Genesis Prize Foundation giving $1m to 37 NGOs for Israeli women’s rights

“This is a systemic, across-the-board effort to support the women’s movement in Israel over the next two years,” explained Sana Britavsky, deputy CEO of the Genesis Prize Foundation, at the event.

By MAAYAN HOFFMAN
Updated: SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 16:17
Genesis Prize Foundation giving $1m to 37 NGOs for Israeli women’s rights, September 4, 2018 (photo credit: NATASHA KUPERMAN)
Genesis Prize Foundation giving $1m to 37 NGOs for Israeli women’s rights, September 4, 2018
(photo credit: NATASHA KUPERMAN)
The Genesis Prize Foundation and the Kahn Foundation Tuesday announced the winners of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality grant initiative, committing to give grants to some 37 Israeli nonprofit organizations.
The grantees, who were announced at a formal ceremony at the Rabin Center in Tel Aviv and will receive $1 million in Genesis Prize grants, are focused on socioeconomic opportunity, gender equality, minority rights or violence prevention for women. They represent the Jewish, Arab, Israeli, Druze and Bedouin communities.
“I am so pleased and proud of the contributions that will be made to organizations that are … bringing together different communities - Arab Israelis, Jews, Bedouins - all Israeli women,” said Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg via video at Tuesday’s event. “I think women can contribute a great deal to achieving, some day, a lasting peace.”
Ginsburg sat on the committee that reviewed the more than 220 applications received from Israeli NGOs for the Genesis Prize grants, which are funded by the $1 million annual Genesis Prize award, doubled to $2 million in 2018 by Israeli philanthropist Morris Kahn.
“You [Morris Khan] have been my inspiration,” said Stan Polovets, co-founder and CEO of the Genesis Prize, who explained that the Kahn Foundation’s investment in the Genesis Prize is only one of the foundation’s dozens of philanthropic investments, which include support of SpaceIL, horseback riding therapy for children with disabilities, cardiac surgery for poor Ethiopians and partnering with Genesis to help bring Syrian children from conflict areas to Israel for treatment at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed.
Kahn told attendees that he is “really encouraged” by the organizations that applied for the prize.
“Nothing can stand in your way,” Kahn told the group of women leaders. “It is only a question of time.”
Applications for Genesis Prize Foundation grants were accepted in the areas of socioeconomic participation and opportunity for women; gender equality, particularly in the areas of marriage and divorce; the rights and status of women from minority groups; and women’s empowerment, specifically to resist violence. Of the grants, some 30 percent will serve Jewish women, 30% Arab, Bedouin and Druze women, and another 10% are specific to the LGBT community.
“This is a systemic, across-the-board effort to support the women’s movement in Israel over the next two years,” explained Sana Britavsky, deputy CEO of the Genesis Prize Foundation, at the event.
Among the grantees is Achoti, which runs economic empowerment activities for women who face economic hardship and live in the geographical and social periphery. Similarly, Ajeec Nisped helps provide the tools to Arab high school graduates necessary to succeed in universities and in the workforce. The Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status Lakia runs a program that combines lectures and course work to promote empowerment and employment of Bedouin women.
Other grantees include IGY, which will execute a project direct at the LGBTQ community. Kemach (also known as Movilot) promotes excellence and employment leadership among ultra-Orthodox women and strives to realize the potential of ultra-Orthodox women as a force for advancement within the Israeli economy, while at the same time preserving their identity.
The Center for Women Justice uses creative public education tools and social media to reframe  the discourse around state-prescribed Jewish marriage and promotes solutions to “marital captivity.” Bizchut, for example, identifies and discusses the barriers that prevent women with disabilities from having equal opportunities.
And Jasmine, trains women from diverse backgrounds to serve as board members on corporate, public and NGO boards.
A matching grants initiative is under way in North America, as well, with grantees to be announced in winter 2019.  Together, the two programs are expected to deliver up to $3 million in new funding to this field between 2018 and 2020.
The event was emceed by Arab-Israeli news presenter, reporter and TV host Lucy Aharish, who praised attendees for being the kind of women who will “get up and make a difference.” The event also included a panel discussion between Aharish and four women leaders: Hamutal Guri, executive director of the Dafna Fund; Professor Aliza Shenhar, provost of the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College; Amanda Weiss, founder and chair of the board of directors of the Bible Lands; and Daphna Hacker, associate professor at the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty and Women and Gender Studies Program.
In her remarks, Shenhar pointed out that the Book of Ruth tells the story of women who supported each other for success.
“Only when women work together can they thrive,” said Shenhar.