Alex emigrated with her parents from Ukraine in 1991 at the age of five. She soon realized that if she wanted to fit in she was going to have to stop being "Russian," and for 20 years she erased her Soviet identity and tried to become a "real Israeli." This meant volunteering with the school board as a student, becoming an officer in the IDF and graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a B.A. in business and political science and an M.A. in public policy, as part of the Cadets for Public Service program. After graduation, she started working as an advisor to the Senior Deputy Director General in the Ministry of Economy.

Once she felt "Israeli" she realized something was missing: that "thing" was her. Alex started studying screenwriting in the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, and noticed that she kept returning to the theme of immigration experiences. At the same time, she started initiating Russian cultural events for Hebrew speakers, as a way to share the Russian immigrant story through art.

Alex is CEO of the One Million Lobby, a lobby that represents the interests or the one million Israelis from the Soviet Union and FSU. She spoke with us about the challenges that many of those immigrants faced, and what she and her colleagues are doing to ensure that new immigrants have a very different experience. 

The full episode with Alex will post on Thursday, for paid subscribers to Israel from the Inside.