Ms. Amal Elsana Alhjooj was born in 1972 in an Arab Bedouin village in the south of Israel, to a family of 13 children. Upon completing her high school education in the village, she went on to receive her BA in social work in Israel and her MA in community development from McGill University in Canada. She began her career as a community organizer when she was 14, and at the ripe age of 17, established the first Arab Bedouin women's organization.

Today, Amal is one of the key shapers of public opinion regarding the status of the Arab minority and the status of women in Israel. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Commission for Economic Development of the Arab Sector; a member of the Steering Committee of Women Lawyers for Human Rights; a member of the professional committee of the Employment Creation Division of the JDC.

Amal is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. To list a few: in 2008 she was the closing key-note speaker of the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Institute; in 2007 she was the international honoree of Seeking Common Ground in Denver Colorado; in 2005 she was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize within the framework of the "One Thousand Women" submission; in 2003 she won the Lady Globes “Career Women of the Year” award.

Amal is the Co-Executive Director with Vivian Silver of NISPED, the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development and the founding director of AJEEC – NISPED's Arab Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. She is married to Anwar Alh’jooj, a lawyer, and the mother of seven-year old twins.