Business leaders meet to discuss gender inequality and workers’ rights
“Israel is at the bottom of the income distribution inequality scale,” explained Nissim Barel, chairman of the Yozmot Atid NGO.
By BRADLEY LEVINFrom right: Yanki Margalit. Yael Ovadia. Adi Sofer-Teeni, Nissim Bar-El. Hagit Adler. Yoel Cheshin(photo credit: SHIRA DIAMANT)Gender inequality and workers’ rights were the feature of a panel held at the 10th annual Tel Aviv Family Office Conference earlier this month.“Israel is at the bottom of the income distribution inequality scale,” explained Nissim Barel, chairman of the Yozmot Atid NGO that is working to shrink socioeconomic gaps by providing the underprivileged with the resources necessary to create their own businesses.The panel specifically delved into the relationship between business and social entrepreneurship and aside from Barel, included the following panelists: Yanki Margalit, chairman of Future Initiatives Nissim Bar-El; Adi Sofer-Teeni, CEO of Facebook Israel; Yoel Cheshin, chairman of 2b Group; and Hagit Adler, CEO of Osem-Nestle Professional.Facebook’s Sofer-Teeni suggested that gender inequality should be among the main focuses of every investor and company.“I would be happy if an investor asks a company two questions: One, how many women work in their company? And secondly, how do they produce an impact through their products, employees?” Sofer-Teeni said.Chesin expressed similar sentiments, noting that “a business should do more than just maximizing its profits.”Osem-Nestle’s Adler said this is especially important when working with the younger generation, who tends to blur the lines between the business and social worlds.“Young people want to know the influence of the company they work for on the world,” she said, “how the employer does not hurt [the world, and also] what values they share.”
