At JFN 2015: Moving Forward on Jewish-Arab Relations in Isra...

This session at the Jewish Funders Network International Conference in Tel Aviv addresses three major challenges and opportunities in Jewish-Arab relations within Israel:economic integration of the younger, educated Arab generation; empowerment and leadership development within the Arab community, and strengthening pluralism, tolerance, and education toward a shared society.

This interactive session will present promising new models for cooperation and integration and will allow participants to discuss these complex and important issues with the following speakers:

• Dr. Dalia Fadila -  President of Al Qasemi Engineering and Science College and founder of Q Schools
• Ronit Heyd - Executive Director of Shatil
• Asaad Joubran - CEO of Albatross Power
• Moderated by Jeffrey Solomon - President, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies

Join us on March 17th at 2:30 pm for a stimulating and timely conversation.

About the speakers

Dr. Dalia Fadila
Dalia Fadila is currently president of Al Qasemi Engineering and Science College. She has served for eight years as provost of Al Qasemi Teacher Training College, an Arab college of education in Israel, and was acting president during 2006. She is also a fellow member of the EU Leadership Program, and USA International Leadership Program. Dalia is an expert on organizational development, educational entrepreneurship, and a researcher of American literature, women’s literature and ethnic studies. She has led and managed national and international seminars and projects on issues of gender, culture, identity and education. She has established private schools for teaching English called Q Schools—English Language and HR Development, that propose a unique approach to learning and teaching English as a space for intellectual and personal empowerment. The approach is particularly suited to underprivileged students and stems from the need of these students to develop personally and professionally. Dalia is currently a faculty member of the International School for Leadership and Diplomacy at IDC Center in Herzliya, a member of the governmental civil-service higher committee, and a fellow the Taub Center for Social Policy Research in Israel, as well as other national and international forms dealing with education and the Arab minority in Israel.

Ronit Heyd
Ronit Heyd is the Executive Director of Shatil (the New Israel Fund’s Initiative for Social Change), which has been on the cutting edge of building civil society and actively promoting democracy, tolerance, and social justice in Israel for 30 years. Ronit joined Shatil’s team in September 2001, and until 2010 coordinated the Religious Pluralism project and managed the Social and Economic Justice Initiative at Shatil.

Asaad Joubran
Asaad Joubran is the founder and CEO of Albatross Power, a company that is engaged in the development of energy projects in the Middle East. He served as a member of the board of Israel Electric Company from 2004 until 2008, and was the chair of its tenders committee. Asaad was the primary advocate of the IEC board’s decision to implement an affirmative action policy towards the employment of Arabs in IEC. He graduated from the EMBA program of the Kellogg-Recanati School of Business. Asaad also acts as vice-chair of Kav Mashve, the employers' coalition for equality for Arab university graduates in the private sector, and is the founder of the Young Arabs Business Society in Tel Aviv, a club for networking and empowerment of young Arab professionals from diverse occupational backgrounds.

Jeffrey R. Solomon
Jeffrey R. Solomon is president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, a group of foundations operating in Canada, Israel and the United States. An author of more than 100 publications, he served as an adjunct associate professor at New York University and sits on numerous nonprofit and foundation boards, including the FJC, a community foundation in New York; the Jewish Funders Network; the Jewish Week; and the New Israel Fund. He served on the board and executive committee of the Council on Foundations, where he chaired the Committee on Ethics and Practice. He is a founding trustee of the World Faiths Development Dialogue and has received a number of honors from professional associations and universities. He is the author of two books with Charles Bronfman, The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets the Business Plan, and, most recently, The Art of Doing Good: Where Passion Meets Action, which explores the principles and practices of nonprofit social enterprise, extracting lessons from the journeys of 18 social entrepreneurs