The Heschel Center Announces a New Chair of the Board

We are delighted and thrilled to announce that media personality Miki Haimovich is joining the ranks of the Heschel Center for Sustainability, as the chair of our board.

Miki Haimovich is a former journalist and a leader of campaigns for environmental protection and animal rights. Most recently, she served as a Member of Knesset from the Blue and White parliamentary group in the 21-23 Knesset (2019-2021).After over 25 years in television, Miki is not only a well-known public figure in Israel, she is also an inspiring one. To name just a few of her impressive accomplishments, she was the first woman to head a major newscast in Israel thus breaking a glass ceiling that paved the way for additional women anchors. Between 2014 and 2018, she hosted a social and environmental investigative journalism program, in which she researched and presented dozens of investigative items on social issues. She has also spearheaded several investigations into harmful food, focusing on the impact of nutrition on children and their health. Her environmental stories include items on food waste, plastic, the sea, public transportation, and more.

For her journalistic work, she won five Golden Screen Awards for the best current affairs moderator, the Rachel Primor Prize of the Second Television and Radio Authority, and the Kinneret Prize for Media, Social Issues and Environment.

In 2012, she founded the NGO, “Meatless Monday Israel” as part of a global movement calling for reducing the consumption of animals for moral, ecological, and health reasons.

Miki also brought her desire to bring about change to the government. In the two years she served as the chair of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, she brought topics for discussion that hardly ever received attention from government ministries. Some of her successes include the declaration to remove the petrochemical industries from Haifa Bay, the ban of plastic disposables usage in nature reserves and beaches, the removal of barriers to promote solar PV installations, and more.

In spending significant time with Miki in the past few weeks, we have enjoyed discovering that we share many dreams in promoting sustainability in Israel. While we also face many challenges – including democratic, socioeconomic, and climate crises – we are excited by the opportunities this period offers: namely, reaching more people in diverse spheres of influence; empowering and nurturing our alumni community; and instilling deep systemic thought among decision-makers.

Most importantly, we feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work so closely with Miki, an inspiring woman in her passion for promoting sustainability with genuine respect for humans, animals, and the environment. She is a most welcome addition to the women leading the Heschel Center.