Rabbi and Eco-Chaplain Katy Z. Allen

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and spiritual leader of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope. She began her career as a biology teacher, turned to writing and editing educational materials, then started teaching Hebrew school and became involved in family and adult education before entering rabbinical school. She received a Masters of Arts in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College in Newton, MA, in 1999, and rabbinic ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY, in 2005 and is a Board Certified Chaplain through Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. For ten years, Katy served as a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and then as a hospice chaplain. She is the co-founder of the Jewish Climate Action Network  and consideres herself an eco-chaplain.  

Rabbi Katy writes about matters of the spirit and the world (and encourages others to write) and blogs at here. She is certified as a Bibliodramatist by Peter and Susan Pitzele, and has published Loss and Transformation: One Women's Journey Out of Grief to Opportunity, which is based on her senior rabbinic project, and Earth Etudes for Elul: Spiritual Reflections for the Season, with reflections on Earth and t'shuvah by many writers. She is a member of the Advisory Boards of Jewcology.org, Jewish Veg and Shomrei Bereshit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth.

Rabbi Katy's most recent book, A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text is “a meditation on our universal journey through trauma toward healing.” A series of about 60 double-page spreads unfolds a story from innocence to despair to understanding through a combination of poetic moments, quotes from Jewish tradition, and black-and-white photographs of trees. 

Rabbi Katy can be reached at rabbi@mayantikvah.org.

Teacher Lizzy Cantor

Lizzy grew up in Los Angeles and then attended UC Santa Cruz, where she majored in Environmental and Jewish Studies. After a few years serving with AmeriCorps and working at various outdoor schools (including Teva Learning Center at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center!) it was time to enter the classroom as a Middle School Science Teacher. She spent the past few years working in public and Catholic schools in Western Massachusetts, as well as at Hebrew schools in Northampton and Amherst. Lizzy has been teaching with Lynn Public Schools and Ma'yan Tikvah since 2019.

Lizzy can be reached at teacher@mayantikvah.org.

Teacher Nina Katz

Nina is an enthusiastic plant and language geek with a background that includes teaching to a wide variety of ages, sometimes all at once.  She has taught in the Havurat Shalom lehrhaus, in homeschooling circles, and in herbalism programs, as well as one-on-one.  Nina is excited about combining education on plants, language, and Jewish spirituality in working with Y'ladim BaTeva.  Nina also serves as admin for the US branch of the international non-profit, IAmHere, which works on countering bigotry and misinformation on social media.  For more information, feel free to take a look at Nina's websites, askthewordnerd.com and meridiansofhealth.com.

Teacher Liz Stoll

Liz has taught children of all ages as well as parents in a variety of settings including preschool, summer camp, JCC, Jewish day school, and local parks.  In all cases, she aims to make learning active and fun, while engaging and nurturing the whole child.  Liz has a bachelor's degree in biology from Brown University, a master's degree in education leadership from Columbia Teachers College, and a master's degree in Judaic studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary.  She has been involved as a parent with Y'ladim BaTeva since it began and is excited to transition to the role of teacher and to share her appreciation of nature and Judaism with her class.  Besides teaching for Y'ladim BaTeva, Liz also currently teaches at Temple Beth Shalom Children's Center in Needham.  When she's not teaching, you can find her experimenting in the garden and kitchen, hiking, swimming, and eating tasty vegetarian food with her husband and their two sons. 

Administrative Assistant Lisa Ahern

Lisa is a special education teacher who taught at a school for children with autism for 12 years. For the past two years, she’s been enjoying being home with her two young children. When she isn’t playing outside with them, she has been enjoying tutoring children as well as getting involved in Wayland.

Lisa can be reached at info@mayantikvah.org.