KQED, the public media station serving Northern California, announced the appointment of Lesley Grossblatt to the role of Chief Product Officer. In this newly created position, Grossblatt will oversee all of KQED’s digital activities, including product management, user experience and design, software engineering and the KQED Lab, the station’s in-house innovation incubator. She brings twenty-plus years of experience leading product and technology initiatives at companies including Netflix, Intuit, CreativeLive and theBoardlist, among others.
“Lesley is a strategic and innovative thought partner who gets thing done with quality and integrity,” says Michael Isip, President and Chief Executive Officer at KQED. “She’ll help propel KQED into a sustainable future of community service by focusing on product development and deployment as well as attention to user experience across web, mobile, voice and emerging digital platforms.”
Grossblatt most recently served as Chief Operation Officer & Vice President of Product for theBoardlist, a curated talent marketplace that recommends and discovers female executives for private and public board opportunities. She took her first step into Silicon Valley as the Director of Product at Coolboard.com, an early social media and community platform. She then held instrumental leadership roles in several new and established companies, including Founder of valleybay.com, an online mortgage and real estate company; Vice President, Product and Marketing at I/PRO; Senior Product Manager & Innovation leader at Intuit; Senior Manager, Product Innovation at Netflix; Director of Product at CreativeLive; and Head of Community (Product/Operations) at the education start-up AltSchool.
Grossblatt’s professional career started in the legal field. After receiving a Bachelors of Arts degree in English from the University of Chicago, she attended UC Hastings College of the Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree. She spent the early years of her legal career in the litigation department of Bank of America before expanding her career interests as Regional Marketing Manager at West Bar Review and as a Public Policy Associate at Staton & Hughes.
About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st century classrooms. A trusted news source and leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas. kqed.org