WRN LEADERSHIP

 

2026-2027/5787 WRN Board

Rabbi Lisa Delson, Co-President

Rabbi Delson currently serves as the rabbi of Temple Shomer Emunim in Sylvania, Ohio. She previously served as Associate Rabbi of Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, California, and Assistant Rabbi at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is a graduate of University of Cincinnati and received Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Cincinnati campus in 2009.

Rabbi Delson has a passion for social justice and believes it is an avenue into Jewish practice and creates meaning in one’s life. She previously served as the WRN Social Action and Advocacy Vice President. Rabbi Delson is an alumna of the Brickner Social Justice Rabbinic Fellowship, is leading her congregation in RAC-OH, and was formerly on the Leadership Team of RAC-CA. During her time in rabbinical school, she served as the Religious Action Center’s Commission on Social Action rabbinical student representative. Rabbi Delson also participated in the American Jewish World Service’s Rabbinical Student Delegation to Ghana in 2009.

She loves spending time back in the Midwest with her family, husband, Brent Pliskow, and three children. She loves watching her kids play sports, trying new art classes, playing tennis and golf, and is a voracious reader.

Rabbi Simone Schicker, Co-President

Rabbi Simone Schicker (she/her) is the rabbi of Temple B’nai Israel in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she has served since her ordination in 2018. A graduate of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati, Ohio, she received her BA with honors from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama.

While at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Schicker was both an AIPAC Leffell Israel Fellow and an iFellow with the iCenter. On campus she served as the rabbinic student body president, the co-chair of the Gender Task Force, and on the Admissions Committee. She served congregations in West Virginia, Michigan, Texas, and Iowa as a student, and her favorite placement for the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Fellowship was her time at the The Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.

Having been raised in an interfaith home, Rabbi Schicker is committed to inclusivity in her rabbinate. She is a member of the third cohort of Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship sponsored by 18Doors. Along with her commitment to 18Doors and interfaith work within the Jewish community, she is proud to have been recognized for her local interfaith work through ISAAC Kalamazoo in 2021 as Clergy of the Year.

Rabbi Schicker also serves on the Board of Friendship Village Kalamazoo and is the co-chair of Faith Alliance, a program of OutFront Kalamazoo.

Rabbi Schicker lives with her partner and their many fur babies. She is the proud stepmom of three awesome kids.

Rabbi Janet Liss, Treasurer

Rabbi Janet B. Liss is Rabbi Emerita of North Country Reform Temple in Glen Cove, NY, where she served for 26 years. She currently serves a monthly pulpit at Temple Beth Shalom in Hickory, North Carolina, and runs a support group for Jewish clergy and laypeople who are caregivers for their parents. She also served congregations in Plantation and Tampa, Florida.

Rabbi Liss was ordained at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1988, where she received her Masters in Hebrew Letters, Doctor of Ministry degree, and Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa. She holds a Masters in Hebrew Language and Literature from Columbia University and a certificate in Gerontology and Palliative Care from Yeshiva University. She majored in Jewish studies at American University, and spent 2 ½ years at Hebrew University in Jerusalem during her undergraduate and graduate years.

Rabbi Liss has served the CCAR as Vice President of Organizational Relationships, on the Finance Committee, as chair of the Task Force for Women Rabbis and the Israel Committee, and on the Israel Conference Committee. She chaired the CCAR’s Israel Conference in 2016 and led WRN’s Israel mission. A past co-coordinator of the WRN, co- conference chair, and Israel Conference Chair, she is excited to return to the WRN board.

Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz, Secretary

Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz (she/her) has been the rabbi of Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill, CA since 2020. A New Jersey native, she previously served as Associate Rabbi at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, NJ from 2010-2020. From 2004-2010, she was the Regional Director of Admissions and Recruitment at HUC-JIR in NY. Her first rabbinic position was at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ, from 1993-2004.

Rabbi Dantowitz was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1993 (NY). She graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering and Applied Science in 1987 with a B.A.S. in Systems Engineering. She spent many summers at URJ Camp Harlam, from camper to staff to faculty.

Rabbi Dantowitz is a Hevrya member of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She is a longtime member and former board member of the WRN.

Rabbi Dantowitz is on the Executive Board of the NorCal Board of Rabbis and part of the Interfaith Clergy Alliance of Morgan Hill/Gilroy. She traveled to Guatemala with American Jewish World Service (AJWS) in 2015 as a Global Justice Fellow. Rabbi Dantowitz is a Balfour Brickner Fellow and a JOIN for Justice Rabbinic Fellow. In 2018, she received her honorary Doctor of Divinity from HUC-JIR for 25 years in the rabbinate. She is married and has four adult sons and a dog. She loves hiking at the Pacific Coast and in the Redwood Forests.

Rabbi Natalie Shribman, Programming and Education VP

Rabbi Natalie Shribman became the rabbi at Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield, MI in July 2023. She moved there from Wausau, Wisconsin where she served as a hospital chaplain for the Marshfield Clinic Health System. Rabbi Shribman was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 2020.

Since joining Temple Kol Ami, Rabbi Shribman became an active member of the Michigan Board of Rabbis and the Greater West Bloomfield Faith and Community Alliance, putting on religious events in the area. At TKA, Rabbi Shribman started new programs including prayer walks (a walking Shabbat service), Shabbat Shake It Up (Shabbat at home), and has done various lectures on different Jewish topics. She is most proud of her Adult Bat Mitzvah class that allowed eight women to read from the Torah for the first time in January 2025.

Rabbi Shribman is an avid reader, focusing on Talmud and Parshat HaShavua in addition to leisure reading of historical fiction novels. She enjoys being in nature, going for runs and partnering with Adamah Detroit and the synagogue’s Social Action and Green Teams on climate action education programs.

Rabbi Shribman is from Pittsburgh and is a loyal Steelers fan. She is the daughter of interfaith parents. She graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Since starting rabbinical school in 2015, she has served many small congregations in the Midwest. She lives in with her husband, Rabbi Benjamin Altshuler and their cat, Bsamim.

Rabbi Celia Surget, Membership VP 

Rabbi Celia Surget (she/her) grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. She currently serves as the senior rabbi at Congregation Albert, in Albuquerque, NM. 

Rabbi Surget studied History of Religions, Hebrew and Philosophy at the University of Geneva and began her Rabbinic studies at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and New-York, before transferring to the Leo Baeck College in London. On receiving ordination in 2007 from LBC, she spent four years working for the MJLF (Mouvement Juif Liberal de France) in Paris, where she worked both as a congregational Rabbi and as Director of Education. In 2011 she joined Radlett Reform Synagogue (just north of London in the United Kingdom) as the Associate Rabbi and Director of Education.

Rabbi Surget is a founding member of Kerem, the French Liberal rabbinic association and of ERA, the European rabbinic association. During her time in Paris, she co-wrote a Talmud Torah curriculum designed to meet the specific needs of the French Progressive congregations, and she developed informal education programs such as camps and Israel tours.

While in London, she served on the executive committee and as president of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis and Cantors UK, chair of Arzenu UK and chaired the committee that brought a code of ethics and processes to the UK based Progressive movements.

In her free time, Rabbi Surget enjoys baking, slowly running marathons (in the back where the party is),

going to the opera and the amazing New Mexico outdoors.

Rabbi Sara Mason-Barkin, Communications VP

Rabbi Sara Mason-Barkin is Rabbi and Executive Educator of Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2010, after receiving her Masters Degree in Jewish Education in 2008. Prior to her studies at the Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Mason-Barkin earned her Bachelors Degree from Brandeis University in Sociology and Judaic Studies.

Rabbi Mason-Barkin began her career as an educator in a Jewish day school. While teaching, she discovered a passion for helping people of all ages find meaningful moments of Jewish connection in their own lives. This dedication to pursuing further work in the field of Jewish education led her to Jerusalem, where she began her rabbinical studies.

Currently, Rabbi Mason-Barkin serves as Vice President of the Greater Phoenix Board of Rabbis. She also appreciates getting to escape the summer heat in Prescott, Arizona, at Congregation Beth Israel’s Camp Daisy and Harry Stein.

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Rabbi Mason-Barkin has lived and worked in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Rabbi Mason-Barkin enjoys life with her husband, Josh, and her three children, Charlie, Sela and Milo.

Rabbi Zoe McCoon, Social Action and Advocacy VP

Rabbi Zoe McCoon is the Community Education Manager at Shalom Bayit, the Bay Area’s Jewish center for Domestic Violence response and prevention. She previously served as the rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Fremont, CA. She is a graduate from the University of Michigan, and received ordination from the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR in 2021.

Rabbi McCoon brings with her a passion for Jewish learning that leads to communal change. She is an advocate for reproductive rights - influenced by her time answering phones for an abortion clinic. While attending rabbinical school, she completed 40 hours of specialized training in supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. She then served as a certified hotline volunteer at Women Helping Women and as a fellow at the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue, where she coordinated in-depth interfaith learning in response to the #MeToo movement. In her current role, she finds it meaningful to teach rabbinic and cantorial colleagues, providing a listening ear and resources when concerns arise.

Rabbi McCoon is a member of Shalom Bayit’s Rabbinic Advisory Council, JWI’s Clergy Task Force, and San Francisco’s Domestic Violence Consortium. She also served on the leadership team of RAC-CA and the Tri-City Interfaith Council during her time in Fremont.

Rabbi McCoon loves connecting with others over coffee, reading, jamming out to Jewish music, adventuring with her partner, and taking endless photos of her dog.

Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker, Convention and National Events Co-VP

Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker has joyfully served as the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Vancouver, WA since 2008. During that time she has helped the synagogue to grow from 90 families to 165, adding staff members and programming along the way. She has had the wonderful experience of raising over $9 million from this small but mighty congregation and building the first synagogue built from the ground up in her area. She has seen several of her former students grow up to become rabbis, Jewish educators, Jewish community fundraisers, and one national NFTY President. Having lived in upstate NY, NY City, Rockland County NY, and Austin TX, Rabbi Dunsker has found the Pacific Northwest to be the best home for her and her family. Living within proximity to mountains, beaches, working farms with roadside vegetables, sheep, and goats, and the vibrant city of Portland, OR.

Previously she served for 7 years as the first Assistant/Associate rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, TX and the first female rabbi in the city of Austin. Creating a role that had not previously existed taught her enduring lessons about becoming the rabbi she wanted to be and learning to lead in a way that was authentic for her. Next she served for 4 years as the rabbi of the Reform Temple of Suffern-Shir Shalom in Suffern, NY helping them to successfully merge with their neighboring congregation in Mahwah, NJ to become Beit Haverim-Shir Shalom, where she served for one year as one of two rabbis overseeing and smoothing the transition.

Rabbi Dunsker was ordained from HUC-JIR NY in 1996 and is a graduate of Simmons College in Boston MA. She is the mother of two amazing, brilliant, kind, and hilariously funny theater kids who will both be working on their college educations in the coming year. She and her husband are looking forward to empty nesting as they celebrate 26 years of marriage.

Rabbi Sarah Smiley, Convention and National Events Co-VP

Rabbi Sarah Smiley is originally from Columbus, Ohio. An early quest for Jewish knowledge eventually led Rabbi Smiley to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she was ordained in 2010.

Her rabbinate has sent her to many new places. She first served the college students at The Ohio State University Hillel as the campus rabbi. Then spent 11 years serving congregations in Westfield, NJ, and Overland Park, KS. Now she lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she has been the rabbi of the Unified Jewish Congregation since 2022.

She currently serves on the Central Conference of American Rabbis Convention Planning Committee and is active in the Jewish Federation of Baton Rouge and with LSU Hillel.

She is passionate about building relationships with people and serving as a Jewish resource so people can best figure out how they want to live their personal Jewish lives. Rabbi Smiley believes Jewish life is a place for all types of people and loves helping everyone dig deeper into Jewish ritual, tradition and text.

Rabbi Smiley is married to Rabbi Josh Leighton, has one daughter, Eliana, and enjoys being outdoors when it’s not too hot in the South and everything Disney.

Rabbi Emily Segal, CCAR Representative

Rabbi Segal is the Senior Rabbi of Temple Chai in Phoenix, AZ.  Previously she served Rabbi of Aspen Jewish Congregation and as Associate Rabbi of Temple Jeremiah in Northfield, Illinois.  Rabbi Segal grew up in a small, tight-knit Jewish community in Virginia, nurtured by one of the first women rabbis, and she is the proud product of an interfaith home. After graduating from the University of Virginia (Wahoowa!), her studies continued at the HUC-JIR where she was ordained.  

 

During her time in the rabbinate, Rabbi Segal is proud to have been a Balfour Brickner Social Justice Fellow, as well as a Clergy Leadership Incubator Fellow, focusing on leading dynamic change in congregations and organizations.  Rabbi Segal is a member of several professional organizations.  The WRN has been an integral and cherished part of her rabbinate since her ordination.

 

Rabbi Segal’s rabbinic interests include Jewish environmental and food justice, liturgical development, ritual innovation, biblical Hebrew, Jewish feminism, and scriptural and halakhic study.  She is married to Rabbi Scott Segal.  You can find them cooking together, dragging their children on character-building hiking expeditions, and having family dance parties.

Rabbi Beth Klafter, Immediate Past President

Rabbi Beth H. Klafter became the Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth David in Commack, NY in 2013. She brings her passion for Judaism and her knowledge and experiences to the entire congregation. Prior to being named Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Klafter served for seven years as the Director of the Religious School. In that role, she revised and reinvigorated the education curriculum and programming for students in Kindergarten through High School and their families. Rabbi Klafter has also helped to develop and lead activities for young children. Prior to her current position, she was the Rabbi Educator at Temple Judea in Manhasset, NY and Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Roslyn, NY.

Rabbi Klafter was ordained at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1988, where she received a Masters in Religious Education as well as a Masters in Hebrew Letters. She studied at New York University’s School of Education and Brown University, where she earned her B.A. in Religious Studies. She was awarded the title of Reform Jewish Educator by the National Association of Temple Educators (now ARJE) in 1992. In 2013, Rabbi Klafter received her Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, from Hebrew Union College honoring her 25 years in the rabbinate.

Rabbi Klafter is a member of several professional organizations: the Central Conference of American Rabbis, where she has served on its Rabbinic Rapid Response Team, Committee on Women in the Rabbinate, and Committee on the Rabbi’s Family, and the Association of Reform Jewish Educators. She served on the board of the WRN, as New York regional representative and treasurer over twenty years. During the time, she was on the Convention planning committees for the 2001 Convention on Long Island and the 2003 Convention in London. She returned to the Board as co-VP of National Events to co-lead the Convention planning for our “Journey to 50” Convention and later as co-President.

WRN Staff

Executive Director Rabbi Rachel Van Thyn, BCC MAHL

Rabbi Rachel Van Thyn (RVT) became Executive Director of the Women's Rabbinic Network on July 1, 2026. She works to strengthen and support women and gender-expansive rabbis throughout their careers while advancing a more just, equitable, and sustainable rabbinate.

RVT's experience spans congregational leadership, healthcare chaplaincy, nonprofit leadership, social justice, and entrepreneurship. Together, those experiences have given her a broad understanding of today's rabbinate and the many ways rabbis serve Jewish life.

Throughout her rabbinate, social justice has been an animating force, shaping her commitment

to equity, inclusion, and human dignity in every setting in which she has served. She brings that

perspective to her leadership of WRN.

Originally from Mississauga, Ontario, RVT was ordained in 2013. Before joining WRN, she served

as a Clinical Pastoral Educator at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she trained clergy and

other spiritual caregivers to provide compassionate care during times of illness, crisis, transition,

and discernment. A board-certified chaplain, she is also the founder of Clara: Fertility Counseling & Support, which provides spiritual and emotional support to individuals and families navigating infertility and family building.

Earlier in her rabbinate, RVT served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, New York, and has worked with a wide range of congregational, educational, social justice, and healthcare organizations. She currently serves on the Advocacy Committee of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), which supports chaplain educators and their strategic

partners.

At WRN, RVT is committed to helping build a rabbinate in which every rabbi can flourish and

every member can bring their full self to this sacred work.

Executive Director Emeriti

Rabbi Mary L. Zamore

Rabbi Mary Zamore's commitment to the WRN has been evident for decades. She became an active member as a student, then after her ordination in 1997, served as a co-president from 2007–2009. In her most recent role, she served as its Executive Director for eleven years. Her leadership helped shape WRN’s identity and deepen its impact. Her tenure strengthened WRN as a professional home and advocacy organization for female, nonbinary, and genderfluid rabbis, creating the foundation for future executive directors. 

Rabbi Zamore is the editor of The Sacred Exchange: Creating a Jewish Money Ethic, (2019, CCAR Press) and The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic, (2011, CCAR Press), finalist National Jewish Book Awards, and she continues to teach at synagogues and JCCs across the country. Before joining WRN professionally in 2015, Rabbi Zamore served congregations in Westfield, Morristown and Washington, New Jersey. As part of her work with WRN, Rabbi Zamore is the co-leader of the Reform Pay Equity Initiative, which addresses the wage gap within the Reform Movement, and is a leading voice in accountability and repair work to create safe, just, and equitable communities. Rabbi Zamore has been named a T’ruah Rabbinic Human Rights Hero and a WRJ Women’s Empowerment Recipient, is a member of Elluminate’s Collective, and was fellow in UJA/NY Federation/Columbia Business School’s Institute for Jewish Executive Leadership. 

Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson

Following ordination in 1983, Rabbi Jackie Koch Ellenson worked in a variety of educational positions in synagogue and organizational settings. She served as chaplain of the Harvard Westlake School in Los Angeles from 1991-2002. After serving in various volunteer leadership capacities for the WRN, in 2003 she became the first WRN Executive Director, working to streamline and professionalize its operations, outreach, and activities.

Rabbi Ellenson joined the volunteer board of the Hadassah Foundation in 2004, and served as chair from 2006-2010. An active member of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City, Jackie served on the board of their school and led Rosh Hodesh groups for girls. She currently leads text study and Wise Aging groups for adults. Her community work focuses on adult spiritual formation and direction, with students at HUC-JIR, as well as activism on behalf of religious pluralism and women's rights in Israel.

In 2011, Rabbi Ellenson was named one of Newsweek/The Daily Beast's 50 most influential rabbis.