Staff

Eitan Moran – Executive Director

Eitan has served as the Executive Director of the Society for Advancement of Education since graduating from the prestigious Mandel School for Educational Leadership in 2008.

He is a founder of the Nadav Merhav Democratic School in Modi’in, which he helped establish in 1999. Eitan holds an MA in Management and Public Policy from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and a BA cum laude in Sociology and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Eitan is a recent graduate of the Tavistok Institute of Human Relations – a nonprofit organization that deals with organizational research and development and applies approaches and concepts from the social sciences in order to create innovative, effective methods for dealing with core subjects and current issues.

PEDAGOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Michal Shavit – Director of Education Development

Michal is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with an MA in History and a BA in History and Education. Prior to taking her post at SAE, Michal was Principal of HaYovel Junior High School in Mevasseret Zion and served as Deputy Principal of the Hebrew University High School.

Michal is a graduate of the Mandel Institute for Educational Leadership in Jerusalem.

Eden Israeli – Learning Disabilities Coordinator and Director of “Hidden Sparks”

Eden is responsible for establishing and operating the Niot Project, a new SAE division for treating youth with learning disabilities. She is also director of the “Hidden Sparks” program at SAE and serves as a coach for a number of schools.

Eden has over 20 years of experience treating and teaching students with learning disabilities, was a district supervisor for the Ministry of Education and a specialist in treatment of behavioral problems.

She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Special Education from the Hebrew University, and was certified at Bar Ilan University to conduct didactic evaluations and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Anat Tagner-Abramovich – VP, Resource Development

Ariel Viezel – Director of Strategic Development

Ariel holds an MA in Management from Tel Aviv University. He previously served as Deputy Director of Education for the “Acharai!” organization.

Today he manages SAE’s Department of Strategic Development developing initiatives, projects and new institutions in the spirit of the SAE objectives.

David Maharat – Director of the Steering Center for Ethiopian Immigrants

David holds a BA in Education from Bar Ilan University and an MA in Educational Management and Policy from the Hebrew University.

He has decades of experience in managing social and educational workgroups in the field of Ethiopian Jewry and is a founding member of the Steering Center for Ethiopian Immigrants in the Education System.

Ali Haider – Director of Projects and Initiatives

Ali holds BA and MA degrees in Law from Bar-Ilan University and an MA in Political Science from Haifa University.

He was the Co-Executive Director of the “Sikkuy” association for the advancement of civic equality between Arab and Jewish citizens from 2004-2013. Previously, Ali worked as an attorney for several organizations for human and civil rights and is an active and founding member of a number of civil society organizations including the Arab Education Council, Adalah, I’lam and the Van Leer Institute Center for Social Justice.

For the last two years Ali has been a member of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Bezalel Cohen – Head of the Hachmey Lev Yeshiva

Rabbi Cohen is a Haredi graduate of the Lithuanian Yeshiva system, including Kol Torah, Ponevezh and Mir, and holds a B.Ed. Between 2003-2010 he worked for JDC-Tevet’s employment initiative, advancing Haredi enrollment in the Israeli workforce, academic studies and military service, and at the same time took part in the foundation of the KEMACH Agency, which provides assistance to ultra-orthodox students of academic and vocational institutions.

Rabbi Cohen also worked for the Friedberg Foundation, enrolling Haredim in academia, and for SHACHAR, enrolling Haredi technicians in the Israeli Air Force.

An outspoken and widely published social activist, he has written policy papers for the Floersheimer Institute for Israel Studies in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, and The Israel Democracy Institute.

Rabbi Cohen is a regular contributor to the periodical journal “Eretz Acheret,” and published many articles and posts on ultra-orthodox forums, as well as on his own blog “Betoch Ami”.

Between 2010-2012 he was a member of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and after which he joined SAE to found the Hachmey Lev Yeshiva – a high school yeshiva for mainstream ultra-orthodox boys seeking to excel in religiosity, biblical studies and all fields of knowledge, leading to a high-quality matriculation certificate. He is currently head of the Yeshiva.

PARTNERSHIPS — Voices and Media

Tali Yohananof – Director of Partnership Development

Tali holds an MA in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University and is a graduate of the Bar Ilan University School of Social Work two-year program for Group Facilitation.

Tali has worked in social and educational project management with the Ministry of Welfare, Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, municipalities, JDC Israel, Israel Prison Service and the Prison Rehabilitation Authority, among others.

She was a partner in the management and establishment of the support and treatment arrangements for immigrant students and students of Ethiopian origin at the SAE, as the organization’s program and project manager.

FINANCES

Acct. Shelly Alboim – CFO

Shelly has served as a senior manager for PwC Israel, as well as deputy CFO for a number of large Israeli NPOs in the fields of culture, art, health, and education. She was certified as an accountant by the Israeli Accountants’ Bureau in 2004.

Shelley holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting, and an MBA with a specialization in accounting from the College of Management. She is a graduate of the Technion’s external education course in management and development of human resources, as well as a course in mediation from Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Legal Arts.

Naama Zusman – Accountant for Educational Institutions

Naama is a certified CPA. She served for over a decade as a senior accountant for different educational institutions, including Aleh – Helping Israel’s Disabled, and Keren Or before joining SAE.

Nechama Brand-Schuman – Operations Manager

Nechama holds an MA in Logistics Management and a BA in Finance and Logistics from Bar-Ilan University.

She previously worked for central logistics companies in a number of positions, among them as Director of the Department of Contracts, Procurement and Logistical Processes, Director of Planning and Methods Unit, and as a logistics consultant to firms and logistic centers.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Tamar Braun – Director of Human Resources 

Tamar is an IBA registered lawyer. She holds a BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law and is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with an MA in Labor Studies.

Tamar previously served as a lawyer for private practices and worked at the College of Engineering as a legal consultant and Human Resource Manager.

STUDENT ABSORPTION

Shoshi Sela – Director of Student Absorption

Shoshi holds a BA in Psychology and Education and has been responsible for admitting and absorbing capable students to SAE residential education campuses for over 30 years.

Under Shoshi’s guidance, the department has developed its own interview and screening process, which ultimately assists individual students in finding the best educational setting in order to actualize their personal potential.

During the process, Shoshi takes into account the student’s grades and placement preferences, the will and concerns of parents, and the special character of each SAE residence.

The department under Shoshi’s management accompanies the students from the moment they are admitted until their graduation, providing the students and parents assistance in a wide range of fields.

Liat Hazan

Liat graduated with a BA from the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University. She is an experienced youth advisor for National-Civil Service.

Since 2008, she has been responsible for the Advancing to Academia project, a program that provides applicants with the opportunity for admissions through affirmative action, based on each applicant’s personal background and difficulties they experienced in high school.

Liat is responsible for the processes of determining a score, from the first stage of receiving the application at the Society for Advancement of Education up until the final decision, and maintains contact with representatives of the various higher education institutions from the different universities.