Ilana Kwartin
Ilana Kwartin was born in the Former Soviet Union and made Aliyah in 1987. She grew up in Jerusalem and served as a commander and officer in an IDF field intelligence unit, including service deep in the Gaza Strip.
Afterward, Ilana earned B.A. degrees in Law and Psychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Ilana has a Ph.D. in Gender Studies from Bar-Ilan University, after researching “Honor-based Confinement” among married women in Israel. Her dissertation was published as a book, כלואות, and in English, as Imprisoned.
Ilana’s professional career began in corporate law, but upon moving to Israel’s south in 2009, she became an activist, working specifically toward women’s rights. Her expertise has shaped legislation passed by the Israeli Parliament and featured in rulings by Israel’s Supreme Court.
In addition to running her own legal practice specializing in women’s rights in the workplace and family, Ilana for many years has taught Zumba to women and young girls, both in Israel’s southern periphery and to at-risk populations, as a means to self-empowerment.
Over the course of her career, Ilana was Vice President and Head of Resource Development at Eretz-Ir, an organization developing urban communities in Israel’s periphery via entrepreneurship and employment centers. Later, she served in Los Angeles as the Regional Director (Western United States) for the Jewish Agency for Israel, overseeing departments including shlichim (emissaries), Aliyah (immigration), partnerships and strategy. After returning to Israel, Ilana directed the Collaborative Pooled Fund for the prevention of Intimate Partner Violence in Israel.
Most recently, Ilana was CEO of the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation Israel, overseeing their two main projects: Healing Space Rishpon and Youth of Light.
Healing Space is a groundbreaking response to the mental and emotional trauma inflicted on Israel by the October 7, 2023, tragedy and subsequent war. Founded in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, Healing Space recognizes both the ongoing nature of the trauma and its ripple effect throughout Israeli society. Utilizing a holistic, multi-modality approach, Healing Space works to repair the body-mind connection ruptured by trauma and to build resilience. From its inception for survivors of the Re’im festivals, Healing Space has grown to encompass bereaved families, survivors’ parents, young adults displaced from the Gaza Envelope, medical teams, IDF special forces coping with traumatic loss, soldiers rotating out of Gaza, and those readjusting to civilian life.
Youth of Light is an organization dedicated to building a better future in Israel, helping to heal the deepest wounds and overcome the most harrowing trauma. Our program for underprivileged children and teens takes at-risk youth off the streets and places them in a 5-phase training program designed to transform them into fully functioning, responsible, and self-assured individuals. Using proven educational methodologies based on the work done by the Patrizio Paoletti Foundation, such as soft skills training and mindful meditation techniques we set up our participants for a lifetime of prosperity, positivity, and success.
Ilana also lectures on the convergence of Law and Gender, Women’s Rights, Coercive Control, Femtech, Social Entrepreneurship, and other topics.
Ilana and her family were early members of Eliav, a community for Secular and Orthodox in the Judean foothills. There, she co-founded an inclusive, Orthodox minyan (Minyan Meshatef) and a shared working space and business network in her community to bolster entrepreneurship and self-employment in her local region. Ilana is married to BG, a tour guide and educator, and mother of four children: Tamara, Yoav, Ivri and Arava. They live in Eliav.
