Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn is a Board Certified Chaplain at New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center where she specializes in Palliative Care, Critical Care, and Emergency Psychiatric Care, and she is the current president-elect of NAJC (Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains). Rabbanit Alissa is also the Devorah Scholar at Netivot Shalom in Teaneck, NJ. From 2014 to 2022, Rabbanit Alissa served as a spiritual leader at B’nai David-Judea Congregation, as the first Orthodox female clergy in Los Angeles. She received her ordination from Yeshivat Maharat and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Classical Studies Archaeology and Ancient History. Rabbanit Alissa has worked at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, Grateful Palliative Care and Hospice, The Center for Jewish End of Life Care at Metropolitan Jewish Health System, and My Jewish Learning, and is a prolific writer and speaker. In 2017, she was chosen as one of the Forward50, the Forward’s annual list of the 50 most influential, accomplished, and interesting American Jews. Rabbanit Alissa is married to Akiva Newborn, and they live in Teaneck with their daughter Ella.