Meet Guy Seeman, The Stage’s chairman and senior strategic advisor! Israeli born, he spent most of his life in the U.S. before returning to Israel in 2008. A major part of his role with The Stage is making sure we run smoothly on an organizational level. Creating protocols, working on our organizational structure and hierarchies, making sure the committees are working well with each other, working with the government; he does all that and much more. He was even one of the actors in our last production!
We’re definitely lucky to have someone who has so much experience (he’s lead half a dozen other large scale, city-wide projects before), and is such a passionate volunteer. As he says - “Starting projects, initiatives (especially in the public and social sectors) and movements is what drives me in the morning. With all the projects I manage, each satisfies a certain part of my personality. For a while, I was struggling to find my way in the arts world in Israel. So the chance to help lead a new, dynamic, creative arts organization is literally a dream come true.”
However, it isn’t always an easy task. “Being the figurative head of an arts organizations (of which I have little experience) is incredibly challenging. There are many personalities and characteristics which I have not necessarily come face to face with as in my other projects in government or the social sector.”
I can also personally say that it is great working with someone who has such a belief in the people around him. In his own words “We are a group of young, incredibly driven, smart and talented individuals building this from the ground up. It is not easy to build a social start-up and even harder to find the right talent, and so I truly enjoy the time together in the creation of this magnificent entity. I have learned an incredible amount from each person from production to artistic direction. It makes it that much more fun.“
If being so involved with The Stage makes it sound like the rest of his life takes no time at all, think again. Professionally he is a founder of another non-profit called OneDay Social Volunteering, is the CEO of a new company called Revolution Medical Technologies, and advises early stage social startups and does political consulting. Somehow, he also manages to find time to play tennis, dance Hip Hop and sing in an A Capella group.
For him, The Stage, and performing arts in general, are an artistic respite, with a different feel than the daily politics, business, social initiatives and sports he engages in. When asked, he said “[The Stage] allows me to expand and grow at dramatic speeds in any direction I want. It's fun, it's dynamic, fast moving and unbelievably innovative for its time and place.” Like many of us (or at least like me!) he has secret dreams of being an on stage performer, and being a part of this organization lets him live out those dreams.
How does he see the future of The Stage? “The Stage will develop to be Israel’s first, truly English Speaking Professional Hub of the Arts which is run, driven and motivated by the people for the people.“ What better dream can you think of for the chairman of an organization?
When asked about his super power: “I know how to manage, run and strategically design an organization. I know how to find the right team and empower them. But my greatest power is my ability to understand, relate to and find a working balance with every personality."
By Ma'ayan Dekel