Social Responsibility

Israeli Hope in Academia, was launched in July 2016 as an initiative of the President, based on an appreciation of the unique social, economic and educational assets of academia and on the understanding that there is a need for lateral action complementing the special sectoral programs currently being operated by the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) of the Council for Higher Education.

The partners in the planning, budgeting and operation of the initiative are: the PBC of the Council for Higher Education; the Commission on Equal Opportunities in Employment of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services; The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation; The Jewish Federation of San Francisco; and the Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships.

Israeli Hope in Academia has four main goals:

• Diversity and representation: To increase diversity and the representation of Israel’s various population groups in all sections of the institutions and at all levels of the academic hierarchy, particularly among the senior administrative and academic personnel, with the aim of achieving the full potential of the talents and excellence in the whole range of Israeli society.

• Cultural Competence: To improve the compatibility of the institutions and the system to the various groups within them through perception of the campus as a space for the creation of a shared “Israelihood” that allows the preservation of the unique identity of each group.

• The Academic Graduate: To promote the commitment of academia to impart the knowledge, skills and experiences needed by the graduates for life in our Jewish and democratic state and in a society that encourages partnership, and that is committed to diverse social and intellectual  Israeli leadership that is attentive and aware.

• The Academia-Employment Continuum: To reinforce the links between academia and employment and increase the commitment of academia to the employment of its graduates, particularly Arabs and Haredim.

0ur College promotes among its students and faculty the objectives of the program, which include increasing the diversity and representation of the various academic groups in the academy, cultural competence, designing the academic graduate figure and strengthening the academic-employment continuum.

We follow the words of the President of the State of Israel, Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin “Academia and the job market are the gateway to realization of the Israeli dream, they are the entrance ticket for us all to the centers of influence in the economy, the place where a shared space for the creation of shared language and goals is initially created. There the sense of belonging and social status is shaped; there the ideological richness of human diversity is not a threat ̶ it is a competitive advantage.”