Staff & Board

Lexi Leban joined the Jewish Film Institute as Executive Director in 2011. A longtime member of the Bay Area film community, Leban has over 20 years experience in all aspects of film, from production to distribution to exhibition. Prior to her appointment, she served as the Academic Director of the Digital Filmmaking & Video Production at the Art Institute of California and creator of their Bachelor's degree program. As a documentary filmmaker, Leban has directed award-winning films that focus on women's rights, criminal justice and LGBT issues. Her films have screened widely at festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Her most recent film, Girl Trouble aired nationally on the acclaimed PBS series Independent Lens and an interactive game based on the film debuted at Sundance. She served for 8 years in the marketing and web operation department at New Day Films, a 40 year old filmmaker-run educational distribution company with over 230 award-winning titles. She earned a BA degree in Political Science from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.

Jay Rosenblatt is an internationally recognized filmmaker whose work has received many awards. A selection of his films had theatrical runs at the Film Forum in New York and at theaters around the country. Eight of his films have been at the Sundance Film Festival and several of his films have shown on HBO/Cinemax, the Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel. Articles about his work have appeared in the Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure section, the LA Times, the NY Times, Filmmaker magazine and the Village Voice. Jay is a recipient of a Guggenheim, a USA Artists grant and a Rockefeller Fellowship. He has served on numerous festival juries throughout the world including the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and the Tampere Film Festival in Finland. In 2002, he co-produced and curated the 9/11 program "Underground Zero" which was named one of the Ten Best Films in 2002 by the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2005, Jay received the inaugural Freedom of Expression Award from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Jay is originally from New York and has lived in San Francisco for many years. Since 1989, he has taught film at various universities in the Bay Area, including Stanford University, S.F. State University, and the San Francisco Art Institute. He has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and, in a former life, worked as a therapist.

Wendy Bear has been involved with non-profits for many years and worked professionally in the non-profit sector for the past seventeen years. Prior to joining JFI, she was the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at Children's Council of San Francisco, an Associate Director of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, and a financial and operational consultant working with a number of local non-profits. She is a past president of Congregation Beth Sholom, a past board member of the Jewish Community Federation and of Playground, and served as treasurer of JFI. She has an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joshua Moore is an award-winning independent filmmaker based in San Francisco. His debut feature film, I Think It's Raining had its world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Independent Camera Award and received glowing reviews from Screen Daily and Variety. I Think it's Raining was the Opening Night selection of the San Francisco Film Society's Cinema By the Bay Festival and like his most recent film, Keep A Tidy Soul, has played in many film festivals around across the globe before acquiring distribution on digital platforms across North America. Joshua is a graduate of San Francisco State University Department of Cinema, and has worked for Michael Douglas, Francis Coppola, and Programmed for the Mill Valley Film Festival. When he's not making or curating films, you can find Joshua riding along the Northern California coastline on his vintage motorcycle.

Ken Levin has 16 years of experience in Bay Area non-profits, the past ten of which have been in the arts. For the past three and half years, as Development Director at San Francisco Playhouse, he helped secure the company's first million-dollar pledge and raised funds to usher in 14 World Premieres and 11 commissions.  He was very successful in significantly increasing contributed income over the time he was there.  Prior to joining San Francisco Playhouse, he was Communications Director at Berkeley Playhouse and oversaw a rebranding campaign and facilitated a national social media campaign.  At 42nd Street Moon, he helped produce the American Premiere of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's lost musical, Three Sisters, as well as Moon's first ever World Premiere, Murder for Two. Ken is a fifth-generation San Franciscan  and holds degrees in Psychology and Political Science from UCLA. He is thrilled to join JFI and continue his family's 103-year legacy of promoting the power of film in the Bay Area.

Looking back, the through line from Jamie's life leading up to his role at the Jewish Film Institute is clear. A recent graduate of the dual USC Annenberg MCM and Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management programs, he has a lifetime of community involvement, leadership, connectedness, and communication ranging from a small family business, to attending, volunteering, interning, and working all across the Jewish nonprofit landscape. He is currently thriving in Oakland with his better half, Jasmine, their dog Oreo, and Lucy the Snake Diva - a teenaged ball python.  

After relocating to San Francisco in 2018, Hayleigh soon became a part of JFI in a year-round capacity after working the box office for SFJFF38. Prior to joining JFI she worked in film production, exhibition and the film festival circuit in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, New York, LA, and England. She loves film and in her free time pursues her passion of screenwriting and exploring all the rich culture and arts the city has to offer. She studied Creative Writing and Film at Sarah Lawrence College and later went on to obtain her masters in Film Aesthetics from the University of Oxford.

Rosie Heller comes from a higher education background, joining the Jewish Film Institute in 2019. After working on multiple college campuses throughout the country in housing, admissions, and student affairs, she has made the jump into the non profit film sector. A lover of the arts since as long as she can remember, she brings her experiences to meet her passions here at JFI. Rosie is a graduate of Lesley University and resides in Oakland, CA. 

Born and raised in Milan, Italy, Margherita has moved to the Bay Area a decade ago. While teaching film and literature courses at UC Berkeley - where she recently finished her PhD with a focus on Italian cinema - she has worked as the Film Curatorial Intern at BAMPFA, and as World Cinema Programming Researcher for the Mill Valley Film Festival. As the Next Wave Programmer, she is now excited to explore venues, films and events related to Jewish life and culture for a 18-35 crowd. When she is not at the movies, she is at her happiest swimming or at the beach, and is a talented dinner party host.

Have a question or comment and not sure who to reach? Contact the main office number or email and we will direct you to the appropriate staff member.