2004 – Rochester Hills, Michigan
Currently the Vice President and General Manager of Neiman Marcus in Troy, Michigan, Ariela Shani has enjoyed twenty one years with Neiman Marcus. This time includes store management and financial management with various Neiman Marcus stores and facilities in Dallas, Newport Beach, Houston and Michigan. Ariela devotes much time, energy and resources to many community, academic and civic organizations including; the Detroit Institute of Arts, Coalition of Children’s Charities, Detroit Symphony and Women’s Committee for Hospice Care. Along with her husband, she is one of the founding members of Ishmael & Isaac, an American Palestinian and Jewish organization that provides financial support to victims of violence on both sides of the conflict. She is on the Board of The Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan at the Detroit Medical Center, and The Jewish Women’s Foundation. She is also a member of the Michigan Women’s Forum and serves on a number of business advisory boards, including Madonna University, Detroit Historical Museum and the Discovery Museum. Since living in Michigan, she has been a passionate advocate for peace between Israel and Palestine and for three years she served as President of the Michigan Chapter of Seeds of Peace, a New York based organization that brings teens from war torn countries to a summer program in Maine where they learn coexistence. Ariela was born in Southern Rhodesia and is a graduate of the University of Connecticut. She holds an MBA in Finance from University of Cape Town, South Africa and a postgraduate Teaching Diploma from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. She is married to Asa Shani. They have three children, Mira, Daniela, and Oren.
