The Peres-Menomadin Executive Initiative: Impact-Driving Business Leadership

The Peres Academic Center is launching a first of its kind initiative which aims to provide leaders in the private sector with unmatched tools to effectively lead positive social change in Israel.

Participants in The Peres-Menomadin Executive Initiative will engage in two aligned leadership development opportunities:

Leading Change for Impact in Israeli Society – a program offered by the Peres Academic Center.
Private Leadership and Negotiation for Public Good – a program offered by Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education.

Israel is currently facing some of its most severe historical challenges, both internally and externally. The events of the past year have underscored the remarkable resilience of Israel’s citizens in confronting and overcoming these obstacles.

In this pivotal moment, the spotlight falls on Israel’s powerhouse – the business sector. Fueled by unparalleled innovation and propelled by a legacy of local and global success, business leaders stand ready to chart a course through these turbulent waters.

It is time for the private sector’s brightest minds to step forward, to lend their expertise and vision. Israel beckons for leaders – leaders like you – to join hands in steering our collective destiny towards a brighter tomorrow.

If you aspire to make a significant impact, there’s no need to alter your career trajectory. In fact, by remaining within the business realm and assuming leadership positions, your capacity to exert influence can be notably enhanced.

The Peres-Menomadin Executive bulletin

Academic Director of the Initiative

Dr. Shuki Fridman

Managing Director of the Initiative

Gilad Neumann

Studies format

Thursday , 15:00 – 19:30

Initiative duration

8 Months

Start date

November 2025

Why Join the Initiative?

Grow your network

Inspire change

Learn from thought leaders

Earn unique certifications

Target Audience & Admission Requirements

Target Audience

Program participants are business leaders at the levels of CEO and VP in leading Israeli companies, founders of companies, entrepreneurs and experienced leaders from the private sector. They are individuals who have proven their excellent leadership skills in the business world and private sectors and are willing to devote time to making Israel into a better place, people keen on changing the world in their particular fields as well as Israeli society.

Admission Requirements

The program is suitable for candidates who uphold the following criteria, and includes a personal interview for the purpose of acceptance:

Managerial experience in a senior role
Holder of a bachelor’s degree, preference given to those with Graduate degrees
High level of spoken and written English

Please refer to the pricing on This Link

Are you interested in the Menomedin-Peres initiative for managers?

Leave your details, and we will get back to you as soon as possible

About the Initiative

This initiative is comprised of two distinct elements as described below:

Leading Change for Impact in Israeli Society – An Offering of the Peres Academic Center

Developed by the Peres Academic Center and led by Israeli thought leaders, this program focuses on an in-depth familiarization with Israeli society and government and provides interventional tools to lead positive social change.

Anyone living in Israel and following the news is familiar with Israel and its challenges. But as in every field, superficial familiarization is insufficient. Impact requires knowledge of the core issues Israel is facing, and interventional tools for change.

For this reason, Leading Change for Impact in Israeli Society is comprised of four units:

Israeli society, rifts, cohesiveness and challenges – Some view Israel as a country of diverse minorities, one in which the members of each group comprising society feels itself to be in an inferior position relative to the other sectors. This unit deals with the main axes of values within the Jewish population, the challenges of integrating the Arab community and the ultra-Orthodox community, the challenges and socio-economic tensions emerging from integrating the Arab and the Ultra-Orthodox communities, and the challenge of Israeli cohesiveness from a global perspective in the era of social networks.
The state and its institutions – The factors of most significant impact on our lives here are the state and its institutions. Policies and the state’s power of implementation determine, to a great degree, our future. Therefore, understanding them in-depth from an internal point of view is a vital tool for the ability to influence them and the country’s future. This unit presents the Parliament, the government, the legal system and the security system, by people who led these systems for numerous years. In addition, the role of Israeli media and how it impacts public opinion and decision makers will be presented.
Tools of impact -Various tools exist to lead positive social change. They are split into top-down activated tools, and grassroots / bottom-up tools. This unit exposes participants to possible ways of applying these tools, using people who do so as part of their lifestyles.
Inspiring to change – The Israeli reality has over the years led many business leaders to enter social activism for the public good. Their chosen paths and the changes many led can serve as sources of inspiration. This unit enables participants to meet central figures from the Israeli business and social world, among them prominent philanthropists and social entrepreneurs

*This program includes 15 sessions in which renowned lecturers will share perspectives on Israeli society and interventional strategies in leadership and societal change.

The participating lecturers: Professor Avichai Mandelblit, Former Attorney General, Lt. Gen. (Res.) Aviv Kohavi, Former Chief of Staff, Dr. Nasreen Haddad Haj- Yahya, A Portland Foundation partner, Amit Segal, Israeli journalist and more.

**Participants completing Leading Change for Impact in Israeli Society will earn a certificate of completion from the Peres Academic Center.**

___________________________________________

Private Leadership and Negotiation for Public Good – An Offering of Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education

In January 2025 participants of the Peres Executive Initiative will spend one week at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the U.S., attending the custom HKS Executive Education program Private Leadership and Negotiation for Public Good, developed and administered distinctly by HKS for this cohort. This program will focus on adaptive leadership, moral leadership, negotiation, and behavioral science and will be followed by a series of HKS faculty-led, interactive virtual sessions.

Participants completing Private Leadership and Negotiation for Public Good will earn a certificate of completion from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education.

The program will be led by Christopher Robichaud (HKS Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy), Monica Giannone (Director of the HKS Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Collaboratory), and their faculty colleagues.

All program sessions will be conducted in and materials provided in English.

For more information on Private Leadership and Negotiation for Public Good, contact: [email protected]

The initiative partners

עמותת מנומדין

The initiative is in collaboration with The Menomadin Foundation and The Israeli Congress.

The Menomadin Foundation is an international Israeli-based impact fund established by businessman and philanthropist Haim Taib, following three decades of work dedicated to developing and strengthening countries in Africa. Led by CEO Dr. Merav Galili, the Foundation is committed to advance Israel’s social and economic resilience through integrating strategic philanthropic initiatives with impact investments, and by advancing national roadmaps in the fields of education, welfare, and community development. Website>>

The Israeli Congress is a civil society organization founded with the recognition that Israeli society faces historical challenges that require creative and innovative solutions. The organization believes that Israel can address deep social crises through bridge-building, fostering broad public dialogue, and promoting cooperation across different sectors. The Congress is committed to preserving Israel’s unity as a Jewish and democratic state, with a vision of a society where disagreements lead to growth and strengthening rather than division. The Israeli Congress is led by Attorney Ronen Aviani.

The "Impact" Accelerator

After successful completion of the Peres-Menomadin Executive Initiative, the Peres Academic Center will select outstanding candidates to receive significant financial grants and additional tools for executing social-impact initiatives. This will be part of a new “Impact” Accelerator launched by the JPPI (Jewish People Policy Institute) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Admission for the The Peres Executive Initiative: Impact-Driving Business Leadership

For more details and to apply, please contact:

Jordan Backman Kolkin, Industry Networking Manager

Phone: 054-7303477 | Email: [email protected]

Please refer to the pricing on This Link

Initiative participants speak up

It is precisely in the current era, where disorder and distrust dominate our daily lives, that each of us is requires to act and impact. This is the only way we can continue to raise future generations of excellence, and promote the plethora of ideas that this unique nation of ours can offer, both to itself and to the world at large. Thank you for the privilege of being able to join group activities that lead to change.

Livnat Mizrahi Rinsky

CEO, IBI Investment House

Having been raised and educated on love for our country, and as someone who sees himself, particularly in our current times, as committed both as a citizen and an individual, to continuing Israel’s existence and stability, I believe that the unique training track initiated by managers will provide me with deeper knowledge of the processes and conflicts which highlight the disparities between religion and state.

Shahar Ezrachi

VP Engineering, Ashdar

The ability to lead change depends on two components: the first is us, our motivation and wish to instigate and act; the second is our interconnections, and the multifaceted nature existing and linking diverse sectors which, together, create the synergy of knowledge which comes to bear in leading change. The personal component, personal motivation, is what I contain; the group component is the Initiative.