Karen Bender’s familial ties in Israel and her passion for social justice led to her ordination as a rabbi and to her 2015 inclusion in the NAACP’s Journey for Justice, a historic march for voting rights restoration. After her ordination by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Bender served as rabbi at Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, New York and then at Temple Judea in Tarzana, California. She has been on the boards of the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Bender currently serves as Jack H. Skirball Director of Spiritual Life and campus rabbi at the Los Angeles Jewish Home. She is also on the Advisory Council of the Board of Directors of Valley Interfaith Council.