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Empowering Jerusalem’s
Women Entrepreneurs

Poverty and unemployment remain critically high in Jerusalem, with women disproportionately affected. Only 40% of women in Jerusalem are active in the labor force, compared to 57% of women nationwide and, on average, men earn 29% more than women. Women from disadvantaged communities, such as Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) and Israeli Arab populations, face even greater obstacles due to entrenched poverty. The situation for other women worsened during the recent war, with many women bearing a double burden as business owners and wives of reservist soldiers, often stepping up to prevent business collapse.

MATI recognizes and tackles gender-specific barriers to social mobility, and empowers women from diverse backgrounds - including religious, secular, Haredi, Ethiopian, Russian, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, new immigrants, Ukrainian refugees, single mothers, and unemployed women - to become entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Orit Grushtein and

MATI PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN

Business Training & Community Building

Business Consulting & Financial Services

JIMF Microfinance Program

TIFLI - Upgrading Daycare Centers & Training Caregivers

SUPPORTING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Along with our core programs for entrepreneurs, MATI has created the Turning Point Entrepreneurship Support program to specifically help women overcome genuine barriers to their business that are often compounded by their lack of confidence. For example, our mentors coach women to create impressive investor-ready business plans in order to obtain financing from banks, microloan funds and other capital sources, that are often biased toward helping men.

Our Business Accelerator Courses give female entrepreneurs the confidence to strengthen their personal and professional identity, develop strategic marketing skills, and understand their finances. Events for women entrepreneurs create spaces for them to connect and support one another in growing their businesses. Through affordable business growth training, personalized consulting, professional business plan development, networking events and targeted support, MATI equips women with the confidence, leadership, and skills to achieve economic independence, strengthen their financial resilience, and access new opportunities for growth.

MATI’s Annual Women’s Business Conference celebrates women entrepreneurs, featuring inspirational speakers and expert panels, and facilitating networking opportunities and exposure for small business owners and entrepreneurs who are supported by MATI. Our Women’s Forum in East Jerusalem has created a monthly space for Arab business women to connect, join workshops, learn from each other, and gain practical support in growing their businesses.

SUCCESS STORIES

Gura Berger

Saving Time Through Digital Transformation

As a senior consultant to Israel’s tourism sector, Gura Berger’s business vanished when the COVID-19 pandemic stopped international tourism in 2020. Domestic tourism was suddenly the only option, and MATI stepped in to help Jerusalem’s tourism professionals to develop sustainable models for local tourism under tight COVID restrictions. Gura’s AutoMATI consultant created automation tools for managing her employees and clients, and a new CRM system enabled her to follow up efficiently with clients and partners. “Today I manage everything from my phone on the move. AutoMATI literally saved me hundreds of hours of work.”

Orit Sedan

From Tour Guide to Hebrew Instructor

The Iron Swords War forced many tourism professionals to pivot quickly into new careers. Orit had been thinking about developing a Hebrew language conversation course for new immigrants. She turned to MATI and was assigned a business consultant to turn that idea into a business. Orit says: “What makes Ma’ayan unique is that she focuses on her clients’ success, not her own, and delivers an uplifting and empowering client experience. My first Hebrew conversation course was a tremendous success, and I look forward to developing my business further with MATI’s help.”

Batool Salman

Holistic Support for a Holistic Doctor

Batool Salman is a holistic medicine practitioner with international certifications. She approached MATI seeking professional guidance and support to build her business. We provided her with a holistic (!) combination of personalized consulting and skill-building courses, so she could develop her branding, marketing and website strategy, and implement them using the latest digital marketing and AI tools. Thanks to this training and a 40,000 NIS interest-free loan from our JIMF fund, Batool is now better positioned to deliver her medical expertise in a more professional, structured, and impactful manner.

Dr. Maia Batash

Building an ADHD Clinic in Jerusalem

New York neurologist Dr. Maia Batash made Aliyah 12 years ago to work as a hospital neurologist. Noticing a critical gap in Israeli healthcare, she decided to set up a comprehensive ADHD center for adolescents and adults that would combine conventional medical diagnosis with integrative therapies, providing holistic ADHD care under one roof. Through MATI’s JIMF program, she received not only crucial startup capital but also strategic business guidance to turn her vision into reality. By helping Dr. Batash, MATI has helped her to provide Jerusalemites with better care, multiplying the impact of that initial business loan.

Tzipporah Schvarcz

HaSipur – the Aliyah Success Story

Tzipporah made Aliyah in 2024 with her husband and children, leaving behind a pottery business in America. She felt overwhelmed by the prospect of starting a ceramics business in a new country with a different culture, language and rules. Mati’s business coach helped Tzipporah to write a business plan and take manageable steps toward the opening of HaSipur, a boutique ceramics supply shop, in December 2025. “Adi made me feel like I can literally do anything. I have someone supporting me, explaining to me what needs to be done in this country, and how I can run a business here. MATI makes a world of a difference!”

Yodfat Dagan

Turning Her Hobby into a Business

Yodfat, a mother of five, was running a small dress rental business when she noticed growing demand among religious women for stylish, comfortable headscarves. She turned to MATI to bring her vision to life. Through our consulting and mentoring, she retrained as a headscarf designer, creating unique cutting methods and building a thriving brand with a website, a studio and a store in Jerusalem. She says: “Before MATI, my business was a hobby. Thanks to their support, I can now make a decent living doing what I love, creating Israeli products that bring joy to my customers.”

Ana

From War to Renewal

Ana, a 36-year-old lawyer, fled Ukraine with her two children when the war broke out, leaving her husband behind. Unable to practice law in Israel without completing a lengthy requalification process, she turned to MATI for support. Through our empowerment course, Ana identified her strengths—creativity, energy, and love for working with children—and built herself a new career. With MATI’s guidance, she launched Russian-language after-school art classes and holiday art camps for immigrant children. Her programs quickly grew in demand, developing waitlists and giving Ana financial stability, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Galit Amosi

Becoming a Mentor for Entrepreneurs

Galit Amosi, a mother of six from Jerusalem, was building her own events production business whenshe signed up for MATI’s Business Accelerator program for women entrepreneurs. The workshops gave her practical business tools but also the clarity to recognize her true calling: become a mentor for other women entrepreneurs! Today, Galit leads MATI’s community of nearly 100 trailblazing women, delivering workshops on building healthy business foundations. “I look back with tremendous gratitude for the crossroads where I met MATI, and for the enormous impact of the program on me professionally and personally,” says Galit. “Thank you for the tools, for the safe space you created, and especially for the opportunity to grow.”

PLANS FOR 2026

Opening more Business Accelerator Courses in different neighborhoods around Jerusalem to give female entrepreneurs the confidence to build their businesses, develop strategic marketing skills, and understand their finances

Opening a TIFLI Daycare Center in East Jerusalem

Running our annual Women’s Business Conference for women entrepreneurs

Expanding our Monthly Women’s Forum for women entrepreneurs in East Jerusalem

2025 IMPACTS FOR WOMEN

0

women benefited from the Turning Point program

0

women received one-on-one Business Consulting

$ 0 m

raised in
Business Loans for women entrepreneurs

0

women participated in Courses, Workshops & Webinars

PROGRAM PARTNERS

Our women’s program partners include the Municipal Employment Authority of Jerusalem and the various Community Centers around the city where MATI Business Accelerator Courses are held. Our women’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the Gilbert Foundation, Yad Hanadiv, Bader Philanthropies, the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta, the Max Kagan Family Foundation, the Sobell Foundation, and other private donors and foundations.

Melinda Gates says: "If you empower women, they empower everybody else around them. And so, if we want healthy societies, we lift up all women."

Talk to us about helping to empower the women of Jerusalem to overcome barriers, seize opportunities,
and rise as resilient business owners in Jerusalem.

Learn More

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