What does Lamerhav mean to me?
It means taking a deep breath, taking the time to think, and a moment just “to be”.
It means lying in a hammock or eating a chocolate chip cookie, and feeling that I’m equal, that someone cares about me, that I’m worth something, loved, and worthy of the opportunities I’m getting.
It means a moment to get help, allowing myself not to know everything, and not demanding from myself to always be strong!
It means a counselor who will always be there for me, who’s happy to talk, to listen, to advise, and that sometimes just knowing she’s there for me makes all the difference in my “aloneness”.
It means good people, with the drive to work individually and together to make significant change in our society!
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Bella Alexandrov is the CEO of the Eretz-Ir NGO (previously named Tor Hamidbar), which has worked since 2006 to advance the quality of community life in cities in the social and geographic periphery of Israel. The organization works through promoting community, social entrepreneurship, and diverse and fair employment opportunities. Bella holds a BA in community social work from the Sapir Academic College, and an MA in non-profit management from the Schwartz Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which she completed magna cum laude. Throughout her past decade of activity in the non-profit sector she has worked to advance the periphery and disadvantaged communities, especially at-risk young adults and youth.
Previously, Bella has been a community organizer with Shatil South, the community manager at the Ma’avarim community occupational center at the Eshkol-Merhavim local councils, and an Elem field coordinator in Kiryat Gat. As a student, she was the student government vice president at Sapir College and ran social benefit projects and was in charge of student welfare. During her military service she founded and ran Migdalor, a support center for youth from Former Soviet republics, in Petach Tikva.
Bella is a member of the Kama community, a mission-driven group in Be’er Sheva that aims to bring about social change through fieldwork. She is married to Levi and has two kids: Sasha (3), and Tal (1).
