(Left to right) Professor Jehuda Reinharz, President Isaac Herzog, First Lady Michal Herzog, and Maya Bozo-Schwartz, director of the Mandel Graduate Unit (Photo: Shlomi Amsalem)
Two new initiatives – one for Mandel graduates seeking election to public office and the other for graduates who are senior officials in the civil service – were inaugurated by the Mandel Graduate Unit on May 23, 2024, at an event hosted by
President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
The
Elected Leadership Initiative is designed for 22 Mandel graduates from all segments of Israeli society who are seeking election to public office. The initiative will introduce them to the public sector in Israel and to key practices of elected leadership and will provide them with the opportunity to be mentored by former senior officials from local and national government.
The
Key Position Initiative brings together 15 graduates who are senior officials in the public sector with wide spheres of influence and a strong desire to lead change in the civil service. It aims to strengthen the civil service in Israel by investing in senior officials and creating connections among them via learning, discussion, and action in areas that pose a challenge to the civil service today. The participating graduates come from a range of fields such as education, welfare, health and law, and represent the diverse mosaic of Israeli society.
Group photo of Mandel graduates and leadership with the President and First Lady of Israel (Photo: Shlomi Amsalem)
The event also celebrated the publication of
Essays of Hope, a collection of Hebrew essays written by 21 graduates of the Mandel Foundation–Israel in the wake of October 7, which was published both in print and on a dedicated website. While the essays are full of pain, they are also full of hope, as they represent a commitment to uncompromising action for the good of society.
Professor Jehuda Reinharz, president and CEO of the Mandel Foundation, praised the graduates’ commitment to action as the means for restoring public trust in state institutions. He commented that Israeli society is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, rather than a collection of individuals and groups competing for exclusive rights over the assets of the people and the state. “Committed leaders,” he asserted, “must recognize the diversity, difference, and mutual dependency of these various groups on one another.”
Left to right: Mandel graduate Bakol Serlui, Professor Jehuda Reinharz, President Isaac Herzog, and First Lady Michal Herzog, with the anthology
Essays of Hope (Photo: Shlomi Amsalem)
