Information Center

Radio Shows

  • Early Childhood
  • At Risk Youth
  • Policy Change
  • Early Childhood
  • At Risk Youth
  • Policy Change

The People We've Been Waiting For – Anat Bar
Iris London-Zolty hosts Anat Bar, the director of the city of Tirat Hacarmel's Early Childhood Department and the HaPaot Center (Toddler Center). Bar entered the field of early childhood education with a background in family therapy and art therapy. She has been working in Tirat Hacarmel for more than 30 years, originally in the field of parental guidance.
However, over the years, she began observing an increasing number of places where there seemed to be a disparity between the advanced research on paper and what was taking place on the ground. She decided to practically apply the vast experience she had working in the city by building a program and creating ways for different organizations to cooperate.
Together with other professionals and a wide variety of city officials, Bar founded a center consisting of departments that work together to provide activities, enrichment, and care to young children and toddlers. She talks with Iris about the HaPaot Center, about intriguing aspects of the connection that parents have with their young children, and about the field of early childhood education in general.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Anat Diagi
Iris London-Zolty hosts Anat Diagi, the mother of the late David Diagi, who passed away at daycare when he was just nine months old. An investigation of the incident revealed that the teacher was alone with eight toddlers and did not know how to perform resuscitation even though she had claimed that she could.

The shocked and grieving Anat could not believe that there was virtually no government supervision over nursery schools at the time. Out of a profound sense of anguish together with other mothers, Anat embarked on a fierce campaign for government oversight of daycare centers.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Oren Leibovitz, Moshe Poltorak, and Avi Mazor
Iris London-Zolty hosts Oren Leibovitz, Moshe Poltorak, and Avi Mazor for a discussion about the power of educational dialogue. Oren Leibovitz is the founder of Gan Hachaverim (the Friends Nursery School) together with his wife, Shira. Moshe Poltorak is a staff member at the nursery, and Avi Mazor is the father of a child enrolled there. The once small, one-family nursery school eventually turned into something that encompassed a broader and more comprehensive educational approach focused on dialogue.

The idea behind it is simple—every individual gets a chance to speak, whether it is the teachers on staff or the young children. The nursery's outlook is that dialogue facilitates better education, both at the level of actual knowledge that is transmitted and at an emotional/social level. The field of early childhood education is one in which it is rare to hear from a father or to find a male staff member. This was a great opportunity to hear from three men discussing a unique educational approach as well as early childhood education in general.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Ronit (Pilo) Pilossoph
Ronit (Pilo) Pilossoph is a teacher at Gan Hashalom, which opened more than 30 years ago and has since served as an inspiration for other nursery schools that have followed its lead. These daycare centers work according to a unique pedagogical style that draws inspiration from the doctrine of Janusz Korczak and from the Reggio Emilia approach. These approaches promote an educational system of reciprocity and communal involvement, rather than one characterized by the sale of a service to a client. In a conversation with Iris London-Zolty, Pilossoph speaks about the daycare's educational philosophy as well as the unique community that has blossomed around it and that has been growing with time. She also shares her outlook on issues pertaining to early childhood education.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Roi Melamed
In this program, Iris London-Zolty hosts Roi Melamed, the executive director of UNICEF Israel. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is an agency that was established after World War Two to provide humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. After its formation, the agency originally helped children in camps in Cyprus who had survived the Holocaust. It then went on to help establish Israel's Family Health Centers and to lay the foundation for the young State of Israel's health system for children. The agency is guided by the same principles today as well.
In the program, Roi tells Iris about the various activities of UNICEF Israel on behalf of young children. They discuss issues such as the implementation in Israel of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the application of experience gained at UNICEF branches in other countries, and ways to improve children's services in Israel, particularly for young children.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Michal Fefer
Michal Fefer is a lawyer specializing in consumer behavior who switched careers several years ago to begin advising support groups for parents with special-needs children, parents who have lost their children, and parents dealing with significant changes in their lives. Michal's life experience as a divorced mother (who has now again found love) and professional experience have helped her observe the ways children are affected when their parents go through the process of divorce. Together with several partners, Michal formed a program within the Topaz organization called Children Before Everything. As part of this initiative, she attempts to assist children who come specifically from otherwise normative families where the parents have chosen to get divorced and who have not been given any special recognition by Israel's welfare departments. In the interview with Iris London-Zolty, Michal Fefer discusses the project's activities and goals.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Adv. Liat Galili-Perl
Adv. Liat Galili-Perl created the Safe at My Daycare project entirely by accident, with no experience or background in early childhood education. As an attorney specializing in high-tech, particularly in patent law, she happened one evening to come across the law governing the supervision of daycare centers for toddlers. She realized that it did not properly deal with the issue of physical abuse at daycare centers. She wrote a post on Facebook about a simple idea—allowing parents to visit other daycare centers to keep an eye on the children there. The post received hundreds of likes and shares, and the Safe at My Daycare initiative was born. In an interview on Iris London-Zolty's program, Adv. Galili-Perl discusses the project that took form just three months after she posted her idea and about the hundreds of volunteers across of all stripes that take part in it.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Yulia Ben-Moshe
Yulia Ben-Moshe, the director of the Kol Hazechuyot (All Rights) organization, helps educate parents with special-needs children about how to exercise their rights under law. In this interview, she tells Iris London-Zolty about the circumstances that led her to work in this field, specifically about her being the mother of a child with a rare genetic disease. Ben-Moshe talks about the campaign she had to wage to save her child and the assistance that she herself received. In addition, Yulia discusses her organization and her efforts to give all parents the information necessary for them to exercise their rights. She speaks about her daily struggle for accessibility and about the great importance of the integration of special-needs children in society.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Micha Cymbalista
The Nirim organization helps at-risk youth using a unique model that is based on two central projects—one is the Nirim youth village, which is located in Bustan Hagalil and which operates as a sort of youth movement, and the other is Nirim in the Neighborhoods, which works locally in cities throughout Israel. The two projects, separately and together, are meant for at-risk young people who demonstrate a significant disparity between their potential and its realization. These include young people with behavioral issues who have a hard time fitting in with the rest of society and others.
Micha Simbalista, the director of the Nirim youth village, speaks about the organization's activities. He describes the unique model that guides its operation, which draws inspiration from existing educational approaches and combines them together into a model unlike any other in Israel and perhaps unlike any other in the world.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Dorit Nitai Neeman
Iris London-Zolty welcomes producer Dorit Nitai-Neeman, the director of the Karov Theater, which was founded by her father, actor Niko Nitai. Following in her father's footsteps, Dorit's goal is not only to be a play director, but to create art that is accessible to all sectors of the population and thus to facilitate a culture that leads to change.
In this interview, the two speak about the theater located in Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station that hosts plays meant both for avid theatergoers and for those encountering this sort of art for the first time. In addition, Nitai-Neeman speaks about the other activities that take place at the theater, such as the Close to the Heart project that brings together at-risk youth, exposes them to the art of theater, and empowers them by using the stage.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Udi Gelbard from the Darna organization (Beit Roi)
Udi Gelbard entered the world of education after a long career in finance. After becoming quite accomplished in that field, he began teaching young people at a boarding school. As he did so, he began looking at the system from the perspective of the young people themselves and understanding the frustrations and problems that the students were experiencing, particularly those of at-risk youth. He later switched careers to become a math teacher and started teaching at boarding school for at-risk youth.
Together with Tomer Bohadana, Gelbard founded the Darna organization in order to give at-risk youth a greater chance at rehabilitation and integration into society. In 2015, the Beit Roi boarding school was opened under the auspices of the organization. At Beit Roi, young people have the opportunity to experience what it means to succeed and to receive personal support and attention. In an interview with Iris London-Zolty, Gelbart speaks about the organization, the boarding school, and his educational philosophy.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Moshik Wolfe, Founder of the Asher Ruach Bo Premilitary Academy
This program features Moshik Wolfe, the founder and director of the Asher Ruach Bo premilitary academy. The academy's mission is to change the life paths of young people from Israel's social and economy periphery. The academy seeks to instill in these young people a set of values as well as a sense of commitment, meaning, and an understanding that they can succeed. Students at the academy include young people who have fallen out of mainstream educational frameworks or into trouble with the law.
Moshik speaks with Iris London-Zolty about his worldview, his background as the son of a Holocaust survivor and an officer in the Lebanon War, and his vision of giving at-risk youth the opportunities that they have been lacking.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Yosale Dror, the Mifrasim Project
Yosale Dror is a man of the sea. He has been sailing since he was a boy. He is a sailing instructor and an extreme sports instructor whose many years of experience led him to understand the power of a maritime environment and the profound impact that it can have on those who allow themselves to get close to it. Together with a number of other partners, Yossele formed the Mifrasim project, which works under the auspices of the Topaz organization.
In an interview on Iris London-Zolty's program, Yosale speaks about his love of the sea and his desire to bring sailing vessels to Israel that will allow for group distance-sailing activities for at-risk youth, groups that have experienced physical and mental trauma, and more.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Mickey Dahav, the Spirit of Israel Organization
Mickey Dahav was an architect who lived and worked across the world yet always was involved in some way in activities related to Judaism, social affairs, or the absorption of Israeli families who had recently relocated outside of Israel. After she and her family chose to settle back in Israel, Dahav decided to begin a new chapter in her professional life by working in the nonprofit sector.
In an interview with Iris London-Zolty, Dahav speaks about her life, her worldview, and the organization that she heads called the Spirit of Israel, a sub-division of the Jewish Agency. She credits the organization with allowing her to meet Israel's beautiful side—droves of volunteers who work to involve the Israeli public in activities to benefit greater society in a long line of spheres, be it in active volunteerism, the sharing of information, or financial contributions.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Yaron Brown, Fair Chance for Children
Yaron Brown, the director of Fair Chance for Children, is the type of show guest for which The People We've Been Waiting For was made. He entered the nonprofit world after a career in a diverse range of fields, beginning with studying international relations, serving as the goalkeeper of the Maccabi Haifa soccer team, and working in the business and advertisement world for over two decades. As the deputy chief of marketing and sales at Globes, he led the paper in a way that emphasized corporate responsibility, becoming one of the leaders of this field in Israel, and worked to a great extent with students and young people with disabilities.
He speaks on the program about how he got involved with Fair Chance for Children, about the organization's activities for children at boarding schools and children who come from broken homes, and about one student in particular who really touched his heart and became a member of his family.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Avner Dafni, the Rakefet Organizaton
Avner Dafni was a high-tech executive who found his way to the Israel Gay Youth Organization, first as a counselor and later as its executive director. At the same time, he met someone who was suffering from high levels of social anxiety and realized that there was no reason that young people should have to deal with such issues without the proper tools. From his experience, young people aged 15 to 16 suffering from social anxiety who avoid contact with others could reach the point where simple tasks such as getting on a bus or buying ice cream become nearly impossible. Dafni now serves as the head of the Rakefet organization, which helps shy and reserved young people dealing with acute social anxiety. In a talk with Iris London-Zolty, he speaks about himself, the organization he founded, and the various activities for hundreds of young people that the organization provides at branches across Israel.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Shirit Kasher, the Alley Runners Club
Shirit Kasher is an avid runner. She once attended an athletics competition and saw that most of the participants were men. She wondered why more women were not professional runners. Kasher decided to try to organize a group of women who would regularly do something athletically related. On the program with Iris London-Zolty, she speaks about the process, its dizzying success, and the establishment of the Alley Runners Club.
The club, led by Shirit Kasher, now works to make a change in the lives of young people from troubled households and neighborhoods by providing them a social athletic framework that encourages them to become better students, leaders, and professional athletes.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Assaf Weiss, Maagalim
Assaf Weiss is the founder and executive director of Maagalim, a movement that seeks to help individuals from the geographic and social peripheries of Israel become personally empowered and prepared to live a life of meaning. The organization over the years has helped thousands of young people assume personal and social responsibility, become better acquainted with their Jewish identity, recognize the importance of doing something meaningful in the military or national service, and bolster their ability to deal with the challenges of life.
Speaking with Iris London-Zolty, Weiss discusses his worldview, the Maagalim organization, the fascinating ways in which he helps prepare young people for a life of meaning, the challenges that the organization has overcome, and the challenges that he still faces.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Mali Danino, Executive Director of Nitzan – The Israeli Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities
Nitzan was established in 1964 and is run by parents and volunteers seeking to provide care for children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities, ADD, and other functional challenges. At the same time, the organization provides support and instruction for parents facing difficulties in raising special-needs children.
On Iris London-Zolty's program, Nitzan Executive Director Mali Danino speaks about why the organization was established, about the progress that has been made until this point, and about the parents with whom it has partnered along the way. In addition, Danino speaks about her own professional path, from her bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences and psychology to working as an educational psychologist to her role for the past 15 years as executive director of Nitzan.

The People We've Been Waiting For – Lilo Tzarfati and Alam Ibrahim, the Israel Tennis Center
The Israel Tennis Center was founded by six avid tennis players who believed that sports give young people a great platform to succeed. There are now 14 tennis centers throughout Israel, particularly in peripheral areas and troubled neighborhoods. Besides the tennis lessons offered by the centers, there are a wide range of activities in which children, from toddlers to adolescents, can participate in to develop tools for life.
Iris London-Zolty hosts Alam Ibrahim, who is the director of the tennis center in the village of Sajur, and Lilo Tzarfati, who is the regional director for the centers in the greater Tel Aviv area and in northern Israel. The two spoke about their life stories and their belief that every child can be given the opportunity to learn about the game of life through the game of tennis.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Jenna Elbaz, My Piece of the Puzzle
Jenna Elbaz was a shy girl who, almost by chance during army service, found herself as an emissary at a Jewish Agency summer camp overseas, where she was exposed to special-needs kids and felt that she had found her calling in life. When she returned home from the camp, she felt a strong desire to bring together kids at risk and special-needs kids. One year later, she flew to the same camp and this time she took with her six at-risk young people from Ramla. The result, as she told Iris London-Zolty, was simply magical.
This success led Elbaz, together with her friend Shaked Karp, to establish My Piece of the Puzzle, a nonprofit which pairs at-risk young people with young people with special needs, giving them the opportunity to form relationships, cope with boundaries, test themselves, and flourish.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Tal Valentine, Dror-Israel
Tal Valentine spent his childhood as a member of Hanoar Haoved VeHalomed (Working and Studying Youth) youth movement. After his army service, he joined Dror-Israel’s Tnuat Bogrim (the graduate movement of Hanoar Haoved VeHalomed). Due to a combination of need, opportunity, and personal desire, he decided to work in the Beit Hatzeirim (Children’s House) in the Hadar neighborhood of Haifa. Beit Hatzeirim is actually a club for children in grades 4 through 6, where children come to take part in various activities organized by student volunteers.
On the show, Tal tells Iris London-Zolty about the personal progress he made in Hanoar Haoved VeHalomed, his ambition to work with children, and his desire to abolish the existing hierarchy in society towards children. This hierarchy is one that makes it hard to listen to children and take their opinion into consideration. He also talks about Beit Hatzeirim and its operations, which include collaboration with the Municipality of Haifa.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Mickey Hayat and Revital Shaltiel, Haredim La’Ketzev (Capoeira for Peace)
Mickey Hayat has been practicing Capoeira for over 20 years and has been teaching the martial art for a decade. Revital Shaltiel has been a fitness instructor for about 12 years. Both come from the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) world, where participation in sports is relatively low. However, the nonprofit organization they represent, Haredim La’Ketzev, was established to change this reality. The organization works to promote sports for men and women of all ages and in all sects of the Haredi population.
In an interview with Iris London-Zolty, Mickey and Revital talk about their life plans, their connection to sports, and the organization’s work in developing sports within the Haredi community. They explain how they make the sport accessible to their target audience and talk about social projects for the advancement of youth at risk and about the need to instill healthy lifestyle habits, while adhering to halacha (Jewish law).

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Yuvi Tashome-Katz, Friends in Nature
This time on the show, Iris London-Zolty hosts Yuvi Tshuma-Katz, a co-founder of Friends in Nature, a nonprofit organization for community empowerment, established in 2005 by Israelis of Ethiopian decent. The organization helps youth at risk and young people in informal education settings develop their self-identity and full potential, while bringing together different sectors of the population to create an atmosphere of tolerance and strengthen the connection between Israelis and their country.
The organization works primarily with the Ethiopian community in Israel, but also with other communities. On the show, Yuvi talks about the circumstances that led to the founding of the organization, its various activities, and the challenges it still faces. Three of Yuvi’s children, who are also hosted on the show, talk about their mother's work.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Ran Shimoni, Children of Music Project
Ran Shimoni is a talented musician who has found a way to combine music and social action. He came to the studio to talk to Iris London-Zolty about The Children of Music Project that he founded. The aim of the project is to locate musically gifted youth at risk who have a passion for music, but whose families are unable to finance music lessons, musical instruments, and professional guidance.
During the interview, Shimoni talks about himself, his love for music, key events in his life that led him to establish the project, and the tremendous support he receives from the music industry in Israel. The project has so far helped dozens of children from all sectors of society, including Jews, Arabs, new immigrants, and children of foreign workers.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Oded Soroka, ACHAI Foundation
The ACHAI Foundation was established to serve as a home for youth at risk and lone soldiers. The foundation provides support mainly in areas related to training and employment. The foundation runs a series of activities, training programs, and seminars that help at-risk youth and lone soldiers form connections with families, mentors, and leading businesses in Israel and the diaspora seeking long-term manpower.
Oded Soroka, a guest on the show, tells Iris London-Zolty about the vision of the ACHAI Foundation, the fascinating background to its establishment, and the founding of ACHAI Village to promote empowerment, solidarity, and leadership. The village prepares young people emotionally and physically for their army service, supports lone soldiers during their service, and offers them employment training once they are discharged.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Vered Nitzani and Lital Wasserman, Musot High School
Vered Nitzani and Lital Wasserman met when they worked together at the nonprofit organization ELEM. From their experience with youth at risk, they recognized the need for a comprehensive and long-term approach that would provide equal opportunity to those who had lost their way in traditional classroom settings. After two years of developing the idea, the two women founded Muzot High School of the Arts in Jaffa.
Muzot opened in 2005 and was attended by teens who had dropped out of all kinds of educational settings for various reasons. Muzot gives 10th to 12th grade students the opportunity to create and study by incorporating into their matriculation studies an extensive arts program that gives expression to their individual and creative abilities. On Iris London-Zolty’s show, the two talk about themselves and the alternative school they established.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Dr. Michal Komem and Roni Eyal-Lubling, Rotem Center at Sapir College
The Rotem Center, which has been operating for over a decade at Sapir College, is designed for marginalized adolescent girls and young women who, at some point in their lives have experienced trauma, been at risk, or, for various other reasons, have dropped out of mainstream society. The goal of the center is to help these women improve their lives by providing opportunities for their personal, social, educational, and professional advancement. In doing so, the center seeks to leverage the life experience of these young women and turn it into a resource for progress, while encouraging activism and leadership in their communities so that they can inspire and empower other young women who have been through similar experiences. This time on the show, Iris London-Zolty is hosting the two women who founded the Rotem Center, Dr. Michal Komem and Roni Eyal-Lubling, who talk about themselves and the background to the establishment of the center.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Naomi Faran, Moran Choir
Naomi Faran, a longtime music teacher, dreamed of setting up a professional children's choir that would sing throughout the world, much like European choirs, and not just at Memorial Day ceremonies. Naomi incorporated another vision into her dream: to integrate kids separated from society – including special-needs kids and youth at risk – through music, with the aim of leveraging musical excellence to draw disadvantaged populations into the community.
Today, after three decades, the Moran Choir has seven different ensembles varying in age and professional experience. In an interview on Iris London-Zolty's show, Naomi tells the story of the choirs, describing the benefits of choral singing for the kids.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Shir Gur
Shir Gur has been active in social engagement for over 25 years. Having worked in government ministries and a number of non-profit organizations, she now works for social change together with activists and professionals. She describes how her professional experience has given her the understanding of how those who know how to work the system can obtain the resources that they need, but how there are others in Israel who cannot. Shir’s ambition, as she explained in an interview with Iris London-Zolty, is to provide those who lack this ability with the knowledge they need to fight for their rights and obtain additional rights. She also talks about her work, her achievements, and the challenges still facing us as a society.

The People We’ve Been Waiting For – Varda Drucker, Ametz Lohem
Ametz Lohem (Adopt a Soldier) is a social engagement project established by YAHAD – United for Israeli Soldiers (a division of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israeli Soldiers and the LIBI Fund). Its purpose is to empower soldiers in the various IDF combat units by connecting them to the business sector. In other words, a company can adopt a combat unit and donate money to it. According to Varda Drucker, the project’s director for the last 12 years, the really amazing aspect of this project is not so much the money but rather the relationships formed between company employees and the soldiers.
In an interview on Iris London-Zolty’s show, Varda talks about Ametz Lohem, the circumstances that led her to it, and the beautiful stories that emerge from the warm embrace given to soldiers by the companies.