Karen Newman has been elected as the new Chair of Liberal Judaism.

Karen, who has been Acting Chair since October 2023, was unanimously voted into the position at Liberal Judaism AGM.

She becomes the first member of the LGBTQI+ community to hold the position of Chair within Liberal Judaism.

Karen is an international advocacy, policy, gender, evaluation, governance and development professional with more than 30 years’ experience managing health and human rights projects and programmes across the globe.

A member of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue (LJS), she joined Liberal Judaism’s Board of National Officers in 2017, serving as Deputy Chair from 2019-2023.

She has also held a number of positions within the LJS, co-convenes the Progressive Deputies group on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and serves on the Board of Governors of Leo Baeck College.

Speaking at the AGM, Karen said: “I am hugely honoured, and very humbled, to become Chair of Liberal Judaism.

“I am aware that I stand on the shoulders of many people who came before and look forward to an exciting period ahead as, together with the Movement for Reform Judaism, we build one single flourishing Progressive Judaism for the UK.”

A full interview with Karen – who grew up as a member of an Orthodox synagogue and joined the LJS in 2003 – will appear in the next issue of LJ Today.

Alex Kinchin-Smith was elected as the new Deputy Chair of Liberal Judaism at the AGM, with Amanda McFeeters, Penny Beral and Tommer Spence (re-)elected as Officers

Treasurer Leslie Moss, Owen Power, Alexandra Boyd and Hannah Grant make up the Board of National Officers.