Advancement of women whilst building bridges.
Female leadership in a shared society is the future of the MENA region. It is this future that we are creating.
Due to the war, there is an even greater need now than ever for FemForward. We offer a platform that promotes shared society through providing women the support that they need professionally and personally during extremely difficult times.
The Problem
We believe that women are the driving force in building bridges and a resilient shared society, which is critical to the future of the MENA region. Female leaders demonstrate the highest levels of transformational leadership styles such as taking initiative, driving for results, building relationships, collaboration, teamwork and connecting their groups to the outside world (Harvard Business Review); all crucial components in the development of shared society and peacebuilding. However, there exists a notable underrepresentation of female leadership in the MENA region, mirroring a broader global trend. Only 13% of all elected leaders of multilateral organizations have been women since 1945 (GWL Voices).
FemForward aims to break down these barriers by cultivating the next generation of female leaders in the MENA region to foster unity among Arab and Jewish women and contributing to a more cohesive and inclusive society. Our initiatives, FemForward Leaders, FemForward MENA and FemForward YoungLeaders, each serve as a unifying force. By bringing together women across otherwise disconnected communities, the FemForward portfolio represents a shared commitment to building bridges at a local and international level through professional advancement and leadership development.
The FemForward programs support participants by providing them with essential tools, invaluable networks, and tailored mentorship. Moreover, all the graduates have the opportunity to join the alumni network of FemForward whereby they have access to networking events and help from one another regarding their professional and personal lives. Now, at this pivotal moment, it is essential to foster peacebuilding when the voice of shared society is being silenced by war.
Our Solution
FemForward Leaders is a 3 ½ month program designed to build a diverse community of professional women in Israel that advance together from junior positions into senior leadership, with a particular focus on the primary economic field of tech. The FemForward Leaders program, with a proven track record, provides the tools, network and tailored mentorship to enable participants to progress in their careers as they face obstacles on the path up to senior leadership and specifically as they attempt to take on their first managerial position. This career challenge is known as the “broken rung” - The phenomenon that the biggest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership is at the first step up to manager. Due to the the gender disparity in early promotions, men end up holding 60 percent of manager-level positions in a typical company, while women occupy 40 percent. Since men significantly outnumber women, there are fewer women to promote to senior managers, and the number of women decreases at every subsequent level (McKinsey & Company, 2023).
The program consists of weekly workshops led by female executives covering leadership development, career advancement and management skills. FemForward Leaders are expected to further grow the community by mentoring the future cohorts of junior participants in FemForward Young Leaders.
The next cohort of 25 participants is scheduled for Spring 2024, with an additional cohort starting Fall 2024. The content of the program will be specifically tailored to help the participants both professionally and personally during the extremely challenging time of war.
FEMFORWARD PROGRAMS
FemForward Leaders
FemForward MENA is the track of FemForward Leaders designed for women from the Abraham Accords countries: Bahrain, Israel, Morocco and the UAE. This initiative is in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the UAE-Israel Business Council. The program begins with an in-person seminar in either Bahrain, Morocco or the UAE, followed by online weekly workshops and ends with an in-person seminar in Israel. The aim of FemForward MENA is to bring together women across the MENA and Gulf regions, in order to build cross-cultural business connections, foster long-lasting friendships and pave the way for future female leadership.
FemForward MENA
FemForward YoungLeaders
FemForward YoungLeaders is our upcoming new 3-month program designed to build a powerful young network of Arab and Jewish female university students. The program is tailored for pairs of one Arab and one Jewish participant to work together on building social impact initiatives. The goal is to cultivate the next generation of leaders that drive peace and diversity in the MENA region. Our ethos is that through creating together and working towards social good, we build long-lasting and authentic bridges. Each pair will be assigned two mentors - one who is a successful entrepreneur and one who is a graduate of the FemForward Leaders program, building a rich and diverse ‘sisterhood’.
There will be weekly workshops led by female executives to help guide the next generation of innovative social entrepreneurs.The program will conclude with a 2-day summit abroad featuring high-level workshops facilitated by female international guest speakers renowned for their successes in fostering inter-community dialogue and innovation. The summit will also include a final competition in which the participants will be judged on their impact initiatives by the guest speakers.
The program will launch with the first cohort of 24 Arab and Jewish young women from Israel in Fall 2024. We aim for the program to include international participants from the MENA region and Western Universities as of the second cohort in 2025.
