Dana Schleifer

Dana Schleifer is a public innovation and strategy expert. She is currently a Fellow at the Middle East Initiative at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, where her work focuses on governance and institutional capacity in Arab local governments in Israel, as well as promoting inter-municipal collaboration. She is also a Fellow at the Idea Network, which supports cross-sector partnerships to strengthen democratic resilience, and previously served as a Fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard Kennedy School.

She was part of the founding group that launched the Innovation Team at the Tel Aviv–Yafo Municipality in 2015, as part of Bloomberg Cities’ i-team network. She later served as Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the unit, renamed the “Impact Team”, where she led the development of municipal strategies in areas such as early childhood, equity for Arab communities, and access to culture. Her portfolio included initiatives such as Digitaf, Devek (Glue), and the Persitz Program.

In the social finance and nonprofit sectors, she co-founded Ofek, Israel’s first credit union since the 1960s, and managed its shareholder network. She also led the partnerships division at Lamerhav, served as National Director of Paamonim Students - supporting hundreds of households in financial distress, and taught household finance at Ben-Gurion University.

Her work centers on designing and scaling public and social strategies, fostering collaboration across sectors, and advancing equity and innovation in partnership with local governments and public institutions. She holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from the Mandel Program for Social Leadership, and a BA in psychology and philosophy from Ben-Gurion University.