The consecutive crises of the past year and a half have made one thing clear: when women are absent from leadership positions, it leads to long-lasting, dramatic consequences. The ongoing war erupted against the backdrop of Israel’s democratic crisis, exacerbating the pressures women had already been experiencing due to the governing coalition’s radical, anti-democratic agenda. Despite systemic under-representation in key decision-making positions, women in Israel now bear the brunt of the societal strain of war.
Many women are parenting solo while their partners serve in reserve duty. Others are now facing increased domestic violence, often exacerbated by the Minister of National Security’s decision to ease certain permit restrictions on guns post-October 7. Just two weeks ago, The Israel Women’s Network (IWN) reported that Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs documented a 67 percent increase in the number of women seeking support from domestic violence in the first six months of the war.
Earlier this year, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) asked Shatil–NIF’s action arm–and another leadership development and social change organization, BeDo, for support in launching its new program, The Collaborative Planning Process for Gender Equity (CPP). Following an open call for applications, 29 feminist changemakers from Israel’s public and private sector were selected to join the CCP’s inaugural cohort— a dynamic, collaborative working group. Together, the group aims to develop an intersectional, collaborative approach to advancing feminist issues in Israel. Participants included the CEOs of leading feminist NGOs Itach-Ma’aki – Women Lawyers for Social Justice, IWN, and the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, a journalist and documentarian from Channel 13, and the Head of Bar-Ilan University’s Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women’s Status in Israel. Liat Bolzman, a Shatil organizer who represents Shatil on the CCP Steering Committee, describes Shatil’s role: “NCJW approached us looking for another trusted partner with an established reputation in social change, capacity building, and convening. That’s precisely Shatil’s added value in the field.”
Recognizing the immensity of the CCP’s ambitions, Shatil, NCJW, and BeDo set a number of smaller goals for the working group to serve as building blocks toward the larger objective. These included: forming a cohesive understanding of needs and objectives facing the feminist movement, developing ways for organizations to monitor progress and coordinate with one another, as well as crafting funding proposals and identifying new funding opportunities to advance gender-equality at the societal level.
The CCP consisted of five “huddles,” or action-oriented workshops guided by one central question: which collaborative pathways and infrastructure do we need to actualize gender equity in key spheres of influence in Israel? By the third huddle, participants had successfully organized into “impact clusters” in diverse spheres of influence, identifying clear avenues for collaboration moving forward.
These meetings couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. For one member, each huddle was a reminder that “we are exiting despair on the way to hope.” She understood that each and every member of the cohort “came to make a significant change that will echo across generations; there’s no time to waste.”
The established impact clusters were divided into smaller working groups, which continue to meet regularly. Each working group is creating an action plan guided by their theory of change and will continue to meet with Shatil, NCJW, and BeDo leadership to turn those plans into reality.
“The Collaborative Planning Process was a particularly amazing opportunity for many smaller feminist organizations struggling with limited budgets and staff,” Liat explains. “In bringing these groups together with one strategic objective, we were able to identify where the movement is headed to maximize their collective impact for years to come.”