Intercultural Communication, the science of uncommon sense is just common sense for Monica, who navigates her own life switching between many different cultures.
Global education is her passion, and she is convinced that we will improve our world if we just learn how to embody universal values through meaningful experiences and encounters.
Monica has a DAS in Interreligious and Intercultural Communication from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and a Diploma of Language Teaching from the Zurich School of Applied Linguistics. She studied Business and Tourism at the Luzern University of Applied Sciences and Arts and worked as a High School Teacher and Baccalaureate Consultant for nine years.
For the last twenty-six years, Monica has been involved in international education programs in all kinds of responsibilities. Her experience includes promoting, recruiting, designing and managing powerful education programs.
Known as “The Intercultural Fix-It” she loves to find practical solutions for intercultural challenges.
Rich in-network, enthusiasm and experience, Monica cannot wait to share that in your program and make an impact together!
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Ira Kirschner, EdD
Our Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and Lecturer
Ira is a seasoned intercultural educator and student affairs professional who has supported diverse international and domestic students studying in Israel and the US.
Ira spent most of his life in Israel, where he served in the military for five years, earned his BA and MA degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, worked with international students in multiple roles and organizations, and volunteered in organizations educating for tolerance of LGBTQ+ people in Jewish Orthodox communities.
Since relocating to the US, Ira has completed his EdD in Higher Education Administration at the University of Kansas, worked at multiple higher education institutions in student affairs roles, and volunteered with survivors of sexual trauma and abuse as well as with Hevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society). Ira lives, works, and volunteers in Boston, MA with his partner, Sam.
Michal Krak
Our Tel Aviv Licensed Tour Guide and Graffiti-Investigator
Living, breathing and guiding in Tel Aviv for over a decade.
Michal studied art, Judaism, Far East and graduated from TLV University.
She specializes in urban art and culture and is very much in love with the local street art and graffiti scene, where she finds surprises, creativity, beautiful walls, anger, and humor.
Boaz Malachi
Our Tour Manager
Boaz is a genuine Sabra, a native Israeli with a History and Archaeology B.A. from the Bar Ilan University.
Boaz has guided tours for over more than 25 years, making the holy sites of Israel vividly come to life. His knowledge and passion for his country and its history are truly outstanding. Boaz can bring the Bible to life through biblical readings in English and Hebrew, intelligent talks about the history of each site, narration, and stories about his own experiences in Israel.
Eliezer Nowodworski
Our Traveling Lecturer and Co-Creator of our Understanding Borders Program
By the time he reached school Eliezer was already speaking four languages! No surprise then he soon started to translate wires from international news agencies in the media.
Graduated in General History from Tel Aviv University, he works as translator and interpreter, he writes and lectures about the Middle East and love to travel the world.
Eliezer runs a blog about cultural aspects in the Israeli political system. He shares insights about his meetings with all walks of life, from top ranking personalities, heads of state, writers, and business people up to refugees, displaced persons, and even alleged criminals.
An avid reader on a wide spread of subjects, he also loves cooking, playing chess and meeting friends.
Hussam Mousa
Our Palestine Program Guide
Hussam Mousa is a Jerusalemite, an Open-hearted licensed Tour Guide and a Peace Activist.
With a Bachelor´s degree in History and Geography from Birzeit University and a MAS of Islamic Studies from the Freie Universität Berlin, Hussam is sharing his knowledge with students, tourists of all nationalities and groups of children!
His origins are from Silwan, and he resides in Bethphage on the Eastern slopes of Mount of Olives in the city of Jerusalem. We love his graffiti tours, his insides, and the positive energy he projects.
His background includes tasks as TV news coordinator, guide and front desk at the Museum of Islamic Art, instructor for Kids for Peace, participant of Together and Beyond, East-West Jerusalem Social Hackathon and group coordinator at the Interfaith Encounters Association.
He also used to play football with Jerusalem Peace Lions, a Jerusalem-based Israeli-Palestinian-Australian Football Team!
His passion is meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures and sharing precious stories with them.
Yiannis Ioannou
Our Cyprus Program Guide
Yiannis Ioannou is an International Relations expert with a focus on the MENA region, international conflicts and security. He works as an analyst for the prestigious Greek Kathimerini newspaper (Cyprus Edition). He is the co-founder of the think-tank Geopolitical Cyprus (www.geopoliticalcyprus.org) and a founding member of the Diplomatic Academy of the University of Nicosia. His commentary and analysis have appeared in international media outlets like France 24, Le Figaro, Al Jazeera, Sputnik International, the Greek, Cyprus, Italian, and Denmark Public Broadcast TV & Radio.
Rebecca Swanson
Office Intern
From the ‘wynds’ of Edinburgh’s Old Town to the redwood forests of Northern California, to the winding hills and alleys of Jerusalem, I have been fortunate enough to have lived a life rich in cultural (and geographical) diversity.
I have trained as a docent for several historical sites in California. Several years ago I was the co-founder of a scholarship fund for survivors of sex trafficking in Andra Pradesh, India. I have also been fortunate enough to be elected as the President of the Yad’am Refugee Aid Society at the University of Aberdeen.
I hold a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen, and a MA in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
I am currently interning at The Intercultural Communications Center in Jerusalem, and am also volunteering as a storyteller with the Tent of Nations farm near ancient Bethlehem in the West Bank - Palestine.
I also enjoy reclaiming heritage crafts such as felting and embroidery for the modern woman.
Our Partners
We are proud to partner with MeetingIL, a company that provides educational visits and networking opportunities inside the innovation ecosystem of our region.
MeetingIL innovation and entrepreneurship programs reflect our values. We enjoy exploring new sustainable projects together.
OffWeGo is a student-centric risk management tool that transforms needed student safety behaviors through social connection, comparison of resources, and proven gamification techniques helping us and the academic organizations to ensure duty of care.
We see this application as a great additional tool for our students, families and educational institutions.
We thank Jonathan Pezzi for the wonderful pictures!