Reconnecting through business: the story behind Australia’s new Jewish executive network

A new national network for Australia’s Jewish business executives is preparing to launch chapters in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast, with its co-founder saying the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack sharpened the need for trusted, values-based leadership spaces.

The Jewish Executives Organisation (JEO) has been founded by Claxon Advertising CEO Daniel Willis in partnership with Gold Coast-based rabbi Adi Cohen, who will serve as the organisation’s founding values and ethics adviser.

Willis said the idea grew from his long-standing interest in executive peer groups such as the Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO) and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO), but he felt those models often prioritised scale and surface networking over depth and trust.

“I’ve always been interested in executive peer groups,” he told JWire. “But a lot of them are focused on scale rather than real professional and personal development.”

After reconnecting with Judaism in the last few years, Willis said he went looking for a Jewish equivalent and assumed one would already exist.

“Considering the Jewish community’s disproportionate contribution to the business world, I thought surely there was something like this already,” he said. “When I realised there wasn’t, I decided to create it as a not-for-profit.”

Willis described himself for most of his life as a cultural Jew, proud of his identity but not practising.

“A cultural Jew for me meant being proud to be Jewish but not practising,” he said. “The most Jewish thing we did growing up was go to seder night once a year.”

His reconnection began through a professional introduction to Rabbi Cohen, whom he later invited to co-found JEO.

“Of all the ways to reconnect, it was through a business meeting with a rabbi,” Willis said. “The way Rabbi Cohen spoke about Judaism and the world really appealed to me.”

Rabbi Cohen has focused on adult education at Temple Shalom Gold Coast, with a focus on making Jewish values accessible and relevant, particularly for Jews without formal religious education. Within JEO, Willis said Cohen would act as an ethical guide rather than a religious authority.

“He’s the red thread that weaves through everything we do,” Willis said. “From keynote content to impact projects, he will help ensure everything remains aligned with Jewish values.”

Willis said antisemitic events over the past two years, including the Bondi attack, had prompted many Jews who previously stayed quiet about their identity to speak more openly.

“One of the positives I’ve seen is that a lot of cultural Jews have said, ‘I am proud to be Jewish,'” he said.

Later this year, JEO will launch simultaneously in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Each chapter will begin with 20 founding members and grow by no more than 10 members a year, capped at 50, with only one chapter per city.

“Some of these networks (that I’ve been involved in) have 150 people in a chapter and multiple chapters in one city. That’s not what we’re interested in.”

“It’s not for everybody,” Willis said. “It’s for senior leaders who want to create impact. For us, it’s about the quality of the people in the room, not the quantity.”

Willis said that JEO will be a professional organisation based on shared heritage and principles, not religion or politics, with its professional focus guided by common cultural values.

Membership will be tightly curated through a multi-stage process involving interviews, references and security checks.

“We’re not trying to fill a room,” Willis said. “We’re trying to curate the right room, and that takes time.”

Meetings will include keynote speakers, confidential peer forums and time devoted to community impact projects.

“It’s not a hand-out-your-business-card type of group,” Willis said. “It’s about building deeper relationships over time.”

“When you’re dealing with the Jewish community at this level, trust takes time. We’re very comfortable with that,” Willis said.