In association with WIZO
1920 was a historic year, with the establishment of one of the most influential movements in our lives to this day – WIZO. A little more than a century later, WIZO has 250,000 members, organized in 38 federations around the world. In Israel, the movement manages 40 community branches in which volunteer activity is concentrated and operates hundreds of projects in the fields of education and welfare for children, women and youth, assistance activities for immigrants, the elderly and the weaker sectors. In addition, WIZO has a chain of 45 thrift stores throughout the country.WIZO is one of the largest employers in the economy. The organization currently has about 6,000 employees and 2,000 volunteers working in 74 municipalities, about 6,000 youth in 8 of the organization's educational institutions and youth villages, and about 12,000 children in about 170 daycare centers. "Every success we have made is a contribution to Israeli society," says Chairman Anita Friedman, who proudly conducts the huge conglomerate. A womanwho has been an empire for 35 years who has been a member of the movement and voluntarily fills a variety of positions in Israel and abroad. In 2020, she was elected chairperson, and during her tenure, Friedman worked to strengthen the organization's resilience, so that WIZO will continue to develop hundreds of welfare and education enterprises, including: daycare centers, boarding schools for at-risk youth, shelters for battered women, warm homes for girls, and more. Friedman is responsible for all of WIZO's hundreds of educational and welfare institutions and enterprises in Israel, and for liaison with WIZO's 38 federations around the world, which support WIZO's activities in Israel and carry out Zionist activities to strengthen ties with Israel. How does WIZO integrate and contribute to Israeli society?" WIZO is a symbol of excellence, Zionism and the promotion of groundbreaking processes that have an impact on the resilience of Israeli society. We are present in the lives of Israeli citizens from infancy to old age, and we play a central role in the public debate in all areas of the organization's activities – the status of women in all its aspects, education, family and welfare issues. WIZO plays a central role in a number of burning struggles in Israeli society, chief among them the status of early childhood education, the employment conditions of daycare providers, the status and stability of youth villages and educational institutions for youth in Israel, the advancement of women in Israel, and the struggle against violence against women and for women's equality. Our human resource is our irreplaceable asset, and this is also WIZO's uniqueness, we work shoulder to shoulder at the volunteer and professional levels." Every boy who finds a home with us and turns from a child at risk into a useful citizen, every woman who is a victim of violence that we manage to rehabilitate and return to society, every homeless girl who receives tools from us to succeed, every resident of our parents' home who receives dedicated and quality care – this is an Israeli success. When you combine all this with tens of thousands of individual cases each year, you get a mass that changes reality. I see my role as a national, Zionist, social and feminist mission, and I work to realize WIZO's mission to lead reality-changing processes, raise social resilience and promote gender equality in Israel." What are WIZO's significant achievements in the past year?" We have positioned ourselves as an integral part and key partners at the decision-making table. Thus, for example, the Prime Minister's announcement of a comprehensive program for early childhood education is an achievement that constitutes a breakthrough in consciousness in the field, but there is still a long way to go on the way to full realization. In addition, the passage of the Electronic Handcuffing Law against Violent Men in the Knesset is a great success – it is a law we initiated over a decade ago." At the same time, creativity and organizational initiative are constantly taking action – initiatives we promote, such as: communities for the advancement of women leaving asylum and accompanying them back to routine life, single mothers, an advanced legal treatment system for women, the Selfree program for positive body image among youth, and more. This year we opened a new middle school in Rehovot, and the hand is still tilted." When I assumed the position of chairman, I led a conceptual change for WIZO, we renewed and adjusted the organization to the changes undergoing in the Israeli economy and by virtue of globalization that affects us all, and we decided to plan WIZO for the future. We created a program that emphasizes both current conduct and future directions of development. We have created changes in the structure of the organization and in the direction of its development." What are your guidelines in management?" I don't see myself as a 'manager' but as one who sets policy together withMy colleagues on WIZO's Executive Committee. I believe in full partnership, in independent managers with the ability to lead and promote significant moves in a large, complex and important organization like WIZO. Upon assuming my position, I appointed Mira Mines, who has extensive managerial experience from the business and public sectors (government and municipal), so that she can lead the processes and policies that we outline together for the organization, with a professional management team under her." Beyond that, we insist on transparency, excellence, a team atmosphere and employee participation not as a slogan but as an inseparable part of the actual conduct. Our management is different from what is customary – more attentive, more participatory, more thinking about how to give everyone an opportunity of expression and a sense of partnership in order to realize WIZO's vision and mission, which are at the heart of our work." What are the opportunities and challenges facing your industry these days, and what are the solutions?" Our sector is Israeli society, with an emphasis on education, welfare, and the status of women. In all three areas, there are significant challenges: we are dealing with an unprecedented wave of domestic violence, an escalation in the exclusion of women from the public sphere, government support for youth villages and boarding schools is eroding, and a crisis in the early childhood education industry, stemming mainly from a shortage of manpower due to the employment conditions of caregivers. The caregivers do sacred, meaningful and rewarding work, they raise the future generation of Israel. On the subject of domestic violence, we work in the fields of legislation and information, provide individual treatment, lead initiatives and responses from the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation stages, and constitute a professional voice in the field. On the subject of daycare centers, I am happy to say that we have found an attentive ear to the subject, with an emphasis on the Ministries of Finance and Education. The issue is far from over, but there are glimmers of hope and understanding that a solution must be reached for the sake of our children. We were recently informed that two of our schools were ranked outstanding in the Ministry of Education indices in terms of values, social and scholastic, our dormitories are in great demand thanks to the dedicated care and quality service we provide to early childhood and there are waiting lists to be accepted to them." Anita Friedman - Chairperson of WIZOEducation: BA in Archaeology and Social Anthropology and Sociology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Other Positions: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Elie Wiesel Israel Foundation, Member of the Executive and Congress Committee of the World Zionist Organization, Member of the Board of Directors of the WIZO Haifa Center. Hobbies: Reading, Traveling. Top motto: "When you want it, everything is possible." A personal dream that wants to come true: "My dream has always been connected to Zionism and our country, a strong Israel, empowered women and ensuring the resilience of Israeli society, I am fortunate that I am fulfilling my dream through WIZO, which is its destiny." Every boy who finds a home with us and turns from a child at risk into a useful citizen, every woman who is a victim of violence that we manage to rehabilitate and return to society, every homeless girl who receives tools from us to succeed, every resident of our parents' home who receives dedicated and quality care – this is an Israeli success."
In association with WIZO
