The mother who encouraged to swim against the current, the grandmother who taught not to be afraid, the teacher who gave a good word, the office worker who inspired and the daughter who always cheered • Six women tell: these are the characters who gave us a role model, spurred us on -
Ruth Polczak CEO of the companies she codes and LessTests
Thanks to Grandma, I know I can do anything and solve anything
A major figure in my life, who made me realize that I was capable of doing anything, is my grandmother - a 90-year-old doctor of psychology, who has retired in the past year.
In March last year, when the crisis erupted in the corona, immigrated to Israel from the US and stayed at home in isolation. We shared quality time, even if through a mask and gloves. She always taught me to study and effort, and reminded me that there is nothing I can do or solve.
I am engaged in entrepreneurship, and more specifically When the Corona epidemic started, I saw it as a problem I wanted to help solve.
First I wanted to help the medical system, to make sure the crews did not collapse.
That's why I set up the "Adopt a Doctor" project to support the medical staffs in the hospitals, and in a social way for amazing women like Tal Laufer and Adi Carmon, who wanted to achieve the exact same goal.
But I felt there was still a lot to do, and that given my involvement in software development tools, this is the area where I can contribute.
I was very quickly exposed to the subject of pooling the tests (so-called "polling"), and I recognized that this practice from the field of biology could help increase the amount of tests.
Using algorithms, I thought, could streamline the process even more.
In the process, I was exposed to many women, including laboratory managers and senior officials in the Ministry of Health.
So I decided to start a company called LessTests, which allows labs to streamline their corona tests using combinatorial polling - testing multiple samples using a combination of technology, robotics and algorithmics.
Sigal Dadon-Levi Director of the Operations Division at the Maccabi Health Insurance Fund
When I look for a model for excellence and diligence, I look at my daughter
As part of my role as director of the operations division at Maccabi HMO, a few months ago I was appointed to manage the complex operation of corona vaccines in the organization.
The first to strengthen me and Pargan was my daughter Noa, who serves for me as a model for excellence and diligence: as a member of the robotics team she represented the country in international competitions;
Volunteered every week in special education schools;
She has been volunteering at MDA for three years, even at the height of her corona illness; and besides all that, she is also an outstanding student.
Managing a corona vaccine campaign is very complex and requires unconventional thinking.
Thus, for example, we decided to carry out the vaccinations in separate facilities with hundreds of positions, and outside the medical centers, in order to allow a safe and effective vaccination for Maccabi members.
The conduct of the operation in such exemplary order, with an impressive response from the public, was made possible thanks to a very successful cooperation with all the divisions and districts in Maccabi, led by the health and operations divisions.
Thousands of nurses and teams, who perform and perform the work in the field and are under a huge workload, have led Maccabi and Israel to where they are today - about 83 percent of the vaccinated, and the work is still extensive.
Maccabi is an organization of women, at all levels of management.
I am happy to be part of this team, and I would also like to thank Maccabi CEO Ran Saar, who makes sure to promote women to key positions. Throughout my years in the health system, I have met dozens of powerful women in senior management positions - and I feel I have taken a little from each.
Shani Cooper-Zubida | Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone
The worker who supports herself and her brother gave me a lesson in willpower
I came to Ghana three years ago for my first job as an ambassador in the Israeli Foreign Service.
I was the only woman among all the Israeli ambassadors to Africa, and to this day I am the only woman who faces the combination of my professional life on this difficult and spectacular continent, and being a spouse and mother.
One of the members of my Ghanaian staff at the embassy was Avna, the media and press officer of the embassy.
Her world of concepts was completely foreign to me.
She never left Ghana, and the sense of urgency and work around the clock was unfamiliar to her at all.
In the Corona crisis, when most of the activity relied on working with the media in the country, we worked together a lot.
She reported to me on the situation in the hospitals, interpreted local politics for me and brought dozens of news items about Israel to the local media.
At the height of the crisis, it suddenly opened up.
She told me that her mother was only a girl when she gave birth to her, and that her father never knew her.
She grew up in the market and helped her mother move goods from place to place, a job in which she earned dollars a day.
Still, she attended elementary school and went on to high school, decided to enroll in university and graduated successfully.
She supports herself and her little brother in an apartment that is not connected to the water network, let alone the Internet;
And she buys herself one serving of food on the street, and that is her diet during the day.
A stone serves as a reminder to me of the importance of perseverance and commitment.
I remember the things she went through to make a living, and I know I can too.
Anhar Masarwa | The Adviser on the Status of Women on the Board of Appeal
Mom told me, "If you learn, you will gain independence and develop"
I went through quite a bit in my career.
Among other things, I serve as the director of the Women's and Gender Equality Promotion Center at the Givat Haviva Joint Society Center, as an Advocate for the Advancement of Women in the Arara Local Council and as a retired Deputy Chairman of the Israel Counselors Association. My.
Today it seems obvious that women go out to study and work, but in my childhood (I will not find out a few years ago) this was not the case.
Mother was illiterate, but she understood a simple, clear and painful truth and always told me: "Go out to study, so that you will have financial independence and that you can build yourself in the world and in life."
She knew that in order not to be dependent on a man I must be educated, and pushed me to go to university.
Although there is no conflict between religion and tradition in my studies, it is difficult to say that many of my friends went my way.
I try to apply this lesson to the girls, young women and women I work with.
It is no secret that the situation of women in Arab society is complex, and that we suffer from double discrimination - gender and national.
We need to change world orders both in our traditional society and in the face of state institutions, which see us as second-class citizens.
To struggle, to influence all areas of life and to be part of the decision-making circle, we must be not only strong, but also educated and professional.
My beloved mother Fatma, who raised seven children and never read a book, understood it well. I thank her every day for insisting with me. I am what I am - thanks to her.
Dorit Farkash Products Director of Basla, Teva's distribution company
Grandma made me love pharmacy - and always think outside the box
I work as the director of the pharmacy and quality assurance department of Sala - Teva's distribution company in Israel, which plays a key role in managing the campaign to absorb the millions of vaccines and distribute them to Israeli citizens.
My late grandmother, Eva Sharaf, was a pharmacist, and she was the one who inspired me to study pharmacy. On the one hand she was a strong, opinionated and very stubborn woman, and on the other - sensitive, soft, supportive and accepting. She was a woman of integrity and values: a word Its always been a word.
I remember she used to tell me, "The world is like a mirror: the way you treat it, the way it will treat you."
After retiring from her job at one of the HMOs, she set up a pharmacy where I was supposed to work after graduating from pharmacy.
It exists to this day.
I want to point out that in both the Ministry of Health and Salla there are many amazing women, who do extraordinary sacred work around the clock during this difficult plague.
This is a national task, which requires strict adherence to schedules that do not always make sense, and all while providing a quick and effective response to unforeseen challenges.
By thinking outside the box in challenging conditions, we have developed a unique packaging method for the vaccine trays, which allows to reduce the number of bottles and adapt them to the specific needs at each point, in order to optimally utilize all vaccine doses that have arrived in the country with minimum depreciation.
The method was so successful that we became a "pilgrimage" center from all over the world, so that they could learn from us the working methods that helped Israel become a leader in the field.
Sharon Fisher Analyst at the cyber security company Confides
The high school teacher taught me to program, to understand that I am no less talented than a man - and to break boundaries
In the military, I served as an instructor and cyber warrior, and today, at the age of 21, I work for the cyber security company Confederates and help small and large companies protect themselves against future cyber hacks.
The first woman to open a door for me is Ilanit Mesika, my high school software teacher.
She conveyed the material in such a fascinating way that she is actually the one who made me fall in love with the programming profession at a very young age.
Besides, she taught us that women have the same abilities as men and helped us break personal boundaries.
For example, in one of the competitions in which my class participated, it convinced us to form a group of girls.
Indeed, this is what happened: we were the only group of girls in the competition, and we set an example for other girls our age to participate in various programming competitions.
Fact: A year later several groups of girls participated in the same competition.
The corona taught me that women and men have exactly the same abilities.
There is nothing a woman can not do like a man, if not better than him.
This is especially true in the cyber field, which requires creativity and thinking outside the box - traits that women excel at.
Working from home during this time made me empower myself, and realize that my self-development abilities are endless.