JWA Staff
Judith Rosenbaum, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
Judith Rosenbaum (she/her) is CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, a pioneering national organization that documents Jewish women’s stories, elevates their voices, and inspires them to be agents of change.
An educator, historian, and writer, Judith served for nearly a decade as JWA’s Director of Public History and Director of Education, developing its major programs and educational initiatives.
Judith earned a BA in History from Yale University and a PhD in American Studies from Brown University with a focus on women, gender, and social movements. She won a Fulbright Fellowship to study women’s collective communities in Israel, and received a dissertation grant from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study to pursue research on the women’s health movement. Judith teaches, lectures, and publishes widely on Jewish studies and women’s studies. She has also served on the faculty of the Bronfman Fellowship and is a Schusterman Senior Fellow. In 2025, she received Hebrew College’s Esther Award for Courageous Women’s Leadership.
Hannah Altman, Digital Media Editor & Communications Manager
Hannah Altman (she/her) is a New Jersey native with a BFA in Photography from Point Park University and an MFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University. During her time in Richmond, she wrote her thesis dissertation Kavana: Photography, Jewish Storytelling, and Memory on images that contribute to collective Jewish memory. Her photography monograph of the same name is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art libraries. She brings her passion for Jewish feminism and storytelling to the Jewish Women's Archive to honor our history and elevate our future.
Email Hannah Altman / Tel: (617) 383-6761
Emma Breitman, Blog Editor
Emma Breitman (she/her) is a Boston-based writer and editor. She graduated in 2020 from CU Boulder with a BA in Women and Gender Studies and has always been curious about the intersections of gender, sexuality, and media. Her undergraduate honors thesis, Queer Futurity and Hybridity in "Arrival" and "Embrace of the Serpent", explored how the queered, racialized, and Othered groups in the films Arrival and Embrace of the Serpent were seen by hegemonic culture as an infection. You can find her work published in Teen Vogue, Hey Alma, and The Boston Art Review, among others. She is excited to bring her editorial eye to JWA's digital publication and further discussions about Jewish identity, history, and culture.
Patrick Dash, Web Developer
Patrick Dash (he/him) brings his enthusiasm, technical knowledge, and passion for web development to JWA. Patrick studied English at Boston University, where he also discovered his interest in web design, building a new website for the Student Activities Office. He has since worked for various companies designing and maintaining websites, and spent several years working for a student financing company in many capacities, including Information Management. Patrick is excited to continue his career at JWA.
Maya Garfinkel, Rising Voices Fellowship Manager
Maya (they/she) is an organizer, educator, and lover of grassroots community-building. Since graduating with a BA in Political Science and Geography from McGill University, they have worked on community development and skill-building with refugees in Quebec, supporting Jewish cultural organizing initiatives, leading spiritual community in Montreal, developing interfaith student leadership on college campuses, and designing experiential education curriculum for Jewish teens. They are honored to be supporting the incredible Rising Voices Fellows in their journeys as young Jewish feminists.
Email Maya Garfinkel / Tel: (617) 383-6767
Rabbi Georgette Kennebrae, Director, Pomegranate Writing Fellowship for Jewish Women of Color
Georgette Kennebrae (she/her) is a Portugal-based rabbi, finance and immigration coach, and storyteller who is passionate about supporting people and communities through life’s joys and challenges. She is an advocate for uplifting the voices of people marginalized by societies and traditions, fighting for equity and liberation, and celebrating our rich Jewish tapestry. Georgette earned a BA in History from the University of Oklahoma and a joint MA in Gender and Women’s Studies and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. She received her rabbinical degree from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and has served congregations in the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe. She is honored to lead services and officiate weddings, b. mitzvah, and other ritual lifecycle moments across the globe. She also served as a financial advisor, educator, and coach, helping people navigate an often-challenging relationship with money, deepen their financial literacy, and align their values with their finances.
Lisa Lepson, Chief Development Officer
Lisa Lepson brings more than two decades of experience leading fundraising strategy and organizational growth across mission-driven nonprofits to her role as CDO at JWA. Previously, she served as Vice President of Development at The Forward, Chief Advancement Officer at UpStart, and Executive Director of Joshua Venture Group. Lisa holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University. As a student at Brown, she co-founded Jewish Women's Week during Women's Herstory Month, and upon graduation, she worked at Lilith Magazine. A longtime advocate for community-driven change, she has also served on several nonprofit boards, including Resetting the Table, where she is currently Board Chair, Tivnu, and Exhale, where she was the founding board chair. She brings a passion for storytelling, Jewish feminism, and philanthropy to JWA’s mission of lifting up Jewish women’s voices and histories.
Email Lisa Lepson / Tel: (617)-383-6769
Betsy More, Director of Programs
Betsy More (she/her) earned her PhD in history in 2012 from Harvard University, where her research focused on the history of work and motherhood in the United States. She has taught widely in American history, American studies, and women's and gender studies. She is a recipient of fellowships including the Mellon/ACLS Early Career Research Fellowship and the Women and Public Policy Fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School. Most recently, she served as the Director of Open Circle Jewish Learning at Hebrew College. She lives in Belmont, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter.
Email Betsy More / Tel: (617) 383-6764
Patricia Pasin, Development and Executive Assistant
Patricia Pasin is the Development and Executive Assistant at the Jewish Women’s Archive, where she supports executive leadership, development operations, and board coordination, including donor database management and gift processing. Originally from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Patricia grew up in a beautiful tropical city known for its warmth, music, and welcoming people. She moved to the United States seven years ago to pursue her undergraduate degree in Sociology at UMass Amherst, an experience that shaped her interest in social systems. Prior to joining JWA, Patricia worked in fundraising at Boston Children’s Hospital and later earned a Master’s degree in Business Analytics from Northeastern University. She brings strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and a thoughtful, mission-centered approach to her work. Patricia enjoys nature, yoga, and traveling, and is inspired by women’s inner beauty and strength and by contributing to work that helps be a light unto the nations.
Email Patricia Pasin / Tel: (617) 383-6751
Mikki Pugh, Chief of Staff
Mikki Pugh (she/her) is a licensed independent clinical social worker with over fifteen years of experience in feminist nonprofit management, including gender-specific program development, curriculum design, and evaluation. Mikki holds a BA in Psychology and Women's Studies from Skidmore College and an MSW from UNC Chapel Hill. In addition to her role at JWA, she also has a private therapy practice, is a licensed yoga teacher, and is an active member of her local mindfulness community.
Email Mikki Pugh / Tel: (617) 383-6763
Jennifer Richler, Podcast Producer
Jen Richler (she/her) is a host and producer of Can We Talk?, the podcast of the Jewish Women’s Archive, where she combines narrative storytelling and interviews to explore Jewish identity, feminism, and culture. She has spoken to dozens of remarkable Jewish women—from the first female Torah scribe to a queer klezmer band leader to the creator of multi-gender Hebrew. Recently, she started playing guitar and mahjong and is making slow progress at both. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with her family.
Email Jennifer Richler / Tel: (617) 383-6765
Nahanni Rous, Host and Senior Producer, Can We Talk?
Nahanni Rous (she/her) is a host and senior producer of Can We Talk? In this role, she has flown over the Chesapeake Bay in the cockpit of a Cessna, chopped garlic in the London kitchen of a world-class chef, and witnessed a small riot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Nahanni is also lead producer of Those Who Were There, a podcast based on testimonies from Yale University's Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, which includes Remembering Vilna: the Jerusalem of Lithuania, a ten-part audio documentary about Jewish life and the destruction of the Vilna Jewish community. She is a past producer of Making Gay History, a founding staff member of the media organization Just Vision, and a producer of Just Vision’s documentary film Encounter Point. She is a MacDowell fellow, an amateur cellist, and lives with her family in Washington, DC.
Jennifer Sartori, PhD, Chief Communications Officer and Encyclopedia Editor
Jennifer Sartori (she/her) brings years of experience in public history, Jewish studies, and feminism to her work as Chief Communications Officer and Editor of JWA's Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, an extensive revision of Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, released on CD-ROM in 2006 and available on the JWA website since 2009. She received her BA in History with a concentration in Feminist and Gender Studies from Haverford College and her MA and PhD in History from Emory University. Jenny came to JWA from Northeastern University, where she taught for thirteen years and served as Associate Director of the Jewish Studies program. Prior to joining the Northeastern faculty, she served as Director of the Women of Valor program and Director of Education at JWA. Her own research has focused on the shaping of modern Jewish identities, from her graduate work on the education of Jewish girls in 19th- and 20th-century France through her current study of adoption and Jewish identity in the United States today. She is also Co-Director, with Dr. Jayne Guberman, of the Adoption & Jewish Identity Project.
Email Jennifer Sartori / Tel: (617) 383-6756
Gail Twersky Reimer, PhD, Founding Director
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Reimer (she/her) began her professional career as a faculty member of Wellesley College shortly after receiving her PhD in English and American Literature from Rutgers University. In the early 1990’s, while serving as Associate Director of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Reimer conceived and co-edited two anthologies of Jewish women’s writings – Reading Ruth:Women Reclaim a Sacred Story and Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holy Days. This work led to the founding of the Jewish Women’s Archive in 1995. Reimer’s leadership of JWA has been acknowledged with numerous awards including being named by The Forward (2001) as one of the 50 most influential Jews of the year and by Womens e-news (2006) as one of its 21 Leaders for the 21st century, honored by Auburn Theological Seminary (2011) at its “Lives of Commitment” event, and awarded the Dr. Benjamin J. Shevach Memorial Award for distinguished achievement in Jewish educational leadership by Hebrew College (2011); the American Jewish Distinguished Service Award from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (2012) and the Lee Max Friedman award for distinguished service in the field of American Jewish History by the American Jewish Historical Society (2014).
JWA Fellows and Interns
Danielle Kranjec, Twersky Education Fellow
Danielle Kranjec (she/her) is the associate vice president of Hillel International’s Center for Jewish and Israel Education/Meyerhoff Center, responsible for the educational approach that helps students develop and grow their Jewish knowledge, friendships, and identities. Previously she served as the Director of Campus Initiatives at the Shalom Hartman Institute.
Danielle holds an MA in Medieval Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she also completed her doctoral coursework. A medievalist by training, Kranjec received her BA from Oberlin College, was a Graduate Research Fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and also completed studies at the Universidad Castilla-La Mancha and the Universidad de Cordoba in Spain, as well as at NYU, The CUNY Graduate Center, and Columbia University.
A nationally recognized relational educator, Danielle served as the Senior Jewish Educator at the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh for eight years. Danielle was named a Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence by Hillel International in 2020, the highest honor awarded to Hillel employees. Inspired by her work to elevate the voices of Jewish women and others marginalized by the tradition, her colleagues at Hillel International coined the eponymous Kranjec Test to determine whether the sources from which we teach are inclusive.
Abigail Fixel, Intern
Abigail Fixel (she/her) will be graduating from Barnard College of Columbia University this spring with a BA in Theatre (Directing) and Anthropology-Jewish Studies (Archaeology). She is particularly interested in highlighting the stories of women in her work on the stage, where she is currently directing a production of The Insanity of Mary Girard for her thesis, and uncovering (literally - lots of dirt) the stories of the voiceless in her archaeological work. Abigail enjoys hosting Shabbat dinners, reading, and carpentry. If you're looking for her, she's probably at the coffee shop.
Sophie Haward, Intern
Sophie Haward (she/her) is a junior at Oberlin College pursuing double majors in History and French and a minor in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. She is particularly interested in the cultural histories of the Francophone and Russophone worlds, the ways they intertwine, and the pivotal role of Jewish immigrants in these exchanges. Outside of her studies, she enjoys hunting for flea market deals and visiting museums.
Contributing Blog Writers
Sarah Groustra
Sarah Groustra is a Massachusetts-born, Brooklyn-based writer and theatermaker. Her menstrual advocacy work has been profiled by Teen Vogue, the Boston Globe, ATTN, and NPR. Her writing has appeared on the JWA blog and in Lilith magazine. She is a proud alumna of the Rising Voices Fellowship (2015–2016) and Kenyon College. Sarah's plays have been produced in New York City, California, and beyond. You can read more at sarahgroustra.com.
Sarah Jae Leiber
Sarah Jae Leiber writes about popular culture for JWA's blog. She is a Jewish playwright, screenwriter, comedy writer, and essayist from just outside of Philadelphia, PA. Her work exists at Bitch Media, Bright Wall/Dark Room, JTA, The Broadway Beat, BroadwayWorld, Screen Queens, Sally Mag, Small Screen, The Niche, Uncomfortable Revolution, The Validation Project, and Screen Mayhem. Sarah works in marketing and communications at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. She previously served as entertainment editor at BroadwayWorld and was a member of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 48th Professional Training Company. B.A. in theatre and history from Muhlenberg College. You can find her whole portfolio here, and you can find her on Twitter @sarahjaeleiber.
Zia Saylor
Zia Saylor is a Californian who loves reading and creative writing in its many forms. For JWA, she has often written about current media and everyday experiences of Jewish feminism. She graduated from Williams College with a BA in Economics and Political Science with honors and received her MSc in Public Policy from the University of Bristol as a Fulbright Scholar. She has previously published an Op-Ed in The Los Angeles Times, fiction in the SteamTicket Literary Anthology, and poetry in the Altadena Poetry Review. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D., but cherishes time with her dogs and time in nature.
