Karolyn Benger, wife of Rabbi Michael Beyo, East Valley CEO, received rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Maharat in New York on June 10. The institution was founded in 2009 specifically to educate and ordain Orthodox Jewish women as credentialed spiritual leaders. She is the first woman in Arizona and the 101st woman in the world to receive this ordination.

In the fall, she will step into a new role as the director of education and community engagement at the EVJCC. 

Karolyn  is committed to making Judaism more accessible and connecting with diverse faiths. She serves on the board of the Arizona Interfaith Movement, was a mentor in the Women’s Leadership Institute, and served on the Human Relations Commission for the City of Phoenix.

She was the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Phoenix and the director of Jewish Interest Free Loan in Atlanta. Arizona Jewish Life magazine named her among the Top 10 change makers for Tikkun Olam.

Karolyn graduated from Emory University with a degree in political science where she studied Arab and Islamist opposition groups in Egypt. She was an adjunct professor of Islamic Thought, Middle Eastern Studies, and Comparative Politics at Emory University, Georgia Tech, and Emerson College. You can find her writings in the Arizona Republic, eJewish Philanthropy, The Times of Israel, and Jewish Women of Words, to name a few. Karolyn loves to teach and create inclusive communities.  She has also taught classes at the EVJCC and presented at the center’s Tuesdays at the J program.