Naima Hirsch Gelman is a fourth year student at Yeshivat Maharat, the first institution to ordain Orthodox women as clergy, and will be ordained as a rabbi in June. In her role as Rabbinic Fellow at the National Council for Jewish Women, Naima designed educational materials about Judaism and reproductive justice. She previously served as the Programming Director at the Beis Community, where she created a welcoming spiritual home for Jews of varying backgrounds through strategic programming and outreach. Naima was selected as a 2023-24 Va’tichtov: She Writes Fellow and co-edited Monologues from the Makom, a collection of women-written monologues, poems, and creative pieces related to sexuality, body image, gender, and Jewish identity. Naima has a BA from Hunter College in Creative Writing and Gender Studies. She considers herself a life-long student and a passionate advocate for eating ice cream year-round. Naima and her husband live in Savannah, Georgia.