Maya Jacobs is an environmental activist and entrepreneur.
After serving for 10 years as the CEO of the Zalul (“Clear” in Hebrew) and turning the NGO dedicated to the protection of Israel’s seas, streams and water into one of the most important and influential environmental organizations in Israel, Maya is now the co-founder and CEO of Climate Net, Networking to Net Zero, an NGO intended to produce a leap in quality and the pace of climate action by focusing on the business community and science-based innovation, with a special focus on carbon removal and trade.
Climate Net aims to turn into Israel a world leader in science-based solutions with internationally scalable potential by bridging the knowledge, policy and technology gaps, and creating opportunities and projects in collaboration with businesses, municipalities and localities, government ministries, academia and other NGOs. The NGO works to create significant motivation for impactful action among people and businesses who understand the urgency to act to curb the climate crisis, pollution and biodiversity.
During her years at Zalul, the organization became central and dominant in the public discourse and turned the issues of protecting the marine environment and combating industrial pollution recognized for their importance in Israel. Maya initiated and led some of the biggest campaigns, collaborations and coalitions. Major achievements include the closing of the 12,000 ton Ammonia reservoir in Haifa, passing the Ban the Bag Law, the cessation of the annual discharge of 5 million tons of sewage sludge into the sea from the Shafdan wastewater treatment facility, the “Plastic-Free City” project in Herzliya which pushed municipalities throughout Israel to act to reduce the use of single-use plastics, The “Local Impact” project for environmental change in Jewish and Arab businesses and municipalities in the periphery that became a flagship project of the European Union in Israel, “Zalul at Work” which helped some of Israel’s largest companies reduce their ecological footprint. Maya initiated the campaign and coalition against significantly raising oil tanker activity at the Europe-Asia Pipeline Company, and against conducting offshore gas and oil drilling without emergency preparedness, and many more.
With an annual budget of 3.5 million NIS, Zalul’s work received media exposure valued at over 30 million NIS.
While at Zalul, Maya was also a co-founder of the Binui Shafui (“Sane Construction” in Hebrew), which aims to incorporate environmental principles into planning and construction projects in Israel, and currently unites 66 local campaigns throughout the country attempting to improve planning and protect trees. In addition, she was co-founder of Fossil Free Israel, a coalition that pushes to divert investments from fossil fuels.
Maya is a Board Member at “Life and Environment”, the umbrella organization of environmental organizations.
Maya is a member of former U.S Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality community with the aim of generating international collaborations.
Maya is a Board Member at the public benefit company Creative Change, which creates videos and art events for public education and outreach on environmental issues.
Before joining Zalul and becoming an environmentalist, Maya specialized in media strategy and relations, government relations and philanthropic investment consulting in various settings in Israel and NYC for 15 years. Among her most prominent positions, she was a Spokesperson in the office of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Chief Information Officer at the Israeli Consulate General in New York and VP of Communications and government relations at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Israel.
Maya is a sought-after interviewee and serves as a commentator on environmental, social and economic issues in various current affairs programs and conferences and was chosen in 2018 as one of the top 20 activist women in Israel by Lady Globes Magazine.
