Linda Holtzman is the rabbi of the Tikkun Olam Chavurah, a community that pursues social justice, and is the Director of Student Life of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. A native Philadelphian who was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1979, Rabbi Holtzman has received a B.A. and M.A. in English from Temple University and a B.H.L. from Gratz College. She has served as the rabbi of Beth Israel, a Conservative congregation in Coatesville, Pa, where she was the first female rabbi to solely lead a congregation.

One of the first rabbis to publicly identify as lesbian/queer, she served as part-time rabbi of Beth Ahavah, the LGTBQ synagogue in Philadelphia. Holtzman is the former rabbi of Congregation Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia, where she had previously served as interim rabbi, director of the religious school, and for many years as Associate Professor and Director of Practical Rabbinics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

As Director of Student Life at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), Holtzman works with students to co-create a vibrant spiritual community. She also serves as a mentor, helping students navigate their own rabbinic paths, while providing supervision for internships and rabbinic job placements. Holtzman teaches a wide array of practical rabbinic skills, including leading life-cycle events and homiletics.

A leading social justice activist, Holtzman is the founder and organizer of the Reconstructionist Chevra Kadisha of Philadelphia. She has served on the board of Philadelphia’s New Sanctuary Movement, which works to end injustices against immigrants regardless of their immigration status, and has served on the national board of Jewish Voice for Peace. She is a founding member of POWER, an interfaith organization committed to building communities of opportunity that work for all.

Holtzman is the author of a chapter in Twice Blessed (Beacon Press, 1989), as well as the article “Struggle, Change and Celebration: My Life as a Lesbian Rabbi” in Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation, edited by Rebecca T. Alpert, Sue Levi Elwell and Shirley Idelson (Rutgers University Press, 2000).

She is currently on the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs in Philadelphia and on the board of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Kent Griswold, Ph.D., M.B.A., is the founder and producer of “The Wolf PAC,” an Amazon Prime television show which competes with Shark Tank. In the first two seasons, the show featured investors and companies exclusively from the Greater Delaware Valley. Most recently, Dr. Griswold served as president and CEO of GRISWOLD SPECIAL CARE. With over 10,000 professional caregivers working across 100+ offices in the U.S., South Korea, and Mexico, Dr. Griswold’s company is the world’s oldest multi-national non-medical home care company. In addition, Dr. Griswold also served as President of Financial Health Services, Inc.

Dr. Griswold served on the Board of the ALS Association and chaired the Family and Patient Services Committee. He is currently on the board of Harcum College and previously served on the board at Chestnut Hill College where he chaired the Finance Committee. He is a past Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and has chaired the chapter’s Patient & Family Services Committee and co-chaired the Advocacy Committee. He has also co-chaired the National Chairman’s Advisory Council (CAC) and has been co-chair of the Long Term Care Committee. In addition, he has been on the boards of the Special Care Foundation, the AIDS Victims Fund and a number of corporate boards. An active member of PAC (President Advisory Council), he has been recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal as one of the “40 Under 40” and by Business Philadelphia as one of the “100 People to Watch.” He started his first venture, a summer day camp, at the age of 14, and recently launched a board game company, Zord Games, whose first product, WallStreak, was recently released.

A graduate of Harvard University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kennedy-Western University, Dr, Griswold has also studied in Kenya, England, and Sweden, and has worked in Hong Kong and Australia, where he was a permanent resident. He has published two novels and is currently writing another book titled $10,000. He completed his Ph.D. in Health Administration with a dissertation entitled The Evolving Needs for Home Care Services with an Aging Population of Those Living with Multiple Sclerosis.