For more information about SHATIL, please visit the english version of the SHATIL website.

The challenges facing all democracies, and Israel's young democracy in particular, are enormous.

SHATIL, the New Israel Fund's empowerment and training center was established in 1982 to promote democracy, tolerance, and social justice in Israel. Recognizing the need for building a strong civil society in Israel, SHATIL,  Israel's leading capacity building center for social change organizations, provides over 1000 non-profit organizations with consulting and training in organizational development, advocacy, media and PR, coalition building, resource development and volunteer management each year.

SHATIL has been promoting civil society and helping Israeli society put democratic principles into practice for the past 20 years.

It is building whole new sectors of non-profit organizations committed to addressing neglected issues, like environmental justice, vast socioeconomic needs in the Negev and the rights of new immigrants, the Arab community and other disadvantaged communities.

It is working to ensure that isolated population groups and geographic regions are brought into the broader public debate on issues that affect all Israeli citizens. And every time SHATIL helps community groups and coalitions advance their agendas, that success encourages additional communities and other groups to seize the initiative for making further change. In short, SHATIL is one of Israel's most powerful vehicles for strengthening Israeli democracy.

With offices in Haifa- serving the northern periphery, Beersheva- serving the southern periphery, and Jerusalem in the center of the country, SHATIL's multi-cultural staff has a broad understanding of Israeli society and is in the position to help the third sector mobilize to promote civil society in Israel.

Who do we serve?
While a healthy number of civil society organizations are founded each year, they lack the professional skills required to sustain their organizations, develop clear goals and objectives and raise funding. To encourage and sustain the growth of civil society organization in Israel and encourage the empowerment of peripheral populations, SHATIL provides organizations each year with direct consulting, training workshops and coalition coordination. Specifically, SHATIL works with organizations that:

• Defend civil and human rights
• Promote Jewish-Arab equality and coexistence
• Advance the status of women
• Foster tolerance and pluralism
• Bridge social and economic gaps
• Pursue environmental justice, and
• Encourage government accountability