About Raya Strauss Ben Dror

נשיאה ומייסדת ‘רוח הגליל’

Raya Strauss Ben Dror

President and founder of “Spirit of the Galilee”

Raya sees herself as continuing in the footsteps of her parents, who chose to immigrate to the Land of Israel as pioneers and Zionist Jews.

The goal of social entrepreneurship is to raise the quality and standard of living in the Western Galilee.

"

My parents did not come to the Land of Israel for me to give it up. We must do everything
we can”

biography

Raya Strauss Ben Dror, a philanthropic social entrepreneur and businesswoman, was born in Nahariya.
Her parents, Dr. Richard and Hilde Strauss, immigrated to Israel in 1936 as Zionist pioneers in the Fifth Aliyah, along with their son Michael Strauss, and they were among the founders of Nahariya. They became farmers and raised diverse field crops. Furthermore, two cows grazed on their property.

Over time, the number of cows increased, and with them, the milk yield as well. Hilde, who was known as an excellent cook, began manufacturing various dairy products from the surplus milk, which were sold by the Strauss couple along with the field crops, to the residents of Nahariya and the British soldiers in the region. This infrastructure brought forth the Strauss Dairies in Nahariya.
Raya Strauss studied at the Weizmann School in Nahariya and at the Theoretical High School in the city. She was one of the leaders of the “United Movement” Group (“Gar’in”) in Nahariya as well as an apprentice and a boat commander in the “HaPoel Nahariya Flotilla” (“HaYamiya”). Raya studied Diploma Studies at the University of Haifa within the fields of Marketing, Business Management and Spokesmanship.

Subsequently, she specialized in Family Business Studies at the Kellogg University in the USA. Furthermore, she specialized in Business Social Responsibility (BSR) Studies – Corporate Social Responsibility, in Canada, a curriculum that was launched by the Gaspé Beaubien Foundation.

”For many years I have been active within social fields, I contributed and promoted, yet this has not been an involvement in significant national processes. The murder of Yitzhak Rabin of blessed memory, made me realize that I must descend from the stands onto the field and begin doing more”

Raya Strauss Ben Dror

President and founder of “Spirit of the Galilee”

1995

Business Activities

Business Activities
Between 1965 and 2005, Raya Strauss Ben Dror shared the ownership of “Strauss” with her brother Michael Strauss, and was part of its Senior Management and Board of Directors.
Raya and Michael were leaders to a series of important strategic moves, after having formulated a vision for the Company. These moves turned “Strauss” into a leading international company and promoted it to the forefront of the food market in Israel and worldwide. Among others, partnership agreements were signed with major companies such as Unilever, Danone and PepsiCo-Frito Lay, and the ownership of the Elite Company was acquired. Moreover, Strauss Ben Dror led substantial processes related to social accountability and entrepreneurship.

Among these, strengthening the Company’s contributions and social activities as well as the process of assimilating “Israel is Beautiful” within the Organization, which determines environmental protection standards among production plants and organizations. As part of her activities in “Strauss”, Raya initiated the formation of the first Social Report of a business company in Israel. 

Together with her brother, Raya established “Strauss Investments (1993) Ltd.” , that was engaged in investments in Israel and abroad. Likewise, she served as the Company’s Co-President with him until he passed away. Furthermore, Strauss Ben Dror owns her own investment company and she has invested, among others, in companies such as Acro Real Estate, B.S.R. and several private investment funds.

Following the merger of “Strauss” with “Elite” in 2005, Raya decided to leave “Strauss” and sell all her shares in the Company. Since then, she has been devoting most of her time to philanthropic activities and social entrepreneurship in Israel.

Prizes and Awards

2019

The Rappaport Prize – a lifetime achievement award for an inspiring woman, for groundbreaking work by a woman for societal change in Israeli society, was awarded to her in March 2019.

2017

The “Key to the City of Ma'alot-Tarshiha” award, a distinguished service award for working and developing the City’s urban planning – was awarded to her in September 2017.
An Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Tel Aviv University in 2017.

2016

"The President’s Volunteer” Award for Hebrew Year 5766 – 2016, was awarded by the President to those who were engaged in promoting the understanding, dialogue, tolerance and partnership between diverse groups in Israeli society.

2015

The “Exemplary Social Activity” Award on behalf of the Israeli National Volunteering Council and the Sderot Conference in 2015.

2014

An Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Bar Ilan University in 2014.

2011

Honorary Doctorate Degrees from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (currently the Reichman University) in 2011.

2010

Lighting a torch on Israel’s 62nd Independence Day in 2010.

2008

The “Key to the Mateh Asher Regional Council” award in 2008.

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She has been privately supporting for many years significant social organizations and two realities while focusing <\/span><\/span>on 3 main areas of action: activities to promote social responsibility | The unity of the Jewish people Providing an opportunity to young people and teenagers at risk<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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With Raya\u2019s initiative, the first attempt to promote a regional quantum leap in Israel was carried out. It was clear to Raya that the first region where a quantum leap should be promoted was the Western Galilee \u2013 her birthplace and domicile. The message is unequivocal: \u201cWe must take care of ourselves, there is no one else to take care of us\u201d.<\/p>

She began promoting tourism. After all the regional officials casted doubt on the potential of this field, Raya established a tourism venture by herself and using her own funds, which was joined by hundreds of business owners. The project that was called \u201cTreasures of the Galilee\u201d, became a resounding success and the entire region turned into a renowned and visited tourist destination with the addition of revenues of hundreds of millions of NIS and thousands of workplaces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The next stage saw the establishment of the \u201cSpirit of the Galilee\u201d Project (people leading growth and change), aimed at harnessing the regional leaders with the process of creating a vision, enhancing the collaborations between them and assisting all the members to undertake the realization of this vision in an optimal manner. The process was joined by 180 participants who were divided into work teams that prepared action plans in a variety of fields.<\/span><\/p>

Raya has since continued her activities for promoting inclusive growth in the Western Galilee through investments in the fields of health, education, employment and culture.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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