Bar Ben Yakov is the Co-Founder of the Hostage Families Forum in Washington, DC. Together with her husband, Matan Sivek, she has led a U.S. advocacy campaign for families of hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza on October 7, helping keep the issue top of mind with U.S. and international stakeholders. Bar is a also civil servant, working at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), having previously served as Advisor to the IDB President and as Israel’s Representative on the IDB Board of Directors. She is originally from Israel and holds a Master’s in International Business and Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics (PPE) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is married to Matan Sivek and the mother of Ari (4) and Liam (8 months).