New York, NY– Rabbinical student Hannah Ellenson is joining the staff of Women of Reform Judaism as a social justice intern through May 2025.
Ellenson will be responsible for amplifying local WRJ engagement and strengthening the upcoming North American level gathering, the Rabbi Marla J. Feldman Social Justice Conference (April 2025), through community organizing and relationship building, while ensuring that WRJ social justice initiatives resonate effectively at the grassroots level.
This position is made possible with support from the Isabel P. Dunst Philanthropic Fund, a donor advised fund of The Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington as recommended by the Shards of Light Foundation.
“Women of Reform Judaism is grateful to our partners at the Shards of Light Foundation for empowering us to engage in grassroots level organizing to best galvanize our base ahead of our social justice conference, ensuring lasting change on issues such as reproductive freedom, pay equity, and climate,” WRJ CEO Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch said.
Ellenson is a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is currently a Bonnie and Daniel Tisch Fellow at HUC and serves as a board member for T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. After graduating from Wellesley College in 2008 with a B.A. in History and Jewish Studies, she earned her M.P.P. from Tel Aviv University with a focus on conflict resolution and mediation. When Ellenson returned to the US, she worked as the Youth Director at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City and then for almost a decade at the New Israel Fund, the leading organization committed to equality and democracy for all people who live in Israel.