Dr. Varda Shiffer is the President of the Mandel Foundation-Israel. She established the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev and directed the Center from 2004 until the end of 2009. Previously, she directed the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem, served as Chief Scientist of the Civil Service Commission and was in charge of the audit of the education system at the State Comptroller’s Office. Dr. Shiffer is a lecturer in the MBA Social Leadersip Program at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and was the editor of the periodical “Civil Society and Third Sector in Israel”. Dr. Shiffer is a member of the ethics in public organizations committee at the Israel Institute for Ethics and sits on the International Council of the New Israel Fund. Previously, she served as member of the Board of Directors and chairperson of the Grants Committee of the New Israel Fund. Dr. Shiffer has published articles on civil society in Israel, on the right to education in closed communities and on education in the Haredi Community in Israel.