Deborah Waxman is the first woman and the first lesbian to simultaneously lead both a seminary and a congregational organization as head of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) and Reconstructing Judaism, the central organization of the Reconstructionist movement. After her ordination by RRC, Waxman taught there and served as rabbi at Congregation Bet Haverim in New York. She then became Vice President for Governance of RRC, during which time she merged the congregational organization and seminary into one. Waxman became the president of the newly merged RRC and the Jewish Reconstructionist Communities, which now known as Reconstructing Judaism. She is the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Presidential Professor of RRC, one of the “Forward 50,” and host of the podcast Hashivenu, where she discusses Jewish teachings about resilience.