The social business arena in Israel is significantly lagging behind that of the United States and England, but is slowly (and surely) beginning to evolve. As part of this evolution, on June 2, 2011, a conference, organized by Bogot & Keidar Advocates on the topic of "Organizations, Businesses & Social Businesses" took place, focusing on new and innovative economic models.

 

IVN's Executive Director, Daphna Murvitz spoke at the conference of the challenges and potential for scaled and sustained social impact of 2 IVN supported social ventures:  Duroos Learning Center which bridges educational gaps of the Southern Bedouin population and MILBAT, which develops accessible, adapted technologies aimed to improve the quality of life for disabled populations.   

From left to right - Raanan Dinur, former Director General of the Prime Minister's office, Daphna Murvitz, IVN's Executive Director, Cecile Blilious, Inbar Horowitz, Tali Yaron-Eldar

 

Other speakers included the Minister of Environmental Protection, Gilad Erdan, and former Deputy Attorney General for Economic and Fiscal Laws, Attorney Didi Lachman-Messer, who spoke of the need to strengthen the field of social investment. Yarom Ariav, former Director General of the Ministry of Finance, introduced a range of possible solutions to promote independent income generation of social businesses.

 

Attended by over 200 people, timely topics, diverse speakers, and plenty of networking opportunities, gave all participants a chance to share thoughts and experience other perspectives firsthand in the areas of "Organizations, Businesses & Social Businesses".

 

From Mentors to Board Members

  

We are proud to announce that IVN Mentors Edwin Slonim and Rachel Offer recently joined the boards of the social ventures they are currently mentoring through IVN's Social Venture Program . This reaffirms our decision to carefully match the venture with the mentor and guarantees a continued relationship that is beneficial for both.

Edwin Shalom Slonim

NPTech mentored by Edwin Slonim - Having joined IVN's portfolio in 2010, NPTech, 

Non Profit Technology, promotes transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in Israel's nonprofit sector through the use of modern technologies.

Rachel Offer

Shiur Acher (Different Lesson) mentored by Rachel Offer - Having joined IVN's portfolio in 2011, Shiur Acher focuses on expanding opportunities for disadvantaged children by connecting between schools in low-income neighborhoods and volunteers (accomplished professionals). Shiur Acher recruits volunteers through their place of employment as teachers in Israeli schools teaching "different lessons" in their own field of expertise.   

 

 

On June 23^rd, IVN held a networking and peer-learning event, comprised of IVN social entrepreneurs, social venture managers and mentors. The event took place at the Tel Aviv Municipality's dormitory campus. The turnout was fantastic, consisting of almost 20 entrepreneurs and venture managers, 16 mentors and 7 members of the IVN community.

The guest speaker, Professor Gadi Ariav, Head of The Max Perlman Center for Global Business in the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University, spoke about the Implementation of Technology for the Generation of Social Change.

IVN mentors and mentees taking part in the Networking Workshop

 

In addition, a workshop was given by Network Facilitator, Hanoch Tsadik, who led the participants through various assignments.  By the end of the evening everyone knew each other, had met people they didn't know prior to the event, exchanged contact information and internalized points from the lecture that were relevant to him/her. The workshop provided valuable insights regarding how to further build and maintain a strong, durable and effective network.