Our Advisory Board
Rozeeta Mavashev
North American Executive Director of Masa Israel Journey
Rozeeta Mavashev serves as the North American Executive Director of Masa Israel Journey. Her career in Jewish professional life began with a simple Hillel internship, which evolved into numerous fellowships and deep involvement in Israel advocacy, leading to over a decade in the Hillel professional sphere. Rozeeta played a pivotal role in establishing Hillel International's DEI Committee, championing the voices of Mizrahi and Sephardi professionals. She also led the organization’s inaugural national cohort of Mizrahi and Sephardi students. Recognized by Jewish Week as one of 2021’s "36 Under 36" for her leadership in amplifying diverse Jewish perspectives, Rozeeta is also the first Bukharian to receive the prestigious Wexner Davidson Scholarship Fellowship. She holds an LMSW from the Silberman School of Social Work and a Bachelor’s in Education from the College of Staten Island, with a background in public speaking, storytelling, and talent development.
Sara Levin
Executive Director of JIMENA
Sara Levin is an Executive Director of JIMENA. Since joining JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa in 2010, Sarah Levin has played a lead role in organizational development and in the larger movement towards international Sephardi and Mizrahi rights and redress. At JIMENA, Sarah has conceptualized and developed a number of campaigns and projects for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews to explore, preserve, protect and share their heritage, identities, and experiences. In partnership with a multitude of organizations and activists, Sarah is proud to continue leading domestic and international efforts to pursue acknowledgement, justice and redress for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews.
Rabbi Ephraim Ilyaguev
Co-founder and a Rabbi of the Cultural-Education Center Beit Juhuro
Rabbi Ephraim Ilyaguev, is a co-founder and a rabbi of Cultural-Education Center Beit Juhuro. Since its inception in 2014 Beit Juhuro has been creating a revolution in a very much under-served community of Gorsky-Kavkazi Jews. Ephraim is an accountant by trade and was working as a financial controller in a real estate firm until March 2019. At that point he was approached by the board of Beit Juhuro and asked to leave his accounting job in order to dedicate more time and effort to the community. Ephraim managed to inspire and direct volunteers thus Beit Juhuro was able to achieve all of the above milestones with very limited resources in the past 6 years. Ephraim's roots go back to Baku/Kuba Azerbajan on his father's side and Mozdok/Khasavyurt North Caucuses on his mother's side. He hold BS in accounting from Sy Syms School of Business, MS in Medieval Jewish History from Bernard Revel Graduate school, and rabbinic ordination from RIETS Theological Seminary. He and his wife Yaffa are blessed with 3 kids and reside in Brooklyn, NY.
Josephine Mairzadeh
Legislative Aide to Nassau County Legislator Ellen W. Birnbaum
Josephine Mairzadeh works as the Legislative Aide to Nassau County Legislator Ellen W. Birnbaum, where she helps bring visibility and a voice to the issues affecting the 10th Legislative District’s diverse constituents, and institutions. With the help of 30YA volunteers, Josephine chronicled the oral histories of Iranian Jews, and worked diligently with the Library of Congress to learn the best practices to catalog this archive. The testimonies were exhibited at UCLA’s Fowler Museum and Tel Aviv University’s Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot. It was recognized as one of the five most important Jewish exhibitions of 2012. She later served as a first stage advisor on a similar project, spearheaded by Councilman Rory Lancman and the Sephardi Heritage Alliance, Inc. (SHAI), where Josephine now serves on the Board of Trustees and on the board of Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) and at the American Sephardi Federation (ASF).
David Leviev
JCRC Associate at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
David Leviev is a Jewish and Zionist Professional who is passionate about strengthening Jewish peoplehood and the State of Israel. He is the proud son and grandson of Kavkazi Jewish immigrants and is deeply passionate about telling the story of Sephardi and Mizrahi communities. Originally from New York City, David has lived in 7 states and 4 major U.S. metropolitan areas – giving him the opportunity to engage with many diverse communities, personalities and perspectives. His family’s experiences as Mountain Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union inspire his daily commitment towards supporting emerging leaders. He received his B.A. in Political Science from West Virginia University. After graduating, he continued his focus on student engagement by moving to Washington D.C, serving as a civic instructor for high school and middle school students at the Close Up Foundation. He currently works at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and previously worked at CAMERA On Campus, and CJP of Greater Boston.
Chloe Levian
Member of the Y&S Nazarian Center's Student Advisory Council
Chloe Levian (Class of 2022) is a member of the Y&S Nazarian Center's Student Advisory Council. She is a pre-law junior majoring in Sociology with a minor in Israel Studies. Chloe also is the marketing and creative director of Bruins for Israel for the 2020-2021 academic year. And outside of UCLA, she is a campus liaison at StandWithUs, a Hasbara fellow, and on the board of Iranian American Jews for Racial Justice. Formerly, she was a volunteer intern at the Museum of Tolerance, an intern at UN Women LA, and a teacher at Sinai Temple Religious School.
Michael Zargari
Quantitative Analyst, Wells Fargo
Michael Zargari is a Judeo-Persian Documentation Assistant for the Jewish Languages Project (JLP). He specializes in Iranian Jewish history and languages, particularly Judeo-Esfahani and Judeo-Kermani, where he has recorded, transcribed, translated, and transliterated many videos. His goal is to help preserve these languages and revive traditional Judeo-Persian speech and Hebrew pronunciation. Michael co-founded the Iranian Jewish Student Association (IJSA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he was also the Student Liaison at Santa Barbara Hillel. In 2023, he was honored with the SAMi Campus Revitalization Award for his work with Mizrahi and Sephardi Jewish communities. At UCSB, Michael was an advocate for underrepresented students and served on the inaugural board of the Economics Department DEI committee. He earned his M.S. in Environmental Data Science, B.S. in Statistics and Data Science, and B.A. in Economics.