Board & Advisors
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dana Doron
President
Frederick Hertz
Vice President
Gale Mondry
Secretary
Sandee Blechman
Treasurer
Amanda Berger
Susie Coliver
Spencer Jarrett
Ari Y. Kelman
Sasha Kovriga
George Krevsky
Adrienne Leder
Michele Madansky
Doug Okun
Rachel Pfeffer, Ph.D.
Scott Rubin
Janet Schneider
Naomi Seidman
Dan Wohlfeiler
PAST BOARD PRESIDENTS
Alan Snitow
Howard Herman
Alan Ramo
Marcia Freedman
Dan Wohlfeiler
Susie Coliver
Doug Okun
Shana Penn
FESTIVAL DIRECTORS EMERITI
Deborah Kaufman
Founder & Director (1980-1993)
Janis Plotkin
Co-director (1981-1993)
Executive Artistic Director (1993-2002)
Peter Stein
Executive Director (2003 - 2011)
BOARD MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES
Amanda Berger has more than 20 years of social justice experience, focusing on leadership development, civic participation and racial justice. She currently is the California Site Coordinator for Communities for Public Education Reform (CPER), a national funding collaborative founded to support student and parent organizing in California and five other sites.
Amanda was the program director with Rockwood Leadership Institute where she managed the Art of Leadership and the Year Long Fellowship, “Leading from the Inside Out.” Amanda also held the positions of Director of Programs at the Women Donors Network and the Senior Program Officer at the Jewish Fund for Justice in New York City where she co-founded the Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing to build the capacity of youth activists nationwide.
Amanda recently organized a retreat for Working Films focused on building collaboration between documentary film makers and advocacy groups as part of a life long interest in the nexus between culture and social change.
Sandee Blechman has been a non-profit leader and executive in San Francisco for over thirty years. Most recently, she served as Executive Director at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, where she worked for 13 years as CFO, COO and CEO and played an instrumental role in the JCCSF's financial turnaround, planning for its new facitlity and the successful opening and growth of programs in the new building. Earlier in her career, Sandee served as business manager for the clinical laboratories at Mount Zion Hospital & Medical Center and was Vice President for Finance and Adminstration at the San Francisco Art Institute. Sandee has served on the boards of Jewish Vocational Services and San Francisco Day School, where she was Board President from 1999-2001. Sandee has a BA from Yale and a MBA from Stanford
Susie Coliver was born and raised in San Francisco and lives on a stairway in the Castro District. She, along with her husband/partner Bob Herman, leads a 14 person architectural practice in San Francisco: Herman Coliver Locus: Architecture/Planning and Design Studio. Their office is unusual in as much as 100% of their clients are non-profit organizations. Most of their work over a twenty five year period has been low-and very-low income housing. Additionally, for the last decade, they have ad the opportunity to design schools and Jewish religious and communal spaces, including a number of synagogues. She inherited her progressive politics and activist stance from her most energetic mother, Edit. Her Grandmother, Hedwig, passed along an abiding interest in Jewish living and learning.
Dana Doron has been a happy East Coast transplant for 15 years. With almost 20 years of marekting experience, Dana has worked as various consumer product companies including Guthy-Renker/Lieberman Productions, Nature's Cure, Sunsweet Growers, and Cott Beverages. Dana was born to Israeli parents and spoke Hebrew as her first language. She grew up visiting Israel on a bi-yearly basis, and attended Solomon Schechter Day School, as well as Hebrew School and Midrasha through her High School years. She went on to earn a BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Stanford. Dana’s previous volunteer work includes a Junior Achievement steering committee, Stanford Alumni Consulting projects to Bay Area non-profits and one-on-one student tutoring. Dana enjoys volleyball, singing, swing dancing, plays, board games, film festivals (of course!) and sampling San Francisco’s fine cuisine.
Frederick Hertz is an attorney and mediator, specializing in the formation and dissolution of non-marital and extended family partnerships, especially involving real estate. He also helps non-profits and small business property owners. He was a co-founder of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, and has been on the SFJFF board for two years.
Spencer Jarrett Bio to come.
Ari Y. Kelman is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of California at Davis, where he serves as the director of the Graduate Group in the Study of Religion, and is a member of the Jewish Studies Program Committee. He is the author of "Station Identification: a cultural history of Yiddish radio", (Press, 2009). He is also the co-author of Sacred Strategies (Alban Institute Press, 2010), a study of synagogue transformation efforts in the United States. In collaboration with Steven M. Choen, Ari has authored a number of studies of contemporary American Jewish culture addressing issues from Israel to the internet. He has taught and spoken to professional and lay audiences across North America at synagogues, book fairs, conferences and schools. Currently, Ari is working on a book about Evangelical Christian worship music and articles about Fiddler on the Roof, mixtapes, and Jewish records. Ari participated in the SFJFF 2010 Panel, "Is Dialogue Possible?: How Films Help Us Talk About Israel (Or Not)."
Sasha Kovriga is a partner at Osterweis Capital Management involved in managing a number of investment products including separately managed accounts, mutual funds and long-short equity hedge funds. Sasha is a co-founder of Inspire Inc. a consulting firm serving educational non-profit organizations, a trustee of the Summer Search Foundation, a leadership development program for low income high school students and an officer of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Northern California. Sasha is a graduate of Leadership Emanu-El program at Temple Emanu-El and has worked with the temple on developing an outreach program for mid-career professionals. An immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Sasha came to the Bay Area at the age of 16 with his mother. He holds a BA in Philosophy and History from Brandeis University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
George Krevsky a native Pennsylvanian, he is currently the owner of the George Krevsky Gallery in San Francisco's Union Square District and has been an art dealer since 1978, after earning an MSW from Yeshiva University. Krevsky worked at JCCs in Harrisburg, Fort Worth, the 92nd St. Y (NY), and Nashville, and was recruited in 1972 to serve as Executive Director of the Brotherhood Way JCC in SF. For three years in the late 70's, he produced the entertainment portion of Israel Independence Day at Stern Grove. While working part time in the Nathan Gallery in San Francisco, he developed a one woman theatrical production called "An Evening With Golda Meir" and went on to produce theater in San Francisco, Chicago, Northern California and New York, and to work as a production assistant on two Movies of the Week for Cypress Point Productions. He has served on the baord of the Pacific Jewish Theater, and, from 1998 to 2009, on the board of the San Francisco Art Dealer's Association. His service on the Regional Board of the New Israel Fund earned him their Guardian of Democracy Award in 2006. He joined the Board of SFJFF in 2010. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife of 29 years, Doris, and has one daughter, Shani, who is an architect.
Adrienne Paige Leder is an attorney and works as Corporate Counsel at The Clorox Company in Oakland. Originally from Texas, Adrienne has been a San Francisco resident since 2003. Active in San Francisco’s Jewish community, Adrienne has served as a board member of the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco since 2006 and has been a long time supporter of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. In her free time, Adrienne loves to cook, travel, and to explore the great hiking trails the Bay Area has to offer.
Michele Madansky, Ph.D. is an online advertising and marketing research executive with twenty years of experience in advertising and online media. She has held senior positions at BBDO and Grey. Michele moved from NY to the bay area and served as VP of Global Market Research fo Yahoo! from 2003-2007. Now she runs her own consulting practice and is a lecturer at the Hass Graduate School of Business in Berkeley, California.
Michele is the product of North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, NY, Solomon Shechter in Northbrook, IL, Brown University and University of Chicago. She lives in Menlo Park with her husband Travis Mowbray (who makes a mean matzoh ball soup), and their sons, Harris and Ezra. Michele is on a perpetual quest for a good sour pickle in the bay area.
Gale Mondry is Vice President of UpStart Bay Area, a new nonprofit that cultivates and supports new ideas to engage Bay Area Jews in Jewish life. Prior to this position, she was the Chief Program Officer for the San Francisco-based Koret Foundation. Trained as an attorney, with a BA from Brown and JD from Harvard Law School, Gale has worked in non-profit development and administration for Stanford University, California Pacific Medical Center, Huckleberry Youth Programs and Gateway High School, where she was also a co-founder and Board President. She has been the President of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, and co-chaired the capital campaign for the new JCCSF facility that opened in 2004. She has also been a board member of the Jewish Community Federation and the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Gale was honored by the Bay Area Jewish community as its Volunteer of the Year in 1998.
Doug Okun has been attending the Jewish Film Festival for nearly twenty years, and has been on its board since 2000. In his work life he focuses on online financial services, having worked at companies included Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo and numerous start-ups. Doug grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, received his B.A. from Columbia University and his MBA from Stanford. Having volunteered and supported numerous organizations, Doug’s introduction to the San Francisco Jewish community began as a professional at Jewish Vocational Service in their refugee resettlement program, and then in planning and allocations at the Jewish Community Federation. He lives in San Francisco with his partner, Eric, and their two daughters, Elizabeth and Sophia.
Rachel Pfeffer After founding and co-founding award-winning youth development organizations and transitioning out with skilled young people directing the organizations, Rachel began a consulting business to support progressive organizations and leadership. Rachel advises young leaders in particular and facilitates social change locally nationally and internationally. Rachel's consulting business includes executive management transitions. She has served as interim executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, GirlSource, Inc, Jewish Voice for Peace and Nuestra Casa.
Scott Rubin is a freelance writer, editor, and translator. He writes about politics and culture. His writing has appeared in national publications in the United States and Europe. His most recent book is In Every Tongue: The Racial and Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People. He is currently at work on his next book, The Twisted Textbook: Politics and Propaganda in American Education (Fall, 2007). He also works in film and is completing a documentary about the journey of an Ethiopian Jew (a co-director of the film) to recover the identity he lost when he and his family fled Ethiopia for Israel in 1984. Scott holds an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins University. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in several other languages. He lives in San Francisco with his partner, Stephen Moore, and their seven-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.
Janet Scheider has a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy (UC Berkeley). Janet served ten years as the Executive Director of a regional government agency in Contra Costa County, which ensured environmental compliance and oversaw environmental programsin the area of recycling for five cities and Contra Costa County. Prior to that, she worked in the Walnut Creek City Manager's office where she administred several grant programs that funded community service and civic pride projects. Janet recently left the position of Administrative Chief for the City of Richmond that she held for nearly 5 years. There, she developed Hand in Hand, a program sponsored by the City of Richmond to develop local leadership and build the capacity of non-profits serving the Richmond community. She's been a supporter of the SFJFF for 15 years, loves to read and write fiction, ride her bike, and watch movies. She has attended the Contra Costa Jewish Film Festival, Mill Valley, and Sundance Film Festivals in the past to watch primarily Jewish-themed films.
Naomi Seidman is Koret Professor of Jewish Culture and Director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She grew up in a Yiddish-speaking, Orthodox home in Brooklyn, and graduated from Brooklyn College before moving to California for her graduate studies. She received a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature in 1993 from the University of California, Berkeley, and served for two years as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University before coming to GTU in 1995. Her first book, "A Marriage Made in Heaven: The Sexual Politics of Hebrew and Yiddish" (University of California Press) appeared in 1995. Her second book, "Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation" (University of Chicago Press), appeared in 2006. She has also translated two books from the Hebrew and Yiddish, "The First Day and Other Stories" by Dvora Baron, and "Conversations with Dvora: A Biography of the First Modern Hebrew Woman Writer," by Amia Lieblich, and co-edited the volume on Israel for the series "A Traveler's Literary Guide." She is presently working on a collection of short stories entitled "Raised by Jews" as well as an academic book on "The Sexual Transformation of Ashkenaz." She teaches in the summer internship program at the National Yiddish Book Center, leads Torah study at Congregation Netivot Shalom, and is on the Academic Advisory Board for the Posen Foundation for Secular Jewish Culture.
Naomi Seidman lives in Berkeley, California, with her musician husband, John Schott, and their eleven-year-old son, Ezra.
Dan Wohlfeiler is a Berkeley native, alumnus, and resident. A former documentary filmmaker working in a variety of roles and settings from Mono Lake to Barcelona, he has been active in HIV and STD prevention since 1986. He was education director of San Francisco’s STOP AIDS Project from 1990 to 1998, and since then has worked for the STD Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health. Dan has also served on Frameline’s board of directors. Dan was on the JFF Board from 1995 to 2005, and happily rejoined in 2007.
