At the end of the day, I know that our work will change the lives of millions of people for the better,” says Dr. Merav Galili, CEO of the Menomadin Foundation, which strengthens Israel’s social resilience by developing and implementing national programs.
“Yes, we do policy, we do structure, and we do processes – which may sound boring – but we do it A to Z and for the long term.” Founded by Israeli entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist Haim Taib, the Menomadin Foundation leads national road maps to strengthen Israel’s social and economic resilience, in collaboration with government ministries, regional authorities, and municipalities in the areas of social welfare, education, economic development, and leadership.
The Menomadin Foundation boasts a team of professionals with extensive experience in NGOs and other nonprofit organizations. The foundation not only provides financial support but also actively participates in the development and implementation of its projects.
In a recent interview, Galili, who has headed Menomadin since its inception in 2019, explains what makes it unique and why its activities are indispensable for the State of Israel, especially at this time. “Our team members work closely with the CEOs and professional staffers of government ministries and municipalities to develop and implement impactful programs, and also to determine the KPIs (key performance indicators) for measuring impact,” she says. “We are part and parcel of the professional process.”
A leading figure in strategic philanthropy and impact investing, Galili has a wealth of experience in academia, public policy, and cross-sector partnerships. With a PhD in educational psychology from the Hebrew University, she previously served as the vice president for development at Bar-Ilan University, among other roles at international NGOs.
Continuously measuring to ensure impact
The Menomadin Foundation continuously measures its program to ensure effective social impact. It has adopted innovative tools such as the Impact Measurement Project (IMP) – which was developed as a global collaborative initiative, supported by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), OECD, and other leading organizations – to measure the impact of its work.
But even before measuring a project’s impact, Galili says, Menomadin first defines the ultimate vision for what it wants to accomplish in each project – namely, its “theory of change.” The foundation’s staff then creates a list of what needs to be done and the projected outcomes. While designing this methodology can be complex, it ultimately leads to positive results.
A singular evergreen model
Employing an evergreen impact investment model, the Menomadin Foundation reinvests profits from its portfolio of Israeli start-ups into its philanthropic programs to ensure long-term financial sustainability. The foundation strategically invests in Israeli start-ups that generate sustainable social and environmental impact in fields such as clean energy, health, agriculture, food-tech, and more.
Located in the heart of Israel’s vibrant start-up ecosystem, the foundation has so far invested in 10 Israeli start-ups, including cancer-detection start-up SpotitEarly and emissions-monitoring start-up Momentick. Sitting on boards of portfolio companies, foundation executives are deeply involved in the start-ups, assisting them with everything from tech transfer to marketing.
National welfare plan adopted by two ministers now affects millions
One of the most significant projects of Menomadin in recent years was The Right to Good Welfare plan, which the foundation developed and implemented in collaboration with the Welfare Ministry, the Hebrew University, and the Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
The plan’s main recommendations include a significant increase in the budgets and resources allocated to welfare services, and the legislation of a “welfare services act” to secure people’s right to choose the type and scope of the individual welfare services they require.
This comprehensive national welfare services plan, adopted by two ministers – including the plan’s updated post-Oct. 7 edition – outlines regulation and supervision of outsourced welfare services and social procurement, which affect millions of Israeli citizens. Last year, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog awarded the Menomadin Foundation the Unity Award for its significant contributions to Israeli society during the Israel-Hamas war.
Galili says that while the welfare reform plan deals with technical issues such as social procurement, legal issues, processes, and tenders, “ultimately, it’s NIS 4.5 billion, and it touches the lives of millions, from the five-year-old child in a wheelchair who can’t get proper busing to his school to the woman who fled from her abusive husband with two babies.” Doing policy work is focused on long-term impacts,” she says. “While it may seem unexciting, this work has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people.”
Nurturing diverse regional leadership in northern Israel
Another major program Galili cites is Menomadin’s partnership with the Kinneret Valleys Cluster, comprising 15 municipalities. “Kinneret Amakim PRO” is a groundbreaking initiative that brings together senior officials across the cluster’s local authorities and leads a transformative immersive training program.
The initiative aims to drive regional growth by bolstering leadership, implementing innovation, and building connections and collaborations for cross-municipal strategic projects within this diverse northern cluster. The Kinneret Valleys Cluster developed this initiative in partnership with the Menomadin and Rashi Foundations, the Interior Ministry, and the Israel National Digital Agency.
“The cluster is unique and diverse, including Bedouin, Druze, Circassians, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and they are all working together to strengthen their respective municipalities and the entire region,” Galili says. She explains how cities and villages can work together to pool their needs. “Why should every city or small rural village need to create its own solution for children with special needs? Why don’t they create a regional solution? That’s just one example,” she says.
Additionally, “we’re working with the CEO of the cluster to help him craft a program that will bring together all the CEOs, all the heads of education, and all the CFOs of the municipalities in his cluster,” she explains. “We’re not just funding it: We’re helping him create and run the program. Our team members, experts in social impact programs and policy design, actively participate in seminars and workshops."
Empowering local authorities
Galili cites another project that the foundation developed in Tiberias as an example of making a substantial impact. Menomadin came to Tiberias four years ago, after significant turnover in the municipality. The foundation developed and implemented a long-term plan for the Tiberias educational system in partnership with all relevant stakeholders within the municipality, in collaboration with the Education Ministry’s North District.
As a result of Menomadin’s efforts to improve the educational system, after Oct. 7, Galili explains, when 14,000 evacuees from Israel’s North arrived in the city, Tiberias was well-prepared to accommodate the extra load. “The system acted as a net: catching all of them, helping them, building a school for 2,500 evacuee students, and tackling issues with adolescents, and unemployment – as one cohort, as one team.”
At the same time, the city’s school system was ranked among the top in the nation in several categories. Because of the work Menomadin Foundation did with the education system, they also expanded to focus on municipal resilience and strengthening the connection between different departments through a Collective Impact approach – where all units work together toward a shared goal. “We started with education and expanded into all areas,” the foundation’s CEO explains.
Now that Menomadin has developed programs for both Tiberias and Beersheba, it is expanding its reach to empower local authorities in Netivot, Ofakim, and other cities, enhancing their municipal mobility through collective impact and capacity building.
Galili shares that all of Menomadin’s national initiatives have been spearheaded by some of Israel’s top professionals in the field. For example, the Right to Good Welfare plan was led by Prof. John Gal, one of Israel’s leading authorities in social work and social welfare. The foundation’s educational plan for Tiberias was led by Dr. Rami Sulimani, who is known to be one of Israel’s top experts in social mobility.From post-Oct. 7 recovery to leadership programs: Building more resilient society
Galili recalls Menomadin’s activities immediately after Oct. 7. “Just like everyone else, we needed to help in every way we could,” she says. “We’ve helped soldiers. We’ve helped the evacuees. We understood that the local municipalities were the ones that had to do the heavy lifting of the situation, and we were there to give immediate support.”
The foundation is also known as an apolitical, professional entity working to develop the next cadre of leaders for Israel. “We must help people understand their potential to become leaders, and what it means to be a leader. And we need leaders in the State of Israel.”
One of Menomadin’s leadership programs is called Aalam, an initiative aimed at integrating young Druze men and women into leadership positions at the local, regional, and national levels. The project – run in collaboration with Merkaz Maase and supported by the Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Ministry – is in its fifth year. The Foundation also leads the Menomadin-Peres initiative for business executives, in collaboration with the Peres Academic Center and Harvard University, to nurture Israel’s future leadership reserve.‘We are the generation that is building Israel for generations to come’
Last month, the Menomadin Foundation brought relatives of the victims of the Hamas attack, freed Israelis who were released from Gaza, residents of Gaza communities, and Holocaust survivors to participate in the March of the Living and call for the immediate release of all hostages. Explaining the importance of participating in the march, Galili quotes Sir Winston Churchill, who said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.”
“We are here in the business of the future,” she says, “but in order to make sure we do the future correctly, we have to understand our past. The fact that we were together with people who witnessed firsthand the atrocities of Oct. 7 makes our mission more driven by values. Being at the site of the gas chambers and the crematorium of Auschwitz makes us understand that it is now our duty.
“We are the generation that is building Israel for generations to come. Oct. 7 was kind of a restart in many ways, so being there in the March of the Living is just another link in the chain.” Understanding the importance of this moment and the tremendous opportunities we have in Israel, the foundation believes in partnerships and the power of “togetherness,” Galili says, and concludes: “We aim to establish partnerships that collaborate in order to scale social impact initiatives and enhance their reach, thereby further strengthening Israel’s national resilience.”
The Menomadin Foundation will be participating in the Jerusalem Post Conference that will be held in New York on May 19.
This article was written in cooperation with the foundation.