In a warm and festive atmosphere, we launched the new academic year with a meeting of the two cohorts of fellows (Migdal HaEmek and Baqa al-Gharbiyye) and the two groups of program graduates (Tira and Kafr Kara) with the staff of the Mandel Center for Leadership in the North.
Some 50 fellows and recent graduates attended the evening event, which took place at a restaurant in Karkur, and featured the works of writer Marzuk al-Halabi, singer Neta Elkayam and her troupe as well as remarks by representatives of the four cohorts and the Center's faculty.
This was the first time that all the cohorts got together for a shared social and cultural evening. Later on in the year, there are plans underway to hold a joint one-day seminar and arrange visits to strengthen the ties among the cohorts and learn together.
Faculty member Shahira Shalaby, who co-runs the new Mandel Program for Local Leadership in Baqa al-Gharbiyye with Dr. Asaf Turgeman, came up with the idea for the social gathering to mark the new academic year and organized it together with Dana Ling, the Center’s administrative assistant.
