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The Power of Vision, Sixty Years to Israel's Industry
Presenter: Raya Strauss, President and co-owner of the Strauss Investment Company and co-owner of Strauss-Elite Group and a leading social force in Israel |
About the speaker:
Raya Strauss Bendror, a leading social force in Israel, is the co-owner and President of Strauss Investment Company. Born in Nahariya in the northern Galilee, she has a close personal affinity with this part of the country to this day.
Raya has been actively involved for many years in a wide range of philanthropic and community-oriented activities that reflect the values and principles to which she is deeply committed: bringing together Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora, the development of the geographic and economic peripheries of Israel (especially the Galilee), introducing norms of social responsibility into the world of Israeli business as well as the implementation of business management principles and accountability into the activities of Israeli philanthropic organizations.
Notable among Raya Strauss Bendror's current philanthropic responsibilities and positions are: the Board of Directors of the Jewish Agency; President of Partnership 2000 Nahariya-Northern New Jersey; Co-chair of the Jewish Agency's global Partnership 2000 program; as well as organizations that assist homeless teenagers; further leadership and excellence among marginalized teenagers; supports MAALA, which furthers corporate social responsibility and is a member of the Board of the Ghetto Fighters' Museum and a partner in Talmei Geulat Israel - working for the unity of the Jewish people in Israel and abroad.
The principles that guide her activity find common expression in her long-standing support and involvement with the Reut Institute, whose goal is to bring about a dramatic improvement in the political, societal and economic quality of life in Israel.
RECAP OF OCTOBER 21st EVENT
The Power of Vision, Sixty Years to Israel's Industry
Presenter: Raya Strauss, President and co-owner of the Strauss Investment Company and co-owner of Strauss-Elite Group and a leading social force in Israel.
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On October 21st we hosted an event with Raya Strauss. Raya's presentation - The Power of Vision, Sixty Years to Israel's Industry – focused on her lifelong love and commitment to the State of Israel and was very inspiring to all.
Raya opened her presentation with an overview of the Strauss family business history alongside the Strauss family ongoing involvement in the community and the building of an independent state. The Strauss family built its empire on dairy products. In 1936 Raya's parents arrived in what was then Palestine and decided to build a dairy in their backyard, where Hilde Strauss, Raya's mother, prepared cheeses for the locals. Later the Strausses took the strategic decision to move out of cheeses and focus on a new but promising market – ice cream. Throughout the years Michael Strauss, Raya's brother, and Raya Strauss transformed the family business into a flourishing nationwide food manufacturer while always adhering to the family commitment of involving and giving back to the community. Strauss became a household name in Israel during the 1960s. In 1963 to leverage their know-how, strategic partnership was forged with the international giant Danone. In the mid 1980s the company became a market leader in ice cream, yogurts and other dairy delicacies. During the 1990s Strauss further grew into being a global corporation with strategic relationships with corporate giants such as Unilever and Pepsico. In 1997, Strauss bought a controlling stake in Elite, Israel's biggest manufacturer of chocolate and coffee, thereby creating Strauss the second largest food manufacturer in Israel. When in 2004 Strauss became a public corporation Raya decided to step down from the business and to focus instead on philanthropy and the promotion of social responsibility within the business community in Israel.
Raya's vision is based on the following three foundations: Togetherness – a value which begins with family unity and reaches out to unity within the community among the Israeli people in Israel and the Jewish people around the world; Choosing Israel – Raya chooses to focus on helping the State of Israel becoming a better place to live in and is concentrating in filling in gaps in places and aspects of life that the Israeli authorities cannot reach. To that end, Raya is using her resources and is recruiting other available resources within the Jewish and Israeli communities in North America to help Israeli organizations and people of excellence. In addition, Raya actively supports the "Israel 15 Vision" which is aimed at the challenge of turning Israel into one of the fifteen leading countries in quality of life; Philanthropy – when Raya Strauss stepped down from the family business she was thinking about something beyond profit margins and revenues – corporate philanthropy. This led Raya to join Maala, a non profit membership organization promoting corporate social responsibility in Israel. Maala, which is a member of the Business for Social Responsibility ("BSR"), a US industry group formed ten years ago with about 450 corporate members including Wal Mart, Microsoft and General Motors, focuses on seven areas in corporate social responsibility: community relation, workplace, environment, human rights, marketplace business ethics and social accountability. Today, the Strauss Group is one of the distinguished Israeli corporations who are members of Maala. The Strauss Group has a history of involvement in the community dating back to its foundation. The group's social activities focus on helping children, soldiers and sports and is based on a code of ethics which the group actively promotes in the business arena as well as in it's involvement in the community.
