As Pride Month comes to an end, let’s explore some of the Israeli companies that are initiating true change for the LGBTQ+ community
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• 6 min read
For decades, paths of persecution have populated the LGBTQ+ community facilitating a culture of acute and extreme homophobia. Church, state, and medical authorities have explicitly shared their negating remarks surrounding individuals whose identity strays away from heteronormative, yet their disapproval has only made those in support that much more eager to push for change and inclusion. The general public has been cognizant of the existence of difference that exists in the LGBTQ+ community and base their work, resources, and concerns on advocative mechanisms to exhibit these differences as a celebratory norm. The growth of social media and basic ideals of human rights have pooled activists, from all walks of life, into this environment that prioritizes establishing an LGBTQ+ agenda that promotes inclusion, empathy, and equality. Here, in Israel, this environment is more evident than ever being the “gay capital of the middle east.” Although there are several imperfections in the Israeli culture towards accepting homosexuality (like no same-sex marriage, only recent amendments towards same-sex couple’s surrogacy legislation, and strict conversion therapy measures), relative to our neighbours, Israel society, works diligently to create an environment of inclusivity in all realms of life. Here are what some Israeli companies and branches do to ensure inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community. Tipalti
For over a decade, Fintech company Tipalti has and continues to develop and manage an automatic payment transfer platform that allows companies to engage more efficiently and effectively at global and/or local levels. Tipalti technology reduces the workload payment departments experience by 80% and replaces time-wasting manual processes to speed up financial reports. One of the company’s core values is “Be Authentic” which has been the seed that allows Tipalti’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to flourish in their diversity and inclusivity advocacy methods. One of the three ERGs at Tipalti is their LGBTQ+ group: activities and initiatives, such as joint lunches for the local group, lectures by prominent LGBTQ+ figures for all company employees and organizing employees to march together in the Pride Parade, are planned for the group members themselves and all employees, both globally and locally at each site. The group also holds meetings (physical and online) throughout the year to reinstate inclusion methods and plan events. Furthermore, Tipalti has recently hired a full-time Director of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) who is responsible for advancing Tipalti’s commitment to DEIB as a global priority and ensuring the workplace is inclusive and connected. Tipalti was founded in 2010 by Chen Amit (CEO) and Oren Zeev (Chairman). Over the course of several funding rounds the company had raised $550 million, and in the past year had reached an $8.3 billion valuation, placing Tipalti among the 15 private fintech companies with the highest valuations in the world. Tipalti is expanding its workforce as the scope of money transfer is growing rapidly. Some of the company’s clients include Amazon Twitch, Twitter, Business Insider, GoDaddy, Fiverr, and Vimeo. Tipalti is located in Glil Yam, Israel and San Mateo, California. Salesforce
The convergence between companies and their customers in the digital age has been more separated than ever before. Thus, Salesforce has made it its mission to find a remedy to these gaps with customer service management tools powered by AI big-data marketing intelligence, AI analytics, and voice technology, as well as security and field service solutions. Salesforce is a global powerhouse in software enterprises but is also a strict contender in pushing for LGBTQ+ advocacy and inclusion. The company’s culture and vision is to “leverage the company's influence to make a difference in the world and achieve gender equality and diversity while giving a sense of pride to its employees in Israel and the opportunity to express themselves as part of a tolerant and inclusive company.” By ensuring these values, Salesforce has initiated equality groups; Outforce is organized to promote equality in sexual orientation and gender identity for the LGBTQ+ community. In addition, Salesforce employees no matter their sexual orientation can receive a Fertility and Adoption grant of up to $40,000 for costs incurred for adoption, fertility treatment, and surrogacy (gestational carrier). Employees who are members of the transgender community are also given a support package that includes: gender affirmation medical reimbursement, gender affirmation leave, wardrobe reimbursement, legal fee reimbursement, counselling services, and more. Michal Porat, Social Media and Creative Content manager and leader of Outforce at Salesforce Israel noted, “At Salesforce, we celebrate Pride throughout the year. Pride Month is a great opportunity to mention that the LGBTQ+ struggle is a struggle for everyone, and we are happy to see employees co-operate and get involved with all our pride events.”
Salesforce Israel was Established in 2011 with the acquisition of the Israeli start-up Navajo System. The new sector has become an important R&D hub responsible for developing leading solutions for the international company. The R&D center in Israel is managed by Efrat Rapoport and employs over 700 people in three development centers in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, and Nazareth. The company, worldwide, has over $1 billion in managed assets and has offices in Israel, San Francisco, California, Bishopsgate, London, Sydney, and Tokyo. Joonko
Diversity recruiting platform Joonko has created a method for struggling enterprise recruiters to find qualified talent from underrepresented sectors. For Joonko partnering companies, a shared talent pool powered by AI engine matches has been established to enable friction-free sourcing and matching processes for surfacing recruiters’ ATS platforms. Making it her personal and professional mission to foster inclusive workforces, founder, and CEO Ilit Raz has created a company that thrives off its inclusive measures. Software Engineer Limor Shenkar mentioned, "When I first came to Joonko for my first face-to-face interview to join the team as a software engineer, the first thing that caught my eye was small pride flags placed on a few of the tables. That's how I knew that this is a company that will make me feel comfortable to be who I am, as a woman and as a proud lesbian. It does not go without saying. Not even in tech.” Joonko also hosts webinars and meetups in collaboration with leaders from the LGBTQ+ community and maintains a close connection with Noam Paz's LGBTQ Career Community - Israel . Joonko was founded in 2016 by Ilit Raz. The company has raised $13 million to date from Vertex Ventures. Some of Joonko’s customers include American Express, Adidas, Booking.com, Nike, Accenture, Crocs, and Northwestern Mutual. There are 40 total Joonko employees: 32 at the Tel Aviv office and 7 at the New York office. ZipRecruiter
What started as a way to help small businesses find great candidates has grown into a leading online employment marketplace that connects millions of job seekers with companies of all sizes. Using AI-matching technology ZipRecruiter improves the job search experience for job seekers and helps businesses of all sizes find and hire the right candidates quickly. General Manager at ZipRecruiter Israel Avi Golan has established a synthesized environment of high-tech and inclusivity advocacy. He stated that “We as a company keep building new initiatives supporting our LGBTQ+ employees and are excited to keep growing this space for them and everyone in the company. As a people manager, I embrace and encourage my employees’ differences and know that a diverse team is key for innovation and creativity.” One of the initiatives aimed at ensuring LGBTQ+ inclusion at ZipRecruiter is their Internal community Quiz (Queers Uniting Individuals at ZipRecruiter): a forum, led by ZipRecruiter employees, to raise LGBTQ+ issues to the tech world at large. Founded by four friends Ian Siegel (CEO), Joe Edmonds, Ward Poulos, and Will Redd in 2010, the ZipRecruiter marketplace provides employers with daily access to over 3 million job seekers. The company has raised a total of $769 million over the course of three funding rounds. ZipRecruiter headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and with offices here in Tel Aviv, which houses a quarter of their employee base. Subscribe to Geektime

What Israeli High Tech is doing for the LGBTQ+ Community

How to hire better and keep your top people
Photo: Getty Images
A record 4.5 million people quit their jobs in the US in late 2021. It's no secret that the pandemic has given people time to reconsider their careers and triggered what many are calling The Great Resignation . Businesses were forced to adapt to Covid-19 regulations but this is a whole new set of challenges for managers looking to keep growing. Employees are constantly looking for better opportunities and businesses need to work out a way to hire and retain valuable staff. The median tenure of workers aged 25 to 34 is now only 2.8 years . Hiring people who are ill-suited to your business can give relief in the short term but create bigger problems down the line. The key is hiring the right people in the first place who will look to grow and develop with your business and create the right environment for other hires. Here are three ways managers can hire candidates who are better aligned to their business. Uncover the Silver Medalists 
Businesses that have created a strong workplace brand image, ironically, also created a headache for their HR teams. They may need to filter through what can be thousands of people applying for a single position. At the latter stages, often several of the candidates are more than qualified for the role but difficult decisions need to be made; after all, the company was looking to hire a specific number of persons for the job, not all of those who are qualified. Other businesses may love to take these highly-qualified-though-not-hired candidates on board as they've already been through rigorous assessment and proven themselves competent; in recruiting circles these candidates are called Silver Medalists. Yet often this useful information isn't shared between companies so they need to go through their own expensive and time-consuming hiring process. I've recently come across Joonko , a startup with an interesting way of tackling this problem. They work with organizations to maintain a pool of Silver Medalist candidates that companies can share (their entire pool is made of candidates from underrepresented sectors, more on that below.) Interviewing cycles are shortened so it's quicker for a company to find a highly qualified candidate and less grueling on the candidate themselves. Even if you don't share a candidate pool with other companies, keeping on file your company's own silver medalist candidates is essential for optimizing your hiring processes. Hiring with DE&I In Mind
In today's world, it's poor business sense not to be considering diversity, equity, and inclusion when hiring. It's not just from an ethical point of view but from a creativity and productivity viewpoint too. A McKinsey report found those in the top quartile of gender diversity were 25% more likely to outperform financially than those in the bottom quartile. The numbers are even starker for ethnic diversity with a 36% increase in financial performance. The data is clear. More diverse teams perform better. When you hire people from different backgrounds and give them a voice, you attract even more diversity which contributes to a virtuous circle. It was this struggle that inspired Joonko's creation; the founder saw how hard it was for her to be taken seriously as a woman in tech. Now Joonko matches employers with overlooked talent from underrepresented backgrounds. The company frees two birds with one key - promoting diversity recruiting by harnessing the advantages of Silver Medalist candidates. Employers of all sizes should adopt a DE&I state of mind when hiring. Abandon the CV
In 2022, the use of a CV in hiring processes is dying amongst cutting-edge companies. What someone has done in the past doesn't accurately reflect their current skill level or their potential. It's not uncommon for people to embellish their CVs and trust they can talk their way around it at an interview. Job simulation can be a much more insightful way to stream candidates. This way they are being evaluated on what they can actually do rather than what they say they can do. The largest companies can have entire teams dedicated to making a program for this process. This isn't practical for everyone. Yet a bit of research uncovered the independent company, Unboxable , which developed a SaaS job simulator to help companies find their ideal candidates. Their platform can be used by companies of any size. I was impressed by the results they were able to generate for their clients; their website claims hiring managers have a 93% successful hire rate compared to the traditional average of only 74%. They believe the reason for this success is because they focus on a candidate's fit with a company rather than dry skills. Taking into consideration a candidate's fit with your team and company culture makes a lot of sense. Final thoughts
Countering the Great Resignation will be an even greater challenge than countering pandemic era restrictions for some companies. However, there are innovative ways to ensure you hire the best candidates possible who fit your team and vision. When you hire the right people who will stick around, you can save significant money and power your growth forward. FAST First Action Steps to Take:
Create a silver medalists internal database
Set DE&I KPIs for your hiring next quarter
Start considering how a candidate would fit in, not just their skill
Jun 20, 2022

3 Strategies to Combat the Great Resignation

The CEO and co-founder of Joonko shares how her platform is helping companies automatically source underrepresented, high-quality employees and her tips for executives trying to improve their D&I efforts. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Back in 2016, Ilit Raz asked herself how she could improve the lives of women, minorities and veterans in the workplace. That question led to many conversations with female product managers who exposed workplace gaps she wanted to solve. Today, she is the CEO and co-founder of Joonko, a diversity recruitment platform. “We basically help companies automatically source underrepresented, high-quality employees, women, people of color and veterans in a unique and different way than you see out there,” Raz explains. “So, if I apply to company A, get to the last step and have not been selected, I get the opportunity to join the pool of Joonko and find a job in another company.”
Raz says her goal is to build a solution that creates an end-to-end management of diversity and inclusion efforts across the organization. She sat down with Jessica Abo to share how companies can set attainable goals when it comes to diversity and inclusion and ways they can track their progress to ensure success. Latest

The Co-Founder of a Diversity Recruitment Platform Shares How Her Company Is Helping Underrepresented, High-Quality Employees Get Hired

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As a business leader, you might have a role on your team that needs to be filled. As far as you’re concerned, it’s a great opportunity with excellent benefits. You’re keen to hire someone diverse and have made this clear in the specification, but when the applications start pouring in, you realize they’re mostly from straight, white cisgender men. So, what are you supposed to do now? Sadly, what often ends up happening is that recruiters blame the candidates - “they’re just not applying!” - or lack thereof - “there obviously just aren’t any qualified diverse candidates out there!” which may ease the sense of responsibility in the moment, but does little to help them create more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), which has become a more pressing goal for many businesses, particularly over the last two years. This is evidenced in the dialogue surrounding the topic. If you were to ask leaders what makes a truly strong workforce, most would agree that a diverse talent pool is a key factor. Some, because they understand the value it can add to their companies ( McKinsey has repeatedly reported that those with more diversity enjoy better profits, have happier employees, outperform other companies and make better decisions, amongst other things), whilst others, sadly, because they are jumping on a performative bandwagon. Whatever the reason for this fresh interest, despite a greater push towards more diversity in the workplace over the last few years, statistics still show that reality is yet to catch up with the vision. Men are still twice as likely to be hired than women, regardless of the hirer’s gender. There are currently just four Black CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies. The number of veterans in employment decreased last year and majority of the US workforce is white. MORE FOR YOU
This, of course, is by no means an exhaustive list. But the question is, what gives? Why is it that, despite intentions and the fact that there is certainly not a lack of diverse talent available, companies are still struggling to find and hire them? “To begin with, the recruitment process is very time consuming and research shows that diverse candidates tend to be more loyal to their existing companies, so approaching them about jobs they haven’t sought out themselves doesn’t always yield great results,” observes Ilit Raz, founder of the Tel Aviv based diverse recruitment company, Joonko. Raz had felt the effects of these struggles herself before founding Joonko back in 2016. As a woman working in tech (a typically male-dominated industry) she’d known she offered a different – and therefore highly valuable – perspective and skillset yet had still struggled to access appropriate opportunities. Realising that she was unlikely to be the only diverse candidate experiencing this, she set about solving the problem. Now, Joonko uses technology to connect high quality, underrepresented talent with world-leading companies that practice what they preach when it comes to DEI. As a recruitment expert, she’s met a lot of recruiters struggling with the scenario mentioned at the start of this article and has found that the problem isn’t a lack of enthusiasm for diverse candidates, but rather a lack of understanding of how to find and engage them. “Business owners are starting to wake up to the need for more diversity but they’re trying the same tactics,” she said. “A lot of the recruitment processes have been set up by straight, white men so lack appeal to diverse candidates. “The challenge is not that we have to convince recruiters to diversify, but how to do it differently – many of them don’t understand how to increase their reach. They need help.”
Here, she shares three tactics you can use to find more diverse talent. Ask your network
It’s easy to forget, when looking for new candidates, that you already have a team of people at your fingertips to reach out to. Whether that’s your existing staff, your friends or professional acquaintances, Raz suggests asking them if they know of anyone who might be suitable. “Leveraging your existing networks is an excellent place to start and is often the best way to find candidates that you may never have otherwise met, or that may not have previously been considering changing jobs,” she explains. Give better rewards
As experienced by Raz’s team at Joonko, many diverse candidates remain loyal to the jobs they already have because their experience of applying and interviewing for roles has been difficult in the past. However hard it may feel for recruiters, it likely feels doubly so for diverse candidates, who have most likely experienced plenty of marginalisation, judgement and microaggressions. Raz suggests that when you are connected to potential candidates, offer them greater rewards as an incentive for taking the job. “Offer better incentives – whether that’s in salary, benefits or flexible hours – to underrepresented candidates for taking on these roles as they are often harder to find.”
Word job specifications differently
It’s been said for several years now that men are more likely than women to apply for roles they’re not 100% qualified for – a statistic taken from an old Hewlett-Packard report and reaffirmed by Sheryl Sandberg in her book, Leaning In. Raz suggests pre-empting this by ensuring job specifications make it clear that whilst some qualities might be must-haves, others are not essential. “More people should feel comfortable to apply for things they only feel 60% qualified for and job specifications would go a long way to helping this. If companies made it clearer that there was some flexibility, more candidates would apply.”
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Having Trouble Recruiting Diverse Talent? Here’s How To Help More People Access Job Opportunities

Nickie Louise Posted On October 26, 2021
The last few years have seen an unprecedented amount of attention fall on social injustice. From the George Floyd protests to the growing support of universal basic income in the US, the country — the world, really — has never been more aware of its lingering issues. Fortunately, there are some smart people working to solve these problems, and they’ve created some intriguing companies to try and make a difference. The wider global community of technology companies is paying close attention , as well. Writing about the current momentum that “social entrepreneurship” has seen lately, HubSpot’s Dan Tyre notes that he’s seen “a significant uptick and interest in companies that have a basic alignment in social responsibility, meaning the mission is not just to grow and make money, but to do good in the universe.”
Here are five of the top social justice startups to watch in the coming year. 1. Vault
Vault aims to pioneer what it calls “TrustTech” — a new category of software intended to help make workplace ethics and misconduct reporting more safe, reliable, secure, and trustworthy. At the peak of #MeToo, a 2019 study by Gartner found that only 41% of workplace misconduct is reported, which could, at least in part, be due to outdated methods and systems for handling these cases. The Vault platform offers tools to change that, including:
A mobile app for incident reporting. A web-based interface that enables even customers and vendors to report incidents. A resolution hub that makes case resolution simpler for ethics, compliance, and HR teams. Robust analytics to help locate cultural issues within a company. Vault offers solutions for nearly any ethical reporting need, from fraud and bribery to discrimination and sexual harassment. The available tools make the process safe and simple for the reporter while aiding resolution for the team working the case. 2. Joonko
Experts believe that by the year 2065, there won’t be any one racial or ethnic majority in the United States. Considering that, it’s no wonder that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace has become a major topic of discussion. However, while the US has never been more of a melting pot, there’s still a long way to go before the actual demographic diversity is properly represented in the workplace. Joonko is a platform for recruiters looking to increase diversity in their hiring processes. HR teams can use Joonko’s feed to discover qualified candidates from underrepresented sectors. There are plenty of diversity and inclusion solutions out there these days, but what sets Joonko apart is the unique approach it takes to pre-qualify candidates. The platform boasts an enormous candidate pool — over 108,000 at the time of writing. The candidate pool is the result of Joonko bringing together partner companies, among them major US employers, to share their candidates. When a company in Joonko’s network makes a hiring decision, the remaining qualified applicants (Joonko calls them “silver medalists”) for that position are automatically added to the talent pool, and then matched with relevant positions from the other companies. The sharing of candidates among Joonko’s partnering companies serves all sides — companies get to cut significant time on sourcing, and the candidates themselves get a second and third chance of landing a position. 3. Legal Equalizer
The role of law enforcement is to protect and serve the public, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion. However, recent high-profile cases have shown that this is far from reality for everyone. Legal Equalizer aims to help ease fears for people during encounters with law enforcement. It’s a mobile app (available for iOS and Android) that provides several potentially life-saving features, including:
A list of your rights during a police encounter, as well as tips on how and when to respond. State-specific laws that you might need to be aware of. The ability to alert pre-selected emergency contacts to let them know you’ve been stopped — with a single tap. You can even share a map of your exact location. The ability to record the encounter, with automatic upload to the app’s servers in the event your phone is confiscated. Access to a network of attorneys you can contact for legal assistance. The app is extremely simple to use: each function gets its own tab, with large buttons that can easily be hit, even during high-anxiety situations. The thorough features and thoughtful design make this one a winner. 4. Syndio
It’s an unfortunate reality, but even in late 2021, the gender pay gap still exists. According to data from Pew Research , it remains alive and well, with women earning 84% of what men made in 2020. That gap has been the same for the last 15 years, and it widens even further for Black women, who are making an average of 63 cents for every dollar made by white men. Syndio aims to help change that. It offers a pay equity platform for businesses that makes it easier to resolve pay inequities — whatever the reason. It can help find and resolve pay gaps based on gender, race, ethnicity, and more. And it makes the process much faster than traditional methods. Syndio’s PayEQ software enables companies to analyze pay equity across the organization and rapidly identify disparities. It can also be used to help prevent pay inequities in an organization by continuously monitoring pay rates and analyzing proposed changes to ensure that everyone is on the same page (and pay scale). 5. Instil
Our final startup is fittingly aimed at helping other startups — namely, nonprofits — maximize their impact. Instil offers a platform to help nonprofits stay organized, improve relationships with donors, and prepare presentations. Instil is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers a robust feature set geared specifically to the needs of nonprofit organizations. There’s functionality for donor management, corporate sponsor management, fundraising campaign tracking, and robust analytics and reporting. Instil also makes it simple to integrate your other tools, such as fundraising and donation platforms. Finally, the company’s development roadmap is quite promising — there are plans to add volunteer management, member management, and scheduling functions to further ease operations for nonprofits. Powering the future of social justice
As the world becomes more aware of the social injustices that continue to lurk in society, the call to action has grown. With it, so have innovative startups aiming to change the world. Whether it’s equality in pay or in the eyes of the law, there’s a startup reshaping how we feel about these issues — and what we do about them. 0

5 Social Justice Startups to Watch in 2022

Loom Systems

Joyinapp

InnerActive

DSNR media group

Sisense

Samanage

SysAid Technologies

Ness

Microsoft

Reopening: The Tech-Enabled Office In A Post-Covid World

 HR tech startups are helping companies manage critical pain points in HR processes such as recruitment, automation, career development, compensation, and benefits management, through a mix of software and services.

HR Tech

Series B

Joonko enables businesses to integrate SaaS platforms and get real-time insights into workplace bias as it occurs. Using this approach, Joonko acts as a personal diversity coach to all employees, managers, and HR personnel in the organization, with the goal of solving employment discrimination, both conscious and unconscious. Joonko is an automated, easy-to-use tool that helps companies improve business performance, boost productivity, and maximize female employees' potential. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in New York, New York.

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Ilit Raz		Founder, Chief Executive Officer	Current
Nofar Bracha		Chief Technology Officer	Current
Pe'era Feldman	Loom Systems, Joyinapp, InnerActive, and DSNR media group	Chief Marketing Officer	Current
Emanuel Kanievsky	Sisense, Samanage, SysAid Technologies, Ness, and Microsoft	Chief Revenue Officer	Current

Name	Ilit Raz	Nofar Bracha	Pe'era Feldman	Emanuel Kanievsky
Work History			Loom Systems, Joyinapp, InnerActive, and DSNR media group	Sisense, Samanage, SysAid Technologies, Ness, and Microsoft
Title	Founder, Chief Executive Officer	Chief Technology Officer	Chief Marketing Officer	Chief Revenue Officer
Status	Current	Current	Current	Current

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