Leonard Jacobs (Executive Director) was born and raised in Queens and fell in love with theatre in utero. He has worked as a playwright, director and producer, and became an arts journalist, editor and theatre critic not long after Thespis stepped out of the chorus line. Prior to JCAL, he was Director of Cultural Institutions at the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, National Theatre Editor at Backstage and Founding Editor of Theatermania.com. He also created The Clyde Fitch Report, which published opinion and reporting from the crossroads of arts and politics. He graduated Jamaica HS, NYU (BA), and Hunter College (MA), and taught arts administration at Baruch College for three years.