Keren

Israeli Delegation, 1999
Seeds of Peace Fellow, 2016

IMPACT: SOCIAL

Bringing Arab and Jewish women together to tackle gender injustice.

How have you impacted your community?

I am a feminist activist, jurist and entrepreneur, and the Executive Director of the “Shutafot” (“Partners”) Coalition of Feminist organizations for Economic Justice and Employment Equality.

Previously, I served as Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Israel Women’s Network. I am one of the founders of Layla Tov (“good night”), a non-profit for the alleviation of sexual assault from Israel’s nightlife, and an appointed member of the National Council for Women’s Health. I am consulting the Ministry of Health on eliminating sexual harassment during medical care.

I have also worked at the Israel Foreign Ministry, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, and served as a facilitator at the educational department of the Association of Civil Rights Israel, conducting human rights and anti-racism workshops for educators and youth.

I hold an LL.B from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Master of Laws (with Distinction) from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC.

The larger context for my GATHER Fellowship project is the Shutafot Coalition which I lead. Shutafot is a one-of-a-kind joint Jewish-Arab coalition working on gender injustice in Israel, which is paramount for conflict transformation because of its intent to eliminate discrimination and inequality, and to promote co-existence through collaborative action.

My project, ‘The Field’, is an accessible, interactive map of organizations and groups serving women, with informative descriptions of the activities, services and assistance they offer and ways to get in touch. This is a first of its kind website in Israel, and will support the efforts to improve public engagement in feminist action, information and awareness, as well as help improve crowd resources for the feminist field.

Over the course of the Fellowship, The Shutafot coalition has recruited seven new organizations representing Ethiopian women, Russian-speaking women, survivors of prostitution, women and girls at-risk, Bedouin women, and two more Palestinian women’s organizations. Shutafot is now in the midst of a strategic process, mentored by an organizational consultant, to create a shared organizational culture which has increased their print media and social media presence immensely.

In 2017, Keren was named one of the top-50 most influential Israeli women by Forbes.

Read more about Keren and her work ››

“I’ve learned that the benefits of diversity are not just a political slogan, but actually exist in reality: when you put people from around the world in the same room and think about problems, you will get creative and intelligent solutions.”