Meeting NIF in Israel: Sana Ibn Bari

“If you have privilege, you have a duty to use it to help improve the lives of those who are less privileged.” 

This perspective is what drives Sana in her work at NIF. Sana grew up in Be’er Sheva, and her background has shaped her career path. “I lived and grew up in a home that was very activist and political,” she explains. “These values guided me in my personal and professional decisions.” Sana’s parents taught her about political demonstrations and volunteering from an early age in a home that was also multilingual. “Several languages were spoken in parallel, and there was always encouragement to read a lot of books,” she explains. This exposure to books as well as to music and films in multiple languages sparked “a curiosity for languages.” 

Sana is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Russian. “My father is Palestinian so I got the Arabic from him. My [parents] speak Russian among themselves, but I learned it mostly from my mother, who is Ukrainian.” Sana’s father was an attorney, and she followed in his footsteps. After graduating law school, she knew she wanted to use legal frameworks to advocate for social change. Since then, she has worked with different organizations, including as an attorney with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, NIF’s flagship grantee. She also served as a project manager on matters affecting Israel’s Palestinian community at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, a German organization focused on political education. In her various roles, Sana has participated in several United Nations delegations, representing the Arab Bedouin community in the Negev-Naqab on issues such as unrecognized villages and women’s rights.

As one of four Grants Managers at NIF, Sana is in contact with grantees and grassroots activists from beginning to end. Sana says she loves being a part of NIF because it is a well-established organization working with a wide range of civil society organizations focused on different topics. She draws inspiration from both the work and her colleagues. “Seeing the collective work between colleagues and organizations is a huge incentive to push forward” in advancing social change, she explains.

Outside of work, Sana has a passion for music. She is trained in piano, but admits that she hasn’t played much recently. When it comes to her listening taste, she told me that it depends on her mood that day. I was surprised to learn that she loves American gospel singer Kirk Franklin—especially his song “I Smile.” His upbeat music gives her energy to tackle the day, she says. When we start speaking about food, Sana lights up. “I love anything with carbs…always,” she says laughing, “especially French fries.” She was also hesitant to admit that she loves meat, fearing she would offend the vegetarians and vegans in the audience. If she weren’t working at NIF, Sana says she would open her own cafe. “There would be books everywhere and freshly baked bread,” she says dreamily. Perhaps someday, this dream could become a reality.

Article by NIF writer Aurelia Roddy