Ari Teman

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Ari Teman (May 10, 1982 -, in Brooklyn, NY) is an American comedian, entrepreneur, founder of 12gurus:Charity, 12gurus:Health, JCorps, author, and the 2009 Jewish Community Hero of the Year, as named by the Jewish Federations of North America.
Education
Teman received a B.A. with Honors in Psychology and Studio Arts from Brandeis University in 2005.
Comedy
Teman is a regular at clubs in New York City and has appeared in commercials on Vh1, and began appearing in January, 2011 as a regular panelist on MSNBC. He appeared on a BBC special, Fry's Planet Word with comedian Stephen Fry. He is frequently hired to perform at charity events and colleges around North America. He is the winner of the Time Out New York Joke of the Week and can be seen on commercials for Vh1 and Tic Tac.
In 2008, Teman was named to The Jewish Week "36 Under 36", featuring JCorps and his comedy.
In January, 2009, Teman was awarded the Time Out New York Joke of the Week, for his joke, "There are people who still don't wear seat belts. I don't get it. I get people not wearing condoms -- both protective devices -- but nobody has ever put on a seat belt and thought, It doesn't feel like I'm driving." He won TimeOut New York Joke of the Week again in March 2014 with, "Ikea is a good place to pick up a girl who’s not looking for something permanent". At the time of the 2014 publication, TimeOut NY had a readership of 330,000 in print and 2.5 million online site-wide.
JCorps
Teman is the founder and volunteer Executive Director of JCorps International, an international volunteer network operating in the USA, Canada, and Israel. JCorps groups Jewish young adults ages 18-30 to volunteer for a few hours on a Sunday (Friday in Israel) or weeknight. JCorps feeds over 20,000 meals a year, visits hundreds of seniors in centers, children in hospitals, and beautifies acres of parks and beaches. For founding JCorps, Teman was named the Jewish Community Hero of the Year in 2009 and to the Jewish Week's "36 Under 36" in 2008. Teman runs JCorps as a volunteer.
In November 2009, Teman was awarded the "North American Jewish Community Hero" award at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. Teman was selected over 400 other nominees in a competition with over 570,000 votes. His charity, JCorps, was awarded a gift of $25,000 for this award.
Business
Teman is the founder of the 12gurus:Health conference, which brings together leading thinkers to discuss innovation in delivering healthcare. Speakers are heads of departments at top-ranked universities, medical centers, and companies, including Mayo Clinic, Harvard, MIT Media Lab, Columbia University, UNC, NYU, University of Michigan, Dartmouth, IBM and more. Videos of the conference talks, which are under 20 minutes, are available free to the world.
Teman is the founder of the international 12gurus:Charity conference, which brings together leading thinkers to discuss innovation in the non-profit and philanthropy sectors. Speakers have included best-selling author and blogger Seth Godin, founder of Dress for Success and DoSomething.org CEO Nancy Lublin, Scott Belsky, Scott Case, Scott Harrison, Jonathan Greenblatt, and other notable leaders. Videos of the conference talks, which are under 20 minutes, are available free to the world. A video featuring Sasha Dichter of the Acumen Fund garnered over 450,000 views on TED.com and sparked the creation of Generosity Day.
Teman is the creator of GatherGrid, an event-time polling service called,"the most useful interface I've seen to-date" by, and recommended by Inc Magazine.
In November, 2010, Teman released the first edition of Effective Gratitude for Organizations and Individuals, a short book with direct advice on harnessing gratitude for use in corporate and personal productivity. The book builds upon Positive Psychology and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. The forward is written by Nancy Lublin, founder of Dress for Success and CEO of Do Something
AirBnB Trending Story
In March 2014, Teman rented out his apartment via the website AirBnB to David Carter, an AirBNB verified user with three positive reviews. The renter stated he intended to use it for a "brother- and sister-in-law" in town for a wedding. However, "David" turned out to be a known adult services promoter who used the apartment instead for a paid sexual "XXX Freak Fest" that attracted over 50 members, damaging property and leaving furniture damaged. The story went viral, reaching the #1 trending topic on Facebook, and has been covered by national and international media.
Awards
* In 2008, Teman was named to The Jewish Week "36 Under 36", featuring JCorps and his comedy.
* In November 2009, Teman was awarded the "North American Jewish Community Hero" award at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. Teman was selected over 400 other nominees in a competition with over 570,000 votes. His charity, JCorps, was awarded a gift of $25,000 for this award.
* In January, 2009, Teman was awarded the Time Out New York Joke of the Week, for his joke, "There are people who still don't wear seat belts. I don't get it. I get people not wearing condoms -- both protective devices -- but nobody has ever put on a seat belt and thought, It doesn't feel like I'm driving."
* In March, 2014, Teman was again awarded the Time Out New York Joke of the Week, for his joke, "Ikea is a good place to pick up a girl who’s not looking for something permanent."
* In 2008, Teman was named the winner of the first Coroflot One Hour Design Competition, run by Core77.
Charitable Activity
In addition to founding JCorps and 12gurus:Charity, Teman is active with or supports Shalva the Israel special needs organization, The Tomorrow's Children's Fund child cancer center, Chabad Young Professionals, Chabad on Campus, Jewish Children's Museum, Friendship Circle, charity: water, Pencils of Promise, and performs or MC's pro-bono at many charity events.

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