The team of graduates of the first program (Photo: official website, Photo: Idan Kanfi)
The Bloomberg-Sagol Center for Urban Leadership at Tel Aviv University completed the first class of the program, which was attended by 20 mayors from around Israel alongside 40 senior managers.
This is the most prestigious program in the world of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation of Jewish billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a program held for the first time outside the United States, thanks to the initiative of the Israeli Sagol Family, the founder of the joint program.
The heads of the local authorities who completed the inaugural cycle of the program: Ran Connick, Mayor of Givatayim, Itzik Danino, Mayor of Ofakim, Dr. Samir Mahamid, Mayor of um al-Fahm, Rotem Yadlin, Head of Gezer Regional Council, Liat Shochat, Mayor of Or Yehuda, Israel Gantz, Head of the Binyamin Regional Council, Israel Gal, Mayor of Kiryat Ono, Zvika Brut, Mayor of Bat Yam, Rabbi Avraham Rubinstein, Mayor of Bnei Brak,Abd-al-Aziz Nassara, Head of the Kseife Local Council,Israel Frosh, Mayor of Elad,Oshrat Ganei Gonen, Head of the Southern Sharon Regional Council,Moshe Fadlon, Mayor of Herzliya,Shoshi Kahlon-Kidor, Mayor of Kfar Yona,Niv Wiesel, Head of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council,Moshe Koninsky,Mayor of Karmiel,Rafiq Halabi, Head of the Dalit al-Carmel Local Council, NYesan Ben Hamo, Mayor of Arad, Shai Hajaj, Head of the Merhavim Regional Council, Ya'ala Maklis, Mayor of Yehud-Monosson.
The Bloomberg-Sagol program includes 20 mayors, including 5 women who head the local authorities (constituting 37.7% of all mayors in Israel). There are 258 local authorities in Israel, in which only 14 women serve as mayors (5%, while female gender constitutes 51% of the population).
In recent months, graduates of the coveted program have undergone an intensive training course that has equipped them with the tools and skills for management and leadership in the municipal environment in Israel, with the aim of enabling the provision of quality and optimal public services to residents, strengthening their professional and social ties and deepening ties with a global international network of leaders and managers in cities around the world. The Israeli program was built and operates at Tel Aviv University, under the direction of Prof. Moshe Zviran, Head of the Center and Academic Director, who previously served as Dean of the Coller Faculty of Management.
Yossi Sagol, founder of the Bloomberg-Sagol program (Photo: official website, Photo: Idan Kanfi)
President Isaac Herzogsaid in his videotaped speech broadcast at the event, "The combination of the great importance of these issues for the citizens of Israel, and the fact that they are not politically controversial at the national level, gives local government an enormous opportunity to exert even greater influence and serve as the glue that connects communities and all of us. These authorities are impressive because they manage to maintain stability, operate continuously, professionally, humanely and respectfully. These coalitions contribute to the efficiency of local government and to the State of Israel as a whole."
Prof. Ariel Porat, president of Tel Aviv University, said, "Local authorities in Israel have much more influence on the lifestyle and quality of life of their residents than the government," adding, "The quality of city cleaning, traffic, welfare, education and health services depend entirely on the performance of the local authority."
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Edith Bar, CEO of the Bloomberg-Sagol Center (Photo: official website, Photo: Idan Kanfi)
Edith Bar, CEO of the Bloomberg-Sagol Center for Urban Leadership at Tel Aviv University, who most recently served as Deputy Director General of the Ministry of the Interior, said: "The strength of our program in creating value in bringing together 20 supermen, 20 leading mayors in the country, who for the first time created a 'group of equals' in one of the few positions that exist in Israel. We saw how, alongside the professional content we conveyed, the mayors realized that despite the differences in the cities they head due to their nature, in the end the challenges and solutions are similar. As far as we are concerned, this program is only the beginning of a deep partnership that was forged between the authorities that participated in it."
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation and the Sagol family launched the Bloomberg-Sagol Center for Urban Leadership at Tel Aviv University about a year ago, as an important initiative to strengthen local leadership across the country. Inspired by the Bloomberg-Harvard Urban Leadership Program, the program aims to help mayors across the country – in the South and North, in cities large and small, Jewish and Arab, and to provide better and fairer public services to residents.
"The Bloomberg-Sagol Center builds on all the work Bloomberg Philanthropies does to help local leaders around the world innovate, lead effectively, and share ideas that help tackle complex problems," saidMichael Bloomberg, 108th Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. "This program brings together a dynamic group of mayors from across Israel who we are excited to work with and look forward to seeing results in and around their cities."
"When I became acquainted with the Bloomberg Urban Leadership Initiative together with Harvard University, I realized how well it can fit the State of Israel in order to create a significant impact there," saysYossi Sagol, the program's founder and philanthropist. "The mayors serve as the first and most significant leadership for the residents of Israel and manage matters that are important to the citizens. Through the best-in-class training of the Bloomberg-Sagol Urban Leadership Program, we will be able to bring to local government managerial excellence and advanced doctrines from the business world, which will help provide excellent service to the residents of Israel. The collaboration with Mike Bloomberg partners is very exciting and will undoubtedly greatly assist the excellence of local authorities in Israel."
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