Heron

Heron is a nonprofit AI security initiative launched in December 2024 and based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It operates as a project of Effective Altruism Israel, a registered Israeli nonprofit, and is funded by Coefficient Giving, a private US-based philanthropic funder. The organization was also supported by a grant from Open Philanthropy to Effective Altruism Israel for information security talent development.

Heron's work focuses on growing the field of frontier AI security by bringing together elite cybersecurity professionals and connecting them to high-leverage opportunities at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI. The organization runs events, curated meetups, and personalized one-on-one networking to help professionals find impactful roles. It also convenes stakeholders from across the ecosystem—startups, frontier AI companies, nonprofit research labs, academic groups, think tanks, and policymakers—to align incentives and accelerate progress on securing AI systems.

Heron's flagship program is the Heron AI Security Research Fellowship, run in partnership with Apart Research. This is a four-month, remote-first program for experienced cybersecurity professionals (typically five or more years of experience) to collaborate with leading AI security researchers on projects at the intersection of cybersecurity and frontier AI. Fellows work in small teams with expert advisors, producing publishable results, open-source prototypes, or technical reports. The program is flexible (eight to thirty hours per week) and offers coworking hubs in London, Tel Aviv, and San Francisco. Fellows receive milestone-based stipends of $1,000–$2,000 per stage, as well as best-paper prizes and funded conference travel.

The team includes Ezra Hausdorff (Founder and Director), Eli Parkes (AI Security Forum and Hardware Lead), and Nitzan Shulman (Head of Cyber Security). Heron also organized the Tel Aviv AI Security Forum and has participated in events such as Cyber Week 2025 at Tel Aviv University.