Maala’s ‘Israeli CSR Experience’ will showcase Israel’s evolving social responsibility and innovation, now ranked in the top 20 countries worldwide

The first-ever Israeli CSR Experience Conference, taking place November 30 – December 1 in Tel Aviv, will expose the remarkable strides Israel has made in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Now ranking in the top 20 countries worldwide for social innovation, above the likes of Japan, Spain and Russia, and the highest ranked country from the Middle East, corporate social responsibility in Israel is growing at an unexpected rate, with the Israeli CSR community now representing a third of the country’s entire GDP.

The two-day event, organized by Israel’s CSR standards-setting organization, Maala, will gather leaders from Israel’s business community and key international opinion formers in the sustainability and CSR community to address Israel’s surge onto the international CSR stage, its current standing and infrastructure, and the challenges the country still faces ahead. A plethora of speakers and experts including the likes of Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs & Public Diplomacy, Lars Hanseid, Area Vice President of Europe, Middle East & Africa at 3M and representatives from Intel, Strauss Group and Bank Hapoalim will head an all-day conference on November 30, while a second day will feature on-site visits to see Israeli sustainability and CSR in action.

“Israeli CSR activity continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, with the number of Israeli companies committed to and understanding the need of create social value, steadily increasing,” said Momo Mahadav, Maala CEO. “The Israeli CSR Experience is dedicated to showcasing this impressive trend and striving to continue this upward trend that is still only at the beginning of its evolution.”

Despite Israel’s relatively new culture of corporate responsibility, 98 companies now voluntarily participate in the annual Maala CSR Index, which measures Israeli corporate responsibility. This includes well-known companies like Teva, Unilever Israel, Strauss Group, Siemens Israel, Microsoft Israel, Intel Israel, El Al and Live Person. These 75 large companies and 23 small to mid-size companies together comprise 310,000 employees, and annual sales of $94 billion, representing approximately one-third of Israel’s GDP.

Over the past decade, Israel’s business community has increasingly focused its philanthropic attention on social and community-based issues such as youth, education, health and welfare issues, in addition to the country’s widening economic gap and environmental issues such as waste, water resources and air quality. This groundbreaking conference will cover a wide range of topics including Israeli contribution to sustainable growth, diversity and inclusion in the Israeli workplace, the role of CSR in Israel’s gas and oil industry and using innovation to build sustainability.

“For a country with such a small population like Israel to engage in the amount of CSR activity is truly commendable, and we trust it is only the beginning as more business, international and domestic, continues to launch in Israel,” said Mahadav. “There is something inherent about the Israeli DNA that drives these companies to commit, and when they do, it is almost always to address local concerns within Israel, which we find to be a very unique attribute.”

Day 1: CSR International Conference — November 30th

The first day will gather the leaders of Israel’s business community and key international opinion formers from the sustainability and CSR community.

Speakers to include: Gilad Erdan, Minister of Strategic Affairs & Public Diplomacy; Lars Hanseid, Area Vice President of Europe, Middle East & Africa at 3M, Yair Seroussi, Bank Hapoalim, Chairperson of the Board; Maxine Fassberg Intel Israel, General Manager, Vice President, International Site Operations Group; Amit Lang, Ministry of Economy & Industry of Israel, Director General.

Day 2: Field trips; Israeli Sustainability in Action – December 1st

A second day of field trips and visits to corporate innovation hubs from different sectors, will seek to uncover Israeli contribution to sustainable growth focusing on food, water and agriculture, meeting with pioneering Israeli R&D professionals and entrepreneurs. In addition, the trip will also uncover Israel’s burgeoning social innovation, in cooperation with JDC-TEVET, with live examples from Strauss, El-Al and Intel.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)