BECAUSE OF YOU…

Research tells us that even while Israel is the “Start-up nation,” it is no different than other countries and still lags in women’s entrepreneurship and the financing of female-founded companies. Even in 2023, you will likely find fewer women as you climb the corporate ladder. And women remain a minority across the high-tech industry. What is the solution? GALILADIES!  With the support of Jewish National Fund-USA, GALILADIES is changing the landscape of these barriers in Israel.   

GALILADIES is the first women entrepreneur community of the Greater Galilee. Started less than a year ago, the mission is to turn the International FoodTech Center, located in the Upper Eastern Galilee, into a home for female entrepreneurs. GALILADIES now has 1,000 members that include Jewish, Arab, Druze, secular and religious women, members of kibbutzim and moshavim, as well as residents of Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city located near the Lebanese border.

GALILADIES’ partnership with Jewish National Fund-USA has enabled the organization to think more creatively, according to Nisan Zevi, the CEO of Margalit Start-Up City, which is a critical ally and an important resource for the region. Zevi feels that food tech is a great platform for women to participate in, and he sees women leading the way as high-tech pioneers in Israel. This partnership also works hand in hand with Jewish National Fund-USA’s support of the Galilee Culinary Institute currently being built in the north and set to open within the year. This institute will be the hub of culinary education not only in the region but all over the world.

Known as the “food basket” of Israel, the Galilee is underdeveloped and rife with unemployment. As part of its Go North initiative to revive the area, Jewish National Fund-USA is transforming the region into the food and culinary capital of Israel through the Margalit Food Tech Center.

Margalit Start-Up City positions Israel as an international hub for food tech and will create thousands of jobs in the area over the next few years while addressing growing concerns over global warming, threats to food supplies like droughts, and the planet’s limited resources. Strategic partners for Margalit Startup City Galil include Cisco, Deloitte, the Tel Hai Academic College, and the Migal Research Institute, the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry’s regional R&D center in the Galilee region.

GALILADIES’ mission aligns with both Margalit’s vision and Jewish National Fund-USA’s greater mission to bring 300,000 people to the Galilee. To do this, people will need secure jobs and infrastructure. What better way to provide it than to create business owners who can provide jobs for new residents?

GALILADIES aims to connect women from all the different municipalities in the Galilee and give them the tools and support needed to succeed and thrive in the high-tech market. This includes helping women entrepreneurs secure government funding and grants and offering a strong mentorship program. These 1,000 women and counting have access to successful women entrepreneurs from all over Israel who are working with GALILADIES. Women such as Adi Soffer-Teeni, Vice President and General Manager of Meta Israel, and Fiona Damon, Partner of JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners), are just a few from an impressive list of powerhouse females who are willing to mentor the next generation of Israel’s women leaders being developed in the Galilee.

As if this were not enough, GALILADIES also invests in an entrepreneurship program for female teenagers with the QueenB program for high school students. In February, over 100 Israeli women and girls marked the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science at the new Margalit Startup City Galil (“Galilee”) building in Kiryat Shmona. During the event, Yona Matat, Galilee coordinator of the QueenB program, spoke about the number of girls who make it into the computer-science major. “Today, women still encounter barriers in entering the world of high-tech,” she said. “Only 33.4% of those working in these professions are women, and less than 30% of those applying to study computer science are women.” With Jewish National Fund-USA’s help, GALILADIES is paving the way to open doors for girls and women today and into the future, so those percentages will be but a history lesson.

The organization’s goal for 2023 is to expand its community to over 3000 women members through activities such as increased social media presence, 1-2 monthly meetups, quarterly performing art shows, and specialized public speaking workshops. Galiladies also hopes to develop 150 additional business connections, offer another 200 high-quality jobs, and facilitate 1-3 investments in women-led startups.

Galiladies has big plans for the future. And according to Or Nadav, Community Manager and Content Development at the Margalit Start-Up City, its success to date is impressive! For a peek inside these "big plans," Click Here.

Written by Myra Chack Fleischer, Secretary of the JNF-USA National Board of Directors and Past President of the National WFI Executive Board