Management Bios
- Head Office
- International Team
Israel Gal has served as Espro's President and CEO since 1997. In 2005, he led the acquisition of its main competitor Acoustiguide Corporation, and formed the Espro Acoustiguide Group. He has served as the Group President and CEO ever since.
From 1993 to 1997, he served as CEO of a subsidiary of Koor, and before that as the manager of the Tel Aviv branch of Bank Tefahot. From 2002 to 2004 he sat on the board of directors of Elbit Vision Systems, a public company traded on NASDAQ.
Israel has a Master's degree in social sciences from Haifa University and a Bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from Bar-Ilan University.
Shmuel Shalem is one of the founders of Espro and is responsible for all technical functions and activities of the company from R&D, to complete design of the company's products.
Prior to founding Espro in 1992, Shmuel worked at National Semiconductors Ltd., Israel, for eight years, managing a team of chip designers and software engineers responsible for the design verification of new VLSI computer products.
Shmuel earned a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Santa Clara in California, specializing in computers, digital systems and microelectronics. He has a Bachelor's degree (BSEE) from the Technion - Israel institute of Technology.
Menachem Schorr joined Espro in 1998. Prior to joining Espro, he served as the finance manager of an Israeli commercial company. He was also assistant manager for the Tel Aviv and Central Israel region at Bank Tefahot, a leading Israeli mortgage bank.
He received a Bachelor’s degree in economics and studied business economics at Tel Aviv University. In his management role at Espro, Menachem serves as Sales and Support Manager and as Vice President.
Ariel Steinlauf joined the Espro Acoustiguide Group in 2009 to oversee business development initiatives, especially in the new media realm. Before joining Espro Acoustiguide Ariel led an entrepreneurial venture in the social networking space. Prior to that, he served as Senior Director of Corporate Development at SONY BMG Music Entertainment, where he was responsible for new ventures, joint ventures, acquisitions, and other digital media projects around the world. Ariel started his career at Tevel Cable Communications, managing the first broadband service in Israel through its trial phases, and subsequently headed IT operations at Netex, the search engine marketing company.
He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, and a BA from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, both with distinction.
Nadav Karni joined Espro in 2003. In 2005 he played a key role in the acquisition process of Acoustiguide Corp. and the forming of the new Espro Acoustiguide Group.
Prior to joining Espro, he worked as senior manager at Ernst & Young for six and a half years. In his management role at E&Y, Nadav was responsible for dozens of companies, some trading on Israeli and foreign markets. Nadav received his Bachelor's degree in business management and accounting at the College of Management.
Eyal Ben Gigi joined Espro in 1994 and is responsible for the Company’s operations department and technical support. Previously, Eyal served as head of the production team at the systems division of Tadiran. Eyal received his Bachelor’s degree in management and economics and his Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Open Academic University in Tel Aviv.
Ronit Tzur Decker joined Espro in 1996. After three years, she was promoted to oversee the company's worldwide marketing communication activities. Following the consolidation of the Espro Acoustiguide Group in 2005, Ronit became the Marketing Communication Manager of the Group.
Prior to working at Espro, Ronit worked as a marketing administrator for ATL Advanced Technology software house (later turned into Ness Technologies) for three years and before that, she worked as a translator of movies and TV series for the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Ronit has a bachelor degree from the Hebrew Univeristy in Jerusalem where she majored in English literature and general studies.
Julie Twitmyer joins Acoustiguide with over 12 years of experience working with museum and cultural organizations. Most recently, Julie worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Director’s Office as a Senior Project Manager. Her experiences include developing the US market for Heritage365 and she was Director of Client Services and Business Development for a leading audio tour provider where she was responsible for growing the sector and all client development activities. She received her BA from Lafayette College and her MPA from the Wagner School at NYU.
Julie Treumann, Creative Director, joined Acoustiguide in 2007, bringing a diverse background in media, writing and production. Julie came to Acoustiguide after a two year stint in Berlin, Germany, where she worked as a freelance writer and studied German. Prior to Berlin, Julie spent six years writing, directing and producing documentaries for The History Channel, A&E, and The Weather Channel. Julie has also worked in radio, as a producer at Chicago’s top-rated talk station, Chicago Tribune-owned WGN-AM. Julie graduated with a degree in Art History and History from Mount Holyoke College and has a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.
Samantha Hoover has 15 years experience in arts administration, working in communications, editorial, and exhibition organization for prominent art museums and educational institutions including the International Center of Photography, the Asia Society, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has dedicated much of her career to making the visual arts accessible and appealing to diverse audiences through a variety of interpretive media including exhibition publications/brochures, wall texts, websites, and audio tours. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Binghamton University and her M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University.
Louisa Matthews, General Manager of Acoustiguide Limited in London, is responsible for client development in Great Britain, Ireland and Italy. She joined Acoustiguide in 2002 and came to the company from an events and exhibitions background. Her area of specialization was art, antiques and 20th Century design. Louisa is a graduate of the London School of Economics and also holds a postgraduate diploma in Arts Administration.
Bernadette runs the UK creative department and has recently worked on major projects for clients including the British Museum, Roman Baths, Wallace Collection and Scottish Parliament. She joined Acoustiguide in 2008 from a background producing documentaries for television. Her specialization was in content and production management of historical documentaries, historical biographies, factual dramas and documentaries and she has been part of award winning and award nominated productions for BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, Discovery, National Geographic and The History Channel. Bernadette holds a degree in French and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.
Astrid Wilch, Managing Director of Acoustiguide GmbH, based in Berlin, is responsible for client development in Germany and The Netherlands. She joined the company in 1999, leaving a Managing Director's post with an international scientific library supplier and publishing house. Astrid studied art history, sinology and English at the University of Marburg and the Free University of Berlin.
Fella Myara was born in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1971 Fella was admitted as a lawyer to the Israeli Bar Association. As an Israeli lawyer, Fella has been a memeber of the Israeli Bar Association from 1971 to 2005. From 1971 to 1976 she served as the Head of Legal Department and lawyer for Yozma Ltd. - an international investment group.
In the years 1987 to 1996, she worked as the Marketing Manager of Encyclopedia Britannica France SA. In 1996 she started working at Espro France (Espro SAS) as the company's Managing Director.
Fella's education also includes a BA and MA degree in Law, granted to her by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is fluent in French, German, English and Hebrew.
Maryanne Leigh, General Manager of Acoustiguide Australia Pty. Ltd., based in Sydney, is responsible for Australia and New Zealand and came to the company in 1998 from the Australian Museum, where she worked in corporate services and supervised the logistics for Life and Death Under the Pharaohs. Maryanne holds certificates from the Australian Institute of Management.
Susan Lin, General Manager of Acoustiguide Asia, based in Taipei, has built her career working with the arts in Taiwan. Before joining Acoustiguide in 1998, she held posts with the Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, Council for the Culture Planning and Development and the Cultural Center of I-Lan. Susan was a journalist and editor for the Cultural Weekly News. She holds a degree in business administration from Tan Chiang University, where she also studied arts, literature and archeology.
Hulya Meier is the General Manager of Espro-Acoustiguide Turkey, based in Istanbul. Hulya completed her education in architecture with a master's degree granted to her by the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.
Prior her joining Espro-Acoustiguide, Hulya worked on product design for museum shops including ethnic art. In 1996, she was awarded first prize for design by the World Gold Council. She joined Espro-Acoustiguide in 2001.
