Meet Orly Froman, Deputy Chairman MWU , Vice Chairman Maccabiah 2025 and Women's Forum Co-Founder

Orly Froman: "I was born in Israel, grew up in Rishon Lezion, married to Shmil, a high-tech executive. Together, we have three married children and five wonderful grandchildren. Today my family and I happily reside in Kfar Saba. My current roles in Maccabi World Union are: Deputy Chairman MWU and Vice Chairman Maccabiah 2025". 

 

What does Maccabi mean to you? What is your personal connection to Maccabi? How did your journey with Maccabi begin?

I grew up in Rishon Lezion, in a deeply rooted Israeli family. My parents were part of the generation that established the state of Israel, and were among the founders of Rishon Lezion city. Sports, especially in Maccabi, played a significant role in our household. Back then, major portion of Rishon Lezion youngsters went to "Maccabi Tzair" youth movement.

I grew up in "Maccabi Tzair" movement and Maccabi handball team. My father was an athlete, and my two brothers and I followed his footsteps, becoming handball players for Maccabi Rishon Lezion. I spent most of my week at the youth movement or at the handball court. Social connections were incredibly important for me – most of my friends were part of the movement and the handball team, and we were all deeply connected to Maccabi.

Over time, I became a youth madricha and later trained other counselors -many of whom became leaders in Maccabi Israel and Maccabi World Union. There was a real sense of excitement and pride in being part of Maccabi, and I invested a major part of my time in the movement.

A few more milestones related to Maccabi are: participating in the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah games, participating in Maccabiah games as a handball player and playing on the national handball women's team.

Some of the highlights of those years included camps, trips, and torch ceremonies. In a way, Maccabi is truly part of my DNA.

My husband, a former Scouts member and I, are together for 50 years. Our shared experiences in a youth movement and the values we acquired in the movements, clearly influenced our education at our home.

 

Tell us a little about yourself and how Maccabi fits into your everyday life today? 

I started as an educator and founded a high school in Ramat Gan, where I was honored with the Israeli President educational award.

Later, as the Tel-Aviv district manager in the Ministry of Education, I reconnected with Maccabi movement. The year of the Maccabiah became a turning point. We initiated the integration of Maccabi programs into the Educational system, which also led to my assiment to the Maccabiah Education and Culture Committee. This allowed me to help spread Maccabi movement throughout the national system.

When I became the CEO of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, I was responsible for the budget management of the Maccabiah Games, coordinating the multiple budget sources.

Later, as a Member of the Knesset serving the Sports, Education, and Women's Committees, I advocated for sports, the advancement of women in sports, and gender equality in sports.

Being a Knesset member was a wonderful opportunity to see and fix how political decisions affect culture and sports. It was a major challenge to bring these issues to the forefront, especially within local authorities.

After my political career, I was appointed Deputy Chairmain of Maccabi World Union and continue to chair the Education and Culture Committee at the Maccabiah 2017, 2021.

I am also a board member of Maccabi Israel, a member of the Jewish Sports Museum’s board, and part of the executive board of the Israeli Olympic Committee.

For years, I advocated for the inclusion of more women in the leadership of Maccabi World Union, the Maccabiah, and other organizations where gender balance was lacking. I pushed to ensure women had a more substantial presence in leadership positions. Two years ago, this vision became a reality when Shirit Saks Haim, Ronit Ne'eman and I decided to create the Women’s Forum.

Unfortunately, the war disrupted our plans, but it also refocused our efforts, especially around the issue of sexual terrorism. This tragic turn of October 7th horrible events accelerated the formation of the Women’s Forum, and we developed a content focus to drive its impact globally.

We felt it was our responsibility to be the voice for the women and girls who had suffered the horrors of violence and terrorism.

The culmination of this effort came at the last Maccabi World Union Congress, where we officially launched the Women's Forum.

The challenge now is to bring women, who remain a minority in the movement, into leadership roles, particularly at key decision-making tables. We must ensure balance at every forum. We need to be an equal part of management teams.

I have great hope for the Women’s Forum’s growth in all our communities. We need to identify strong women leaders in each community who will drive our initiatives forward.

We have an agenda, clear goals and a strong understanding of where to connect with existing initiatives or lead their own. We can make a difference by supporting each other and fostering meaningful discussions. We can do this and we are doing it!

 

Where do you think women are missing within the movement? Or where do you think women can be more integrated into the movement?

The challenge is to assess all the committees and forums, identify gaps, and work to fill them. We need to take action to increase and balance the numbers.

One of our missions is to increase the number of women athletes, girls, and young women participating in the Maccabiah Games. We also aim to see more women coaches and referees involved. This is a mission for every community around the world, as well as for us as a movement and as a Women’s Forum.

How can the Women's Forum improve the situation?

I have always been a professional. When you're professional, good, and excellent at what you do and committed to your tasks and the actions you take, leading organizations successfully, professionalism and humanity prevail.

Therefore, in every position I competed for, I stayed loyal to my true beliefs. I never followed the conventional path. The wisdom is in doing things differently and achieving better results.

When I reached a crossroads to promote myself, my actions spoke for themselves. Success in one role opened the door to the next position and so on.

With that, I would like to approach the challenge of a male-dominated organization in the same professional and honest way I had so far.

Establishing the Women’s Forum in Maccabi World Union is part of my vision to ensure women play a significant role in the movement, in every committee, initiative, and at the top levels.

There are very talented women who can take leadership positions in the future, and this will empower the movement and give it meaning.

Additional challenge today, is to bring all Israelis abroad into our communities, to embrace them, to connect with all Israelis who left long ago and those still leaving the country. I want to embrace them and connect them back to Israel.

 

What can women gain from being part of a global network like the Women's Forum?

Each of us is strong in a specific professional field, whether we are currently in it or have been in it. Women's dialogue, as well as their ability to leave egos outside the door, communicate, and collaborate, can greatly help them learn from each other, support one another, and build communities.
Forum members can meet at our Summit, where they can empower each other, gather everything we've learned, and pass it on to the forum community. The forum can significantly empower women – both individually and as a group.

 

What is your personal belief?

I have been in public service throughout my life. I’ve encountered crossroads, and every time I reached a point of uncertainty, I returned to public service. I realized I love to do this, and it’s my true calling.
Through my career in different roles and positions, I have looked at areas where I can impact large groups or sections with the vision of improving Israeli society.
I firmly believe that everyone has their inner world and that they are always in a process of continuous learning. When you see the people you work with and know how to guide and lead them – you leave your mark through your professionalism and humanity. These are things I’ve always loved to do. In all 50 years of my professional and political career, I found myself in these places – I love what I do, I believe in what I do, and I do it all to the highest standard, with faith in people, in their abilities, and my profession and mission. I chose this mission, and I chose to pursue it with all my heart and soul. It has been successful for me and the people I have worked with.

 

In which field would you most like to influence and bring about change?

I always take a broad view of Israeli society – it urgently needs rebuilding. Our communities play a vital role in this process of renewal. I believe that each of us excels in something and has a unique contribution to make. Just as we all united at the beginning of the war, Israeli society can take on challenges and lead them forward.

For me, this is the continuation of my mission: to help rebuild Israeli society in the areas where I can make the most impact for the sake of my children, grandchildren and my entire generation.

Only good-hearted people can lead the way in rehabilitating Israeli society, and the Maccabi Movement, with its values and challenges, has an essential role to play in this.

Our communities needs to be strong, united and supportive particularly while facing the rising of antisemitism.

This must be part of the rebuilding process we must undergo here, in our country. It will take time, but it’s essential. I truly believe it’s possible.

Optimism is at the heart of my doing. I choose to see the good in people and remain hopeful as I look ahead.

To summarize, my vision for 2030 is to see a strong and influential MWU that meaningfully impacts Jewish communities worldwide, serving as their anchor, torch, and guiding light. I hope the state of Israel will recognize us as a model to follow!