HOSTED BY

GILA BLOCK
Executive Director, Yesh Tikva

Gila Block is the Executive Director and Co-Founder Yesh Tikva. Three years into her personal fertility journey she founded Yesh Tikva with the help of four incredible and dedicated women. She received her BA in psychology from Yeshiva University Stern College for Women and an MA in Applied Behavioral Analysis from Columbia University. Prior to assuming the position of Executive Director of Yesh Tikva, she worked for 8 years as a behavior therapist and parent educator working with children on the Autism Spectrum.

Yesh Tikva, Hebrew for “There is Hope,” was established to end the silence and create a Jewish community of support for all Jewish people facing infertility. Yesh Tikva offers free professional psychosocial services, resources and tools to those struggling with infertility, while simultaneously educating the broader Jewish community through raising awareness and sensitivity to the issue.

DALIA DAVIS
Co-Founder and Spiritual Advisor, Uprooted

Dalia Davis is one of the co-founders of Uprooted: A Jewish Response to Fertility Journeys, and serves as its Arts and Education Director. She is passionate about helping people struggling to grow their families find support within the Jewish community.  Dalia is a Jewish Educator, dancer, and choreographer, who uses Jewish text as the inspiration for her choreographic works. Dalia holds a BA in Dance and Jewish History from Barnard College, a certificate in Talmud and Halacha from YU, and a MA in Jewish Education. She is currently studying in Yeshivat Maharat’s Advanced Kollel and looks forward to using this training to offer greater pastoral support to those on a fertility journey. In addition to her work with Uprooted, she is also the founder of Beit Midrash in Motion, a fully-embodied approach to Jewish text study. 

Uprooted’s mission is to cultivate and maintain a pluralistic Jewish healing community that raises awareness, educates, and provides support to those impacted by fertility challenges.

ELANA FRANK
CEO & Founder, Jewish Fertility Foundation

Elana Frank has 20+ years of experience working with non-profits (Jewish Community Relations Council of NY, Kfar Hassidim Youth Village in Israel, and most notably the Jewish Fertility Foundation) in fundraising, marketing, community outreach, volunteer recruitment, board development, and program development. After experiencing the pain and loneliness of infertility and realizing how lucky she was to have had her experience begin in Israel, where it’s free, she rallied people behind her and created the Jewish Fertility Foundation.

Elana lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, 3 boys, and their fish “America”.

JFF provides financial assistance, educational awareness, and emotional support to Jewish people with medical fertility challenges. JFF aims to help any person experiencing infertility feel supported and less isolated throughout their fertility journey regardless of religious background.

MOLLY HESS
Program Manager and Family Consultant, Priya

Molly received her BA from Indiana University and her MA from University of Missouri Kansas City. Having worked in non-profits for the past decade Molly has extensive experience creating programming for diverse and underserved audiences. Over the last four years, she was tasked with creating TribeKC, an organization to help young professionals get connected with the Kansas City Jewish community. After the success of growing TribeKC, Molly has transitioned to run the Priya Fund, and help grow Jewish families.

PRIYA seeks to be a resource to Jewish individuals and families who are struggling on their path to parenthood. We offer emotional support, resource connection, spiritual guidance, and financial assistance with fertility treatments and/or adoption.

REVA JUDAS
Director, NechamaComfort

Reva Judas is the founder and Director of NechamaComfort, an organization that supports families dealing with infant and pregnancy loss. She has counseled people around the world and has trained medical staff, clergy, lay leaders, and communities in best practices for supporting grieving families. Reva received her Chaplaincy Certification from Hackensack Medical center and is a Resolve Through Sharing (RTS) certified Infant Pregnancy Loss Facilitator. She holds a BS in Human and Child Development.

NechamaComfort’s mission is to comfort and support Jewish families through the trauma of miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss and educate medical staff, clergy, lay leaders and community members on how best to help.

ESTHER KLEINMAN
Medical Guidance & Intake Counselor, Bonei Olam

In her capacity as an intake counselor, medical guidance counselor, and hotline respondent for Bonei Olam, Esther offers guidance and support to couples struggling with infertility. With every call and every couple, Esther ensures that no one should ever have to struggle through this challenge alone.

Bonei Olam means “builders of worlds.” Current statistics indicate that one out of every six couples are faced with the challenge of infertility. The pain and emotional trauma of childlessness is something no couple should have to endure. Certainly not due to a lack of financial means or other surmountable obstacles. Since its founding in 1999, Bonei Olam has set its mission to provide the means or resources necessary to allow childless couples facing infertility the opportunity to pursue medical fertility treatment.

MALKIE KLARISTENFELD
Director and Founder, Knafayim

Makie Klaristenfeld is the Director and Founder of Knafayim, an organization confronting the challenges of perinatal loss, Director of Volunteers for PCHAI Chai Lifeline, the crisis, trauma, and bereavement department as well as an educator in a few high schools. Malkie is a mother of 8 k"h and a silent mother of 19. Her personal experience as well as the journeys of over 1000 couples that she deals with yearly, help her with creating and managing the programs and services of Knafayim.

Knafayim strengthens and supports families facing pregnancy or early baby loss.

CHANI LEVERTOV
Founder and Director, Fruitful

Chani Levertov founded Fruitful as a peer support resource for friends and community members. She has grown the organization together with a dedicated team to service over 90 individuals navigating their infertility journey. Chani is also the Co-director of Smile on Seniors of Arizona, along with her husband Levi. Smile on Seniors is the foremost organization providing social, educational and pastoral services to the Jewish senior demographic in Arizona.

Chani is married to Rabbi Levi and they have three beautiful children, two sons and a daughter.

Fruitful provides community, education and emotional support to those striving to build their families. Our mission is to help couples through their grief, nurture them as they heal and empower them as they move forward.

BRANY ROSEN
Founder and Director of Members Services, ATime

Mrs. Brany Rosen is the Founder of ATime and Director of Member Services. Almost 30 years ago, Brany and her husband found themselves struggling through infertility in a world that wouldn't even say the word. There was no one to ask about doctors or to receive support from. She and Rabbi Rosen made a promise that if they would be helped, they would do everything they could to make sure that no couple ever felt alone on this journey. Baruch Hashem, they had a baby boy and a short few months later launched an organization that has helped hundreds of thousands of couples on the family building journey. Brany has been the power behind ATime's advocacy in Washington and Albany, working with groups such as Resolve and PCOS Challenge, and a yearly participant at the ASRM.

ATime provides information, resources and assistance at every step of the road to parenthood.

ELIMOR RYZMAN
PUAH Cares Team Member, PUAH

Elimor Ryzman, kallah teacher, joined the PUAH Cares team as she is devoted to helping each couple fulfill their dream of building a healthy family and not have to struggle through the fertility maze alone. At PUAH, Elimor's passion and dedication help to build bridges between science and halacha and to bring education, information, and emotional support to the community.

Elimor is a dedicated member of the PUAH Cares team and has PUAH certification as a Yoetzet Bakehilla.

Whether individuals are struggling with fertility, women's health, men's health, genetics, or intimacy, PUAH is here to help. PUAH advisors embody a unique synthesis of rabbinical knowledge and specialized training in modern reproductive medicine to provide the best guidance possible. Our counseling and guidance is fully subsidized, helping to ease the difficult journey. PUAH's goal is to give personalized individual help with deep sensitivity and compassion. 

RABBI IDIT SOLOMON
Founder, Hasidah

Rabbi Idit Solomon is the founder and CEO of Hasidah, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about infertility in the Jewish community, connecting people to support, and reducing financial barriers to treatment. She earned her Master’s degree in Jewish Education and ordination from HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. She has previously worked as the Columbus Federation VP of Jewish Education, Director of Jewish Community Relations, and at the Ohio State University Hillel.

Hasidah is the voice of hope and compassion that raises awareness of infertility, provides support resources, and reduces financial barriers to treatment in the Jewish community.