Yael Bar-Lev (PhD) is co-founder of BeDo – Generating Change, Differently an Israeli nonprofit organization that develops, implements and disseminates Theory U, adapted to the challenges of the Israeli society.

Yael Bar-Lev (PhD) co-founded BeDo – Generating Change, Differently, together with Danielle Shani (PhD), to develop leaders who operate from a place of awareness and effective listening, spearheading new ways to deal with the grave challenges faced by Israeli society. Theory U is at the core of BeDo’s work, which includes training programs for directors and individuals in influential positions; guidance for directors, teams and organizations, helping them face specific challenges and undertake strategic processes of change and renewal; workshops focused on practical U-based tools; knowledge creation; and unique projects applying Theory U in dealing with the challenges of living in a diverse society.

In an effort to bring Theory U to the Israeli public, BeDo also published “The Essentials of Theory U” in Hebrew and initiated and organized the first Theory U conference in Israel in January 2023, with Otto Scharmer as the guest of honor.

Yael has been involved in leadership development in the social, education, and public sectors for more than 25 years. During this time, she had held several staff positions at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel. Over the years, Yael has worked with leaders across diverse sectors of society and has led challenging processes of discourse, including with staffs of Israeli academic institutions.

Yael holds a PhD degree in Education from Tel-Aviv University. In her doctoral work, she investigated the relations between the soul of society and the individual and researched aspects of inter-generational transference of Jewish identity and sense of belonging in the secular Jewish community in Israel.

Yael is a certified practitioner by The International Focusing Institute, New-York, and is a former Mandel Leadership program Fellow.