A former labor and employment lawyer, Jill Hai is a full-time civic and philanthropic leader. With 18 years in elected positions and many more as a volunteer, she has extensive knowledge and experience with Lexington town budgets and operations, as well as the needs of the community.
Jill was elected to the Select Board in 2018 and served as its Chair from 2021-2023. Prior to her election to the Select Board, she served on Lexington’s Capital Expenditures Committee from 2012 to 2017 and served as Chair from 2013-2017. She has been a member of Town Meeting since 2006, representing Precinct 4 for the first 12 years. She has served on numerous town committees, including Safe Routes to Schools, Zoning Board of Appeals and the Sidewalk Committee. Among the ways she has expressed her deep commitment to Lexington’s schools is by serving on the board of the Lexington Education Foundation, as President of the Bridge School PTA and working on numerous override and debt exclusion campaigns.
Jill is the immediate past President of the Massachusetts Municipal Association and serves on its Diversity Equity and inclusion Committee. She also serves on the Governor’s Local Government Advisory Commission, the Board of the Massachusetts Select Board Association, the Executive board of Cary Library, the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Norman Rockwell Museum, and the President’s Advisory Council of Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
Jill was born at Fort Benning, Georgia, while her father was stationed there, and grew up in Rochester, New York. A graduate of Cornell University and Vanderbilt Law School, Jill loves to cook, is an avid skier, a bookworm, a self-described “really bad” golfer and is always happiest in or on the water. She and her husband Marc Rubenstein have two adult children and are members of Temple Isaiah.
