As the first Conservative female congregational rabbi in Chicago, Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin is used to being the one who breaks the “stained glass ceiling.”

In 1990, she became assistant rabbi at Am Yisrael Congregation in Northfield. Four years later, she took over as sole rabbi at Am Yisrael, and for many years her pulpit was the largest in the Conservative Movement to be led by a woman.

On April 23, Rabbi Newman Kamin’s devotion and passion for her work will be recognized when she is installed as the second female president of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the international association of Conservative rabbis. Newman Kamin says she is excited to be second this time around.

“At a certain point, you have to sort of sit back and say, ‘if you’re always the first, and there’s never a second, that means that actually there’s no progress being made,'” she explains. “So I’m very proud to be the second. More than proud, encouraged that it’s no longer a novelty in the Conservative Movement to have female leadership.”

Newman Kamin says she feels privileged to have paved the way for others in her work as a female rabbi, but she says she no longer sees herself as a trailblazer because in her own congregation she’s “just the rabbi.”

Still, the Rabbinical Assembly remains a male-dominated organization with women making up just 20 percent of its worldwide membership, according to Rabbi Elliot Schoenberg, senior vice president and global director of Rabbinic Career Development at the Rabbinical Assembly.

“Being a woman president of an organization, which is still 80 percent male is still being a trailblazer,” says Rabbi Schoenberg. “It’s also being a role model.”

For the past two years, Newman Kamin served as vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, during which time she co-chaired the strategic planning process to take the RA into its next chapter.

“What we learned in the strategic plan is that rabbis want to connect to rabbis,” explains Rabbi Schoenberg. “And there couldn’t be anyone better suited to that than Debra because Debra is a connector. She fits in perfectly to the strategic plan.”

Technology will play a key role in helping the RA become what Newman Kamin calls a “networked organization” where rabbis from around the globe can connect no matter their distance from each other. She also says they have “affinity circles,” which links up rabbis who share something in common, such as being an assistant rabbi or raising a child with special needs.

“What really excites me is the chavruta, the bringing people together for meaningful experiences as rabbis,” says Newman Kamin.

In addition to connecting rabbis within the RA, Newman Kamin says she is working hard to collaborate and partner with other branches of the Conservative Movement such as United Synagogue and the Masorti Movement in Israel.

Her installation will take place at this year’s Rabbinical Assembly convention, which she convinced them to hold in Chicago for the first time since 1948. JUF provided a grant to help sponsor the event.

“I think for a lot of people on the East Coast and West Coast, they have no idea about the vibrancy of Jewish life (and) the Conservative Movement in Chicago,” she says, “and I’m looking forward to helping educate them about the really special amazing community that we have.”

That community includes access to kosher butchers, Jewish day schools, and the support of other fellow rabbis. It also includes her own family and congregation, both of whom make up the foundation of Newman Kamin’s support system.

Part of her community is a uniquely close relationship with JUF. “The entire Chicago Jewish community is proud that one of our finest rabbinic leaders is being installed as president of the Rabbinical Assembly,” said Dr. Steven B. Nasatir, JUF President and one of Newman Kamin’s congregants. “Debra’s installation is especially meaningful to me, as she is not just my colleague, but my friend, rabbi, and confidant. The Rabbinical Assembly has chosen well.”

She is married to Daniel Kamin, an adjunct professor at DePaul University, and together they have three children, Shai, Zachary, and Charlotte, as well as daughter-in-law, Sahar Segal. Newman Kamin says that growing up with a mom as a rabbi presents its own challenges, but she is proud they all turned out to be “menschy adults.”

“They tell me that they’re really proud of me, and it’s incredibly gratifying to launch all of these adults,” she says. “I think their life was enhanced by having a rabbi mom. Of course, not as much as my life was enhanced by being able to be their mom.”

Just as Rabbi Newman Kamin’s own family had to share her over the years with her congregation, so too now her congregation will have to share her time with her presidency of the Rabbinical Association. They have been “extremely generous” in supporting her being able to serve in both roles, and the deep relationship they have developed since she first started at Am Yisrael in 1990 is fundamental to all of her work.

“I really love being a rabbi. I love my congregation. I have had the most wonderful experience, and that’s really what fuels my passion for wanting to help and support other rabbis.”

Rabbi Newman Kamin’s installation as President of the Rabbinical Assembly will take place on Monday, April 23 at 8p.m. at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.