Dr. Deborah Heifetz

Dr. Deborah Heifetz is a co-founder and co-director of BraveHearts International. She is a Mediator, certified Y.P.O. Forum Facilitator and Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) who holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, an M.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Genetics. Heifetz serves as a special advisor to the Crisis Management Team of the Israeli Police, developed the concept “non-mediated peacekeeping’ from her ethnographic study of gender and Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation during the Oslo years (1994-2000) and has acted in Track II Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. She co-founded the peace-building and community development NGO – HiMaT – with projects in Pakistan and is currently engaged in the international grassroots movement known as the Transition Network, where she co-founded the Israeli Hub and has served as a mediator.

Dr. Heifetz is on faculty at Tel Aviv University where she integrates her diverse background and training in Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Laban Movement Analysis to educate graduate students of International Conflict Resolution and Mediation in Culture, Conflict and Community Development. Working in collaboration with Kibbutz Neot Semadar (Israel), she bridges academia and community development through deep personal learning. Her teaching approach  incorporates 20 years experience on faculty at Haifa University’s dance/movement therapy program to weave cognitive, experiential and action learning with core principles of mindfulness practice, witnessing and social theory. Heifetz is a Chevening Scholar (University of Manchester and Cambridge University) and brings over 30 years experience as a peace activist, social scientist and somatic educator working at the nexus of inner and outer peace. 

Embodied Leadership Training integrates a lifetime of her work, study, practice and teaching.