Dr. Shiffer established the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev and has run the Center since 2004. She directed the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem and held positions as Chief Scientist of the Civil Service Commission, and head of the unit in charge of the audit of the education system at the State Comptroller’s Office. Dr. Shiffer is a lecturer in the Non-Profit Management Track at the School of Management at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and is the editor of the periodical: “Civil Society and Third Sector in Israel”.
In the framework of her public activities, Dr. Shiffer is a member of the advisory committee on ‘ethics in public organizations’ at the Israel Institute for Ethics and of the International Council of the New Israel Fund where she previously served as member of the Board of Directors and chairperson of the Grants Committee.
Dr. Shiffer has published articles on civil society in Israel, on the right to education in closed societies and on education in the Haredi Community.

Jacob (Yankale) Steinberg is a graduate of the School for Educational Leadership at Mandel Leadership Institute, in Jerusalem.
His has practiced law in the fields of ethics of public systems and criminal justice, mainly as a staff member of the Israeli Securities Authority Enforcement Division. In addition to his legal practice, he was involved in the development of technological systems for regulation and enforcement in the capital market. Jacob also participated in the establishment of educational and socially-oriented initiatives, as a consultant, advisor and as a team member. He served as the policy consultant of the department for gifted children at the Ministry of Education and as the coordinator of the sub-committee for communities and sectors of the Dovrat committee.
As a part of his public voluntary activity, Jacob initiated activities designed to promote financial and legal literacy and social entrepreneurship among youth and marginalized groups, such as refugees and illegal immigrants.
Jacob Steinberg joined the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev as Co-Director shortly after its establishment.

Dr. Aharonovich, a resident of Mazkeret Batya, completed his entire academic career in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He finished his B.A. with honors in 1991. His M.A. thesis (honors) focused on the relationship between financial cycles and spatial cycles. His doctoral thesis dealt with the approaches of urban planning to multicultural realities and focused on the differences between Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Toronto.
In the past Itzhak was the deputy director of the tutoring program (Perach) at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, director of the division for strategic planning and information in Ofakim and also worked at Svivot Tichnun, a firm specializing in urban planning.
Dr. Aharonovich joined the Mandel Center in 2006.

Safa Abu-Rabia is a resident of the south, an anthropologist and doctorate student at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in the department of interdisciplinary studies. She completed her studies in the department of behavioral sciences, in the anthropological track. The subject of her dissertation study is the construction of identity amongst the Arab-Bedouin in the Negev. She is currently completing her study on the construction of the historic discourse amongst Arab-Bedouin women of the 1948 generation, in the Negev.

Safa received a prize for completing her studies with honors from the Haim Herzog Center for the Study of the Middle East and Diplomacy. She is a lecturer at the Ben Gurion University and a social activist in the Negev. She is also a business consultant and a group leader in the field of social and financial empowerment. In additions, she writes a column in the "Mizad Sheni" (on the other hand) journal, publishes articles in the field of her research and takes part in conferences in Israel and abroad.

Israel Sorek is an alumnus of The Mandel Institute's School of Educational Leadership (second class). He is the founder and manager of Bemashava Thila (think ahead) – an institute for philosophy and practical studies. Israel taught philosophy an educational philosophy at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and trained teachers of philosophy. He founded and edited the journal Aformally, a forum for social issues, education, and leadership, as well as managing the Human Dignity forum at Van Leer Institute.
He served as a staff member and dean of colleagues at the School of Educational Leadership and managed the IDF's educational leadership development program, in its first two years of existence. Shorek's work includes, among other things, training group instructors and incorporating theatre and philosophy. His published work includes Values, published in Crossroads, 1997 and Philosophy as a Practical Science, published in the book, A Tale of Education, 2003.

Dr. Bar-On works in the field of workers and work. Her doctoral study at the Department of Work Studies at Tel Aviv University encompasses the social history of workers in the town of Ofaqim, focusing on the workers' struggle against the closing of their factories. Additional research includes workers and work in the pre-independence period. In addition she has assisted at "Kav Laoved" (workers' hotline) association and today serves as the workers` representative at the regional work court at Beer Sheva.
Over the past decade, Dr. Bar-On has taught in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Politics and Governance departments at Ben-Gurion University of The Negev, and in the Work Studies department at Tel Aviv University. She has published several articles and has presented her research in conferences in Israel and worldwide. Shani returned to the Negev ten years ago and currently resides in Beer sheva.

Dr. Shani received MA and PhD degrees in political science from Princeton University and a BA in philosophy and political science and an MA in political philosophy, both from Tel Aviv University. For her doctoral work, Danielle researched the origins of citizens' interest in politics, especially the ways in which socioeconomic status, family socialization, school environment and formative events influence the development of a motivation for political participation. Her dissertation was selected co-winner of the Best Dissertation Award in Political Psychology for 2010 by the American Political Science Association. She was also a Fulbright Scholar, a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Scholars, and the winner of the Knesset award for exceptional academic achievements. Previously she worked at the Israel Democracy Institute and established the Israeli Democracy Index project. As a journalist, she was head of the news desk at the Yediot Achronot newspaper, and served as the political correspondent, news editor and broadcaster on Galei Tzahal radio.

Nitza is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is currently a doctorate student at the Dept. of Education at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Her main research interests include organizational identity, processes of constructing identity and the interface between self identity and organizational identity.
Nitza was the evaluator for the southern office of the Karev Program in Beersheba for a decade and has been an organizational consaltent, group facilitator and evaluator for different educational, health and welfare institutions, mainly in the south. She is teaching courses in evaluation, organization and identity for undergraduate and graduate students in several colleges and for the last decade has taught and supervised these themes at BGU.
Nitza has resided in the Beersheba region for 13 years

Liat Boyko-Ovadya arrived in Beer Sheva from Tel Aviv six years ago for her Bachelor's studies in Politics and Governance and Middle East studies at Ben-Gurion University of The Negev, and chose to remain thereafter. She has since completed her Master's in Organizational Sociology at Ben-Gurion.
Liat has experience in evaluating educational projects, organizational consulting, group instruction, and program coordination, in social advocacy groups. Additionally, she has worked as a teaching assistant in the Politics and Governance department at Ben-Gurion. In conjunction with her work as program coordinator at Mandel Leadership Institute of the Negev, which she began in October 2009, Liat guides a group of young women on their road to joining the occupational and educational world, as an instructor for the Women's Lobby and Tnufa Batasuka (Momentum in Employment) - founded by Joint Israel and the Israeli government.