FemForward Leaders is a 3 ½ month program designed to build a diverse community of 25 Arab and Jewish professional women in Israel that advance together from junior positions into management, 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 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). This is particularly evident in Israel, where women hold only 30.3% of management positions, 17.6% of senior management roles, and just 9.3% of C-level positions in the private hi-tech sector. Moreover, when a male CEO leads a company, only 15.8% of senior management roles are held by women. In contrast, companies led by female CEOs see a significant increase, with women occupying 30.8% of senior management positions (The Israel Innovation Authority, 2025).

The program consists of weekly workshops hosted by the biggest names in tech (Microsoft, Google, Taboola, etc;) 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 YoungLeaders.

The next cohort will begin in May 2025 in Haifa. Follow us on social media for updates.