Giving Compass' Take:

• Israel has made an effort to increase the diversity of its workforce, both in total participation and sector participation to drive their economy. 

• How can philanthropy support Israel's efforts? How can other countries follow this example? 

• Learn about a nonprofit boosting diversity in America's teacher workforce.

Israel is home to more than 15 different cultures, each with their own distinctive traditions and ancestral backgrounds.

Nowhere is that pluralism more evident than in the workforce that secures Israel’s technological edge. Arab Israelis fill an increasing role in today’s workforce as do new immigrants and communities that have been an integral part of Israeli society for decades, but whose members have traditionally not participated in white- or blue-collar jobs – until now.

But the path to increasing Israel’s workforce diversity hasn’t been easy, said Dr. Sigal Shelach, an authority on migration and employment in the Israeli workforce. Shelach currently serves as the senior deputy director of Israel’s Joint Distribution Committee (JDC-Israel) and CEO of its unique employment initiative, Tevet. In August she will assume the role of director general for JDC-Israel; an appointment that in itself reflects JDC’s commitment to diversity. Shelach will be the first woman in history to head up the organization.

Shelach said that while Israel’s national unemployment rate is fairly low (3.7 percent, 2018), the country still faces unique gaps in its employment sector often not seen in other western nations.

Each community of workers faces its own exceptional challenges, said Shelach. And it’s been Tevet’s partnership with employers and the realization that a diverse workforce brings diverse thought and can actually promote innovation, that is helping to overcome those challenges.

These efforts are working. According to the Maala Index, between the years 2006 – 2017, rates of diversity and inclusion within the business sector in Israel have risen steadily.

Read the full article about workforce diversity at TriplePundit.