Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Grantee Profile: The Taub Center
Monday, October 8, 2018
Former Tannenbaun Prize Winner Sharing Knowledge with NYU Law Students
Thursday, September 6, 2018
The Hadassah Foundation Awards $515,000 in Grants in 2018!
Legal Aid
- The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center at Bar Ilan University, $5,000: Provides legal counsel to women seeking a divorce. It works proactively to improve policy and practice by educating future family lawyers to safeguard women's rights and advocating for changes in Israeli family law.
- Center for Women's Justice, $5,000: Pursues precedent-setting litigation and legal advocacy on behalf of women who have suffered unjust treatment, discrimination, or whose basic human rights have been infringed upon when seeking a divorce.
- Itach-Maaki—Women Lawyers for Social Justice, $20,000: Public interest law organization working on behalf of low-income Israeli women. Itach--Maaki helps women to file employment-related lawsuits and form peer support groups and educates the public about issues affecting women. They received $5,000 in general operating support, and $15,000 for the Itach-Maaki Community, which enhances and enlarges the community of women lawyers dedicated to advancing the socio-economic rights of Arab-Israeli and Haredi women.
- Tmura--The Israeli Center for Equality, $20,000--Females comprise only 2% of the prisoner population in Israel, and as a result, the unique needs of women in, and as they leave prison, are overlooked. With Foundation funding, Tmura will provide female ex-convicts with training about their rights, teach them how to regain financial control of their lives, and access government benefits.
- Adva, $10,000: For the Negev Forum of Women Business Leaders, which aims to increase the economic power of Bedouin and Jewish businesswomen from more than 20 Negev communities, who will receive training and mentoring so they can plan and implement civic initiatives that increase women's economic opportunities.
- The Israel Women's Network, $24,000: The Israel Women's Network (IWN), in cooperation with nine other Israeli feminist organizations, is working to preserve the economic well-being of mothers with young children during divorce proceedings.
- New Israel Fund, Shatil, $15,000: For the Advancing the Rights of Women in Public Housing program, which aims to protect the rights of single mothers in public housing—an estimated 77% of the families in public housing are headed by single women—and expand eligibility criteria so that more such families can get housing support.
- Yedid, $8,000: For the Single Mothers for Change program, which strives to provide greater economic security for low-income single mothers. Working with a network of more than 800 low-income single female parents, YEDID will educate and advocate for public policies to improve the economic security of single parents and their children, focusing specifically on Israel's child-support law.
- The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, $25,000: For an initiative to train and organize the ombudsmen at Israeli companies and organizations so they can better handle workplace sexual harassment complaints.
- Merchavim, $15,000: For the Arab Teacher Integration in Jewish Schools Initiative, which places Arab Israelis trained as teachers—the vast majority of whom are female—in Jewish Israeli schools. This program aims to reduce the high level of unemployment of female teachers in the Arab sector, address a shortage of teachers in Jewish Israeli schools, and promote intergroup relations.
- Economic Empowerment for Women, $5,000: For the promotion of asset development among low-income women who manage microenterprises, based on the U.S. model of the Individual Development Account.
- Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, $15,000: The Taub Center received funds to write a report that will focus on the differences in women's and men's retirement income in Israel in comparison to other countries, and how this issue, alongside growing life expectancy, may impact the well-being of elderly women in Israel.
- Yozmot Atid, $20,000: Yozmot Atid received funds for a microfinance and business development project that will enable 50 women living near or at the poverty level to create small businesses through microloans provided by Leumi Bank and through individual business coaching.
- Microfy, $13,000: Microfy received support for a women's business forum for nascent business owners from South Tel Aviv.
- Jasmine, $25,000: Jasmine received support for its "Zinuk" program, which helps Jewish and Arab Israeli women who own or run small businesses that are between 2 and 6 years old to expand their operations and increase their profits.
- ITWorks, $25,000: ITWorks received funds for its high-tech vocational training and placement program for 60 low-income single mothers.
- Tishreen, $25,000: Tishreen received support for a job readiness program for Arab Israeli women from the Southern Triangle region.
- Turning the Tables, $20,000: Turning the Tables received funds for the Yotsrot Atid program, which provides Israeli women exiting prostitution with vocational training, work experience, and employment in the fashion trades.
- ANU, $25,000: ANU received funds to provide strategic and technological tools to the members of the Women's Activist Forum, to help them run more effective social and advocacy campaigns.
- WEPOWER, $25,000: WEPOWER received funds for a program that encourages women completing their first five-year term as city council members to run for a second term, since, traditionally, half of such women do not run for second term.
- Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, $30,000: The JCH received funds for the Women's POP (Positions of Power) Fellowship, which will engage a group of college-age women from the Russian-speaking Jewish emigre community in New York and focuses on civics, activism, and politics, all through the lens of Jewish values.
- Jewish Community Center of Chicago, $20,000: The JCC received support for its Seed613 program, which provides teenage girls with entrepreneurial tools and knowledge to develop a socially responsible venture that will impact the Jewish community.
- Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, $22,000: The JUF received support for the Research Training Internship (RTI), which enables teen girls to generate new knowledge about the lives and experiences of Jewish teen girls.
- jGirls, $25,000: jGirls received a grant for its online magazine written and edited by Jewish female teens which amplifies the voices of young Jewish women.
- Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy at Bar-Ilan University, $32,000: LVJA, an online school for Jewish Studies, received a grant to design and pilot an online course, Leadership Lab, a gender-sensitive, co-ed online course for 12- and 13-year olds that will develop age-appropriate leadership competencies and texts that will feature female leaders.
- Moving Traditions, $36,000: Moving Traditions received a grant for Zazot, a new fellowship program for Jewish girls in grades 10-12, which will provide them with skills, mentorship, and hands-on leadership experience on issues they care about that affect the lives of women and girls.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Hadassah Foundation Grantees Receive Genesis Prize Funds!
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Grantee Profile: Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Meet the 2018 Tannenbaum Prize Winner!
The Hadassah Foundation has awarded the 2018 Bernice S. Tannenbaum Prize to Michal Gera Margaliot, Executive Director of the Israel Women's Network (IWN) in Tel Aviv. The Bernice S. Tannenbaum Prize recognizes emerging professionals who have made innovative contributions to advance the status of women and girls in Israel and the United States. Awardees demonstrate a high degree of talent, commitment, and accomplishment in their work. The prize honors Bernice S. Tannenbaum, z''l, for her lifetime of service to the Jewish People; the State of Israel; and Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America.
Margaliot, pictured above, was awarded the prize for her work with IWN, where, as executive director since 2016, she has significantly increased the organization's media presence and influenced public debate about the status of women in Israeli society. Under her leadership, the IWN has established a network for the different feminist groups in Israel, forged numerous partnerships with governmental agencies, created a hotline that provides legal aid to ultra-Orthodox working women, and advocated for feminist employment policies and practices.
Earlier in her career, Margaliot was the parliamentary advisor to Knesset Member Merav Michaeli, and served as her chief of staff when Michaeli was the opposition whip. This experience, along with her LL.B and LL.M from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has enabled her to expand IWN's advancement of policy and legislation in the Knesset and in government ministries.
"I am humbled and honored to be recognized by a veteran and leading organization, the Hadassah Foundation, and in honor of a woman like Bernice Tannenbaum," said Margaliot. "Having the Hadassah Foundation recognize the work we are doing in Israel is most important for us, as we face constant attacks on women rights through gender segregation and exclusion of women from public spheres. Our long partnership is truly empowering and allows us to continue striving and fighting for equality for all women in Israel."
Established in 1984, the Israel Women's Network (IWN) is a nonpartisan civil society organization working to advance the status of women in Israel by promoting equality and diversity via a range of innovative projects and programs that target change on a policy level. The IWN is responsible for some of the most prominent and precedent-setting gains towards women's equality in Israel over the years, including: admittance of women into the Israel's Air Force; enforcing women's representation in public companies' directorates; updating sexual harassment laws; extending maternity leave for working mothers; delaying the extension of women's retirement age; establishing a National Committee for the Advancement of Women in the Israeli Knesset; and an Israeli Supreme Court decision that shifted the burden of proof from employee to employer in wage-gap discrimination cases.
The Prize provides $500 in general operating support to the IWN, as well as $2,500 to further Margaliot's professional development. Margaliot will use her Prize to fund her communication skills to increase the visibility of the IWN and the status of Israeli women to a non-Israeli public and the English-speaking media.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
A Win for Israeli Women in Israel's Rabbinic Court System
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Grantee Profile: ITWorks
ITWorks is an Israeli organization dedicated to creating opportunities in Israel's booming hi-tech industry for those outside of the economic mainstream. It was established in 2006 by Ifat Baron (a former winner of the Foundation's Bernice S. Tannenbaum Prize!) who wanted to address the mismatch between the tech industry, and its ever-expanding need for employees, and those who have been left behind. ITWorks offers training programs for in-demand positions in hi-tech, and uses its ties to approximately 130 partner employers to place its program graduates. One key element of their programs: they do not start a new training program unless there is a demonstrated interest by the government to take it to scale after being piloted by ITWorks. Over the years, 5,000 people have benefited from their training programs, and 3,500 have found meaningful employment—83% of whom have stayed on the job for more than a year.
The Foundation's current grant to ITWorks is for several training programs that target low-income single mothers. ITWorks has created courses for them to work in payroll accounting and human resources in hi-tech firms, providing these women with market-ready skills. They then work with companies to create positions that enable these women to balance employment with their child-rearing responsibilities. Pictured above: the latest cohort of single mothers to graduate from their payroll accounting class—as of graduation, several had already passed an accounting industry exam, and were on their way to being placed!
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Foundation Alum "Shares the WOW"
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Good to See You Again! Hadassah Foundation Hosts Alumnae Luncheon


Earlier this month, the Foundation hosted its first-ever luncheon for its Board alumnae, as part of its "Chai Year" celebration of 18 years of grant making. Our dedicated Board members (pictured above, and alumnae, top) are permitted to serve for a maximum of six years--which means we have a powerful collection of alumnae! The luncheon was a great opportunity to renew old friendships and create new ones, all while learning about the current work of the Foundation. A highlight of the gathering was a presentation by Prof. Yifat Bitton, the founder, chairperson, and senior attorney at Tmura – The Israeli Antidiscrimination Center, which fights for the rights of women who have suffered sexual, physical, and economic abuse; she is also a professor at the Striks School of Law at the College of Management in Israel. Prof. Bitton, a former winner of the Foundation's Bernice S. Tannenbaum Prize, is also a two-time nominee for the Israel's Supreme Court.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Hadassah Foundation Grantees in the 2018 Slingshot Fund Guide
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Grantee Profile: Tishreen
The Tishreen Association, which works with youth and women in the southern Triangle region of Israel, is opening up a world of opportunity for Arab-Israeli women who are participating in the Foundation-funded Women's Economic Empowerment program.
The Triangle--a concentration of Israeli-Arab towns in the central part of the state—is not far, as the crow flies, from several major population centers. But for many residents of these town, and in particular, for the women, these cities, and the economic opportunities that they offer, might as well be on another continent. Many of these women have never worked outside the home, due to family obligations, local cultural norms, and poor public transportation. In addition, many lack the Hebrew language skills that are necessary for employment. To compound matters, local opportunities for jobs are quite limited—the area, which has a poor educational infrastructure and a high crime rate, also has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
For the past two years, the Hadassah Foundation has supported Tishreen's efforts (in partnership with Naamat, the largest women's organization in Israel) to provide job-readiness skills, basic computer skills, and Hebrew language instruction to local women. They also place the women in jobs—including as cashiers, cleaners and day care workers—in both Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli towns. Graduates of the program remain connected and supported via an employment club, which includes those seeking jobs as well as those who have already been placed.
When the Hadassah Foundation visited the program last year (pictured above), Board members were moved by the first-hand testimonies of women who said that the program provided them with a sense of agency and hope for a better future.
In an evaluation of the program, one of the participants told Tishreen: "This course it is the best thing that has happened to us. We are productive and we, and those in our lives, notice that we are gradually developing and becoming more capable."
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
A Reason to Kvell: JWA's Rising Voices Fellowship Graduation Ceremony
I had the honor of speaking to the next generation of Jewish women leaders at Sunday's Graduation Ceremony for the Rising Voices Fellowship, a program of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) that is supported by the Hadassah Foundation, where I serve as a Board member.
Launched in 2013, the JWA's Rising Voices Fellowship (www.jwa.org/risingvoices) is a national program for female-identified teens in 10th-12th grades who have an interest in feminism, Judaism, social justice, and writing. The Fellowship teaches teens how to develop authentic voices, strengthen their leadership through writing, and influence important conversations in the Jewish community.
I found this year's cohort to be sophisticated, intelligent, and thought-provoking leaders. This group came from New York, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona. I was particularly impressed with their discussions about the female role models in their lives (including their mothers and grandmothers, and female rabbis and cantors) and the impact these women had on shaping the thoughts of these young women regarding feminism, activism and leadership. It's clear to me that this group will be influential feminist leaders at their colleges and beyond.
JWA is a national organization dedicated to collecting and promoting the extraordinary stories of Jewish women. JWA's website, jwa.org, is the world's largest collection of information about Jewish women, drawing more than 1.6 million visitors a year from all over the world. JWA also hosts public programs, sparks conversations through its podcast and blog and on social media, offers acclaimed educational programs, and is a leader among feminist, Jewish, and historical organizations. I am proud to be a former Board member and Treasurer of JWA; I currently serve on its Finance and Investment Committees.
I'm so proud of the girls I met, and am honored to serve on the Board of the Hadassah Foundation.
--Roz Garber Toledano
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Meet Our New Board Members!
Livia Asher, from Madison, WI, is a financial services professional recently retired from a Wall Street career in which she was a stock analyst for First Boston and Merrill Lynch and a portfolio manager for a variety of mutual funds at several financial management firms, including Madison Investment Advisors; CUNA Mutual Group/Members Capital Advisors; Mitsubishi Trust NY; and Allianz of America. She currently or recently served in a variety of board leadership roles for many local and national organizations including: Hadassah Madison; Jewish Federation of Madison, where she received its Volunteer Service Award; Jewish Social Services; and her local synagogue, Beth Israel Center. She has a BA from Queens College and an MBA from Long Island University.
Renee Evans, of Milton, GA, has had a long career as an educator in a variety of settings, including at Florida State University, and in the Georgia, Florida, and Texas school systems. She has also worked as a quality control laboratory analysis specialist, as a family service counselor, as an author, and as a business owner. She is an active volunteer with the Jewish Federation of North America Israel and Overseas National Board, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Lion of Judah, the Republican Party, Friends of the IDF, the JDC, the AJC, and is an Historic Royal Palaces Patron. She is a graduate of Florida State University.
Tracey Spiegelman, of Coral Gables, FL, works in the field of luxury residential real estate. She was a founding member and served as president of the Hadassah Chavurot Chapter in Miami and was a participant in the Young Leaders Mission in 1999. She also serves as a board member of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation (GMJF), chairs the Women's Amutot Initiative, and in 2013, was honored as the recipient of the Stanley C. Myers Presidents' Leadership Award by the GMJF. She serves on the Executive Board of Temple Beth Am as the Vice President of Religious Life. She is also involved with the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Jewish Community Services, Shalom Bayit, Teach for America, United Way of Miami Women's Initiative and Tocqueville Society and the Honey Shine Mentoring Program. She is a graduate of Florida International University.
Monday, April 16, 2018
Victory Against Gender Segregation in Israel
The court accepted the IWN's position that a training program intended exclusively for male civil servants is a discriminatory practice, even if it serves an important purpose of integrating the Ultra-Orthodox population in the civil service in Israel. The court ordered that if at least 10 women will not be enrolled in the course, it will be discontinued. The IWN claimed that when the state conducts a segregated course, it accepts and institutionalizes gender segregation that cannot be accepted in a democratic state.
IWN director and attorney Michal Gera Margaliot said the court had delivered a clear message that gender separation in civil service was prohibited.
"You cannot take us backwards by decades, and acceptance for employment cannot be done according to gender," she said. "It would be better for the state to integrate haredi men and women in the civil service and not lead toward the ejection of women from the public domain and the workforce."
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
She's Running for Mayor!
The Future of Feminist Funding in Israel
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Sexual Harassment at the UN
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Snow Days...and an Extention for Tannenbaum Prize Applications
A Timely Haggadah for the #MeToo Era
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Combating Violence Against Women
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
NextGen Israeli Feminists
Knesset Visit
Sunday, March 4, 2018
#feministsinIsrael explore Israeli politics with Foundation grantees
#feministsinIsrael Mission Begins!
Thursday, February 22, 2018
JWA's Rising Voices Fellowship Seeking Applicants!
Seeking an Up-And-Coming Feminist Leader!
The Hadassah Foundation is seeking nominations for its annual Bernice S. Tannenbaum Prize. The Prize honors the achievements of an up-and-coming feminist leader--someone who is making a positive impact on the lives of Jewish girls and young women in the United States, or for Israeli women. It also provides the winner with something that is all-too-rare in the Jewish community: funds to pursue a professional development activity.
All (electronic-only) applications are due by Noon, ET, Monday, March 19, 2017. The application and guidelines can be downloaded at www.hadassahfoundation.org.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
The Hadassah Foundation Now Accepting Proposals for US Grants
Complete guidelines, as well as the cover sheet and project budget sheet that all applicants are required to use, can be downloaded at www.hadassahfoundation.org.
Know Someone Improving the Lives of Girls and Women?
All (electronic-only) applications are due by Monday, March 19, 2018. Application and guidelines can be downloaded at www.hadassahfoundation.org.