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Kadoorie offered much of what the new school needed. As an

agricultural high-school with 1,600 students, one of the oldest in Israel,

founded back in 1933, it has an educational ethos of accepting children

from diverse backgrounds and bringing them together. It also has

experience in integrating special children in classes for students with

attention disorders and communication disabilities. And crucially, it

offered the infrastructure and space for a new purpose-built structure

within its existing campus. “Multi-culturalism and welcoming children of

all religions and social backgrounds has always been part of Kadoorie’s

DNA” says Roy Bar Ilan, the current CEO of Kadoorie. “It was a natural

for us to take on this project”.

But while Kadoorie provided the site and infrastructure and the

government funded the building and the staff to work at the new school,

any additional equipment or special training for the teachers, beyond

the ministry’s basic standards, would have to be funded externally. The

standard funding would have been sufficient to get the new school up

and running, but all those involved at that stage believed that this was

an opportunity to go much further and build something truly unique.

They began casting around for partners.

One of those partners was Robert Singer, CEO of theWorld Jewish

Congress, who in his previous role as head of World ORT, had

pioneered innovative educational initiatives around the world. “This

was an opportunity to fulfill the ideals we have always believed in that

society is only as strong as its weakest link and that is where we are

truly tested - how we take care of the most vulnerable members in our

society,” says Singer. Together with Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, the

WJC Chief ProgramOfficer, who had worked with him at World ORT,

they joined the group of founders and a teamwas formed to guide the

faculty of the school which was then still only on the drawing board. The

Alumot Or (sheaves of light) foundation was set up to fundraise and

provide technical and logistical support to the new school.

“They were recruiting great people to run the school” says Nisim Barda,

Alumot Or’s project manager. “But there was a need for another level of

guidance to push forward long-term infrastructure programs, prepare

proposals for donors and cooperate with the education ministry and

local authority. This is where Alumot Or comes in”. To make all this

happen, a key donor would be necessary.

A partnership

is born

“Our ideal has always

been that society is only as

strong as its weakest link

and that is where we are

truly tested - how we take

care of our society’s most

vulnerable members”

Robert Singer, Alumot Or Chairman