Dear Friend of Athena,

I'm excited to share with you that Athena Fund has been invited to host an event at the United Nations' 14th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the UN CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). This is an annual conference sponsored by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The conference will take place (mostly virtually) on June 14-18 in New York.

On June 15, I will make a video statement at the general assembly.

You are invited to our virtual event entitled “Special Needs in Special Times” that will take place on Friday, June 18, at 10:00 am EST (17:00 Israel time).

We will present the results of a research report conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel among teachers who had received a "digital toolbox" from Athena Fund, studying the impact of technology among students with special needs. In addition, we will hear first-hand testimonies pointing to the potential hidden in technological tools to empower both persons with disabilities and the pedagogical teams accompanying them.

Internationally acknowledged author, producer, actor and activist Noa Tishby will MC the event. Speakers include former IAF Commander, Major General (Res.) Eliezer Shkedy, Co-Founder of Orcam and Sachs Professor of Computer Science at the Hebrew University, Prof. Amnon Shashua, representatives from UNESCO and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), Prof. Adina Shamir, Ph.D., researcher of utilizing technologies to promote special-needs students, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University and others.

I invite you to RSVP in order to receive the link to this important virtual event.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Uri Ben-Ari
Founder & President
Athena Fund