What are activists in Israel doing to create a more open, equal, and just society in the face of current challenges? Hear from Ronit Heyd, executive director of Shatil, the action arm of the New Israel Fund project, for the past eight years. Ronit has run projects on religious pluralism and on social and economic justice. Ronit is currently a Wexner fellow at Harvard. She will speak about the immediate challenges faced by those who believe in Israel's democracy and opportunities for progress. Light refreshments will be served. Biography: Ronit has served for the past eight years as the Executive Director of Shatil: Leading Social Change, an initiative of the New Israel Fund. Shatil is at the forefront of advancing Democracy, Shared Society, Religious Freedom and Social Justice in Israel by building the capacity of organizations and activists, networking and coordinating coalitions, and advocating for policy change. Ronit joined Shatil in 2001 as the coordinator of the Religious Pluralism Project. She later developed and led the Social and Economic Justice Initiative at Shatil. In her roles, Ronit consulted and trained dozens of organizations, organized coalitions and led advocacy campaigns. Ronit holds an MA magna cum laude in Social Psychology and a BA summa cum laude from the Hebrew University. She has also written a published series of children’s stories called Manyera the Witch.