Fellows of the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev (Photo: David Peretz)
In September 2023, following an extensive planning process, the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev opened two new leadership training programs: The Mandel Program for Executive Leadership in the Negev, and the Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev. Since then, the events of October 7 and the challenges that followed have further highlighted the importance of providing high-quality leadership training for Israel and especially the Negev region.
The new programs both offer a dynamic blend of academic rigor, experiential learning, and collaborative engagement that will empower participants to lead with vision, integrity, and compassion, and to shape a brighter future for the Negev and beyond.
Mandel Program for Senior Executive Leadership in the Negev
The Mandel Program for Senior Executive Leadership in the Negev aims to cultivate a cadre of senior leaders dedicated to addressing prevalent challenges that face the Negev. Comprised of leaders from government ministries, local government, and civil society, the program seeks to build a diverse and inclusive group of leaders who will work to effect positive change for the benefit of all the populations of the Negev region.
Fellows are collaboratively identifying and developing a comprehensive regional Negev ethos and vision, based on their shared world views, and are generating new insights to inform strategic action at the regional and local levels, through a process of rigorous research and exploration. The program will also foster meaningful collaborations among the fellows and other senior executives in the Negev, in order to promote the region as a vibrant and inclusive space for all communities and drive social change.
Curriculum highlights include vision-development and clarification of individual and collective values; exploration of the effects that multiple diverse communities have on the region’s services and institutions in areas such as education, welfare, internal security, healthcare, culture and the environment; examination and promotion of shared spaces in the Negev; and study of national, regional, and local governance structures. This platform for profound learning enables the fellows to formulate courses of action for the betterment of the Negev.
Fellows of the Mandel Program for Senior Executive Leadership in the Negev (Photo: Shachar Braha)
Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev
The Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev, a joint venture with the Ministry of Health, aims to cultivate values-based medical leadership that will enhance the quality of healthcare services and nurture the next generation of medical professionals in the Negev.
The program seeks to develop effective models of senior medical leadership that are grounded in the humanities and ethics, with a unique emphasis on the Negev’s challenges. Its graduates will serve as a source of support and inspiration for each other and for other members of the healthcare community, and will promote new initiatives for the benefit of all populations of the Negev.
Curriculum highlights include in-depth exploration of identity and values, examination of space and place and the challenges of healthcare in the Negev and in Israel as a whole, medical policy-making, and an understanding of leadership and theory of change.
The fellows comprise a team of expert health professionals who are working together to advance their important vision for healthcare in the Negev – at all times and during the ongoing war in Gaza. This leadership challenge is an integral part of their learning journey.
Sadly, incoming fellow Dr. Eitan Neeman, a senior physician in the pediatric intensive care unit of Soroka Hospital and lecturer in the faculty of health sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was killed in action while serving as a reserve combat medic on October 9, 2023, just before he was able to start the program.
Fellows of the Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev
