The Mandel Leadership Institute is dedicated to training social and educational leaders to serve Israel’s diverse communities and professional fields. The Institute recruits committed individuals with a proven record of leadership, a willingness to learn, and a deep commitment to improving their community, professional field, and Israeli society. Fellows come from diverse professional backgrounds in the public sector, the third sector, academia, and the Israel Defense Forces.
The Institute’s program offerings change in response to new needs and opportunities in areas and communities in which better leadership can make a real difference. Current programs target potential leaders in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community and in youth organizations, Jewish culture entrepreneurs, key instructors in academic institutions of teacher education, senior IDF commanders, and senior civil servants.
The Institute’s programs provide an intensive and inclusive learning environment that introduces fellows to inspiring ideas, challenges their prior conceptions and assumptions, helps them hone their personal and professional visions, allows them to reflect on their past and future practice, and supports them in developing practical ways of implementing their ideas. Each program cohort contains a diverse group of fellows, who enrich each other by providing alternative perspectives, and form groups and networks of committed leaders with common goals and a common language.
Graduates of the Institute bring about significant improvements and create new initiatives in their fields of activity, using a pluralistic approach that embraces social diversity and a multiplicity of views. Together, they are advancing a more inclusive, just, tolerant, and democratic society in Israel, in line with the values of the Mandel Foundation and in the spirit of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Mandel School for Educational Leadership
The Mandel School for Educational Leadership was founded in 1991 as a joint venture of the Mandel Foundation and Israel’s Ministry of Education, with the aim of providing Israel’s education system with visionary leaders who have the passion, commitment, and practical wisdom to change Israeli society for the better.
The School’s fellows are senior educational leaders who have a proven track record of leadership in the field, high academic ability, and a commitment to improving Israeli society through education. The School offers a unique, intensive, two–year program of full–time study. The curriculum is tailored to the professional needs of each fellow and offers studies in both group and individual environments.
During their two years of study, fellows clarify their professional identity and personal values, strengthen their ability to discuss conflicting values, engage in in–depth theoretical studies, are exposed to new ideas and areas of knowledge, develop critical thinking skills, become better acquainted with the Israeli education system and its complexities, and enhance their ability to lead change.
The program emphasizes practical training based on state-of-the-art theory. It includes a group exercise and writing of a policy paper on a topic of concern to the Ministry of Education, as well as the planning of individual projects for future implementation in the field. As part of the personalized program of study for each fellow’s professional development, the School offers a continuous process of individual tutoring and group workshops, combined with reflective practices that utilize theory and practice.
Graduates of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership lead change in their professional fields, informed by the unique professional approach, values and ways of thinking that they acquired during their studies. Many of them hold key positions at the Ministry of Education or serve as directors of education departments in local authorities.
Mandel Graduate Unit
The Mandel Graduate Unit serves graduates of core Mandel programs who are active in serving society and are interested in intellectual and professional development and in being involved in the graduate network. The Unit currently maintains ongoing professional connections with approximately 2,000 graduates, and this number is growing significantly every year.
The Graduate Unit offers a range of learning processes, supports graduates in tackling professional challenges, and facilitates professional connections and collaborations. It seeks to help graduates navigate their complex environments, encourages them to continue asking big ethical questions, and serves as a professional home to support them in their ongoing journey as leaders of change.
The learning processes offered by the Graduate Unit reflects its approach to leadership development. These processes include short–term, theme–based courses, focusing on topics such as inequality, education, and the changing public sphere; continued intellectual development through courses in the humanities on subjects such as political philosophy or classic Islamic and Jewish texts; and courses designed to improve the ability to lead change, such as storytelling, database management, and adaptive leadership.
The Unit also offers action groups for leading change in areas such as reducing violence in the Arab sector, gender relations, and improving teachers’ working conditions. It has offered two intensive long–term workshops: an accelerator for social entrepreneurship that has enabled ten graduates to turn their ideas into viable products; and an impact lab that developed sustainable solutions to issues related to inequality in education.
The Unit offers graduates ongoing opportunities for professional development, equips them with cutting–edge knowledge and promotes professional connections and collaborations between graduates. In so doing, it significantly increases the impact of Mandel graduates as leaders driving change.
On other days, when you click on the “People” square, you will find photos and short biographies of the people you will meet.
We will not be meeting with representatives of Mandel units today.
Information about all the Mandel units can be found in the booklet Shaping Israel's Future
