How the AMIT Network
Thrived During COVID A Conversation with Amnon Eldar, PhD, AMIT Director General
BY GLORIA AVERBUCH
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r. Amnon Eldar was steeped in the education field from an early age. He grew up in Be’er Sheva to educator parents. “In my family, education was always of utmost importance,” he explains. Nevertheless, initially he was torn between a career in medicine or law. However, he was greatly impacted by his army service, which changed his mind. “I realized I had to go into education in order to influence Israeli society as much as possible,” he says. He began his career, together with his wife Michal, as a surrogate couple at AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Jerusalem, AMIT’s home for at-risk youth. From there, he taught in high schools, continued working with at-risk youth, and oversaw AMIT Beit Hayeled and the AMIT Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikvah. While there, Eldar wrote his PhD thesis on the “mishpachton” (family) model, unique to the AMIT Network, and its impact on youth who must be removed from their homes. Dr. Eldar has served as AMIT Director General since 2003. Considered one of Israel’s leaders in education, Eldar has led AMIT to become Israel’s top educational network, revolutionizing the field of education and ensuring its relevance in the 21st century. Dr. Eldar is a sought-after educator who has served on the Prime Minister’s Roundtable Committee and as the sole representative of educational networks on the Minister of Education’s Committee for School Principal Autonomy.
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What have been your personal highlights in your role as AMIT General Director? Leading the Network to first place for four years in the Ministry of Education’s Picture (a measure of seven criteria); being ranked as Israel’s leading educational network in academic excellence, values-based education, and army enlistment; development and implementation of the Gogya method to lead schools into the 21st century, thereby transforming the educational experience for students and educators alike; ensuring that the professional HQ team and educational teams in schools are winning teams across the board; and ensuring that the Network is strong and financially stable. What were your priorities when you realized the educational challenges due to COVID? How did you adapt? At AMIT we always look at the whole child, including academics, social and emotional development, values-based education, home situation, and more. It was critical that we not lose any child and that each child’s needs were fully met. The form and management of the Network which is deeply ingrained in our teams, allowed us the ability, flexibility, and agility to think outside the box. We immediately established four strategic teams based on the methods of the BCG Consulting Group for management in a time of crisis, to ensure transformation during
