Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Appoints Sarah Suraiya Saifi as Associate Director, Communications

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) has announced that Sarah Suraiya Saifi has joined the Union's staff as Associate Director, Communications, a newly created position.

Saifi is an arts leader and creative strategist with more than a decade of experience bringing artists, audiences, and communities together. She will advance SDC's external communications and media relations across earned, shared, and paid channels.

SDC is the national labor union representing more than 4,000 professional directors and choreographers working across the United States and around the world. Through collective bargaining, contract enforcement, advocacy, education, and community-building, SDC protects the economic and creative rights of its Members and supports the leaders who shape live theatrical arts.

Said Executive Director Laura Penn, 'Sarah is a communications specialist who will bring breadth and depth to her work at SDC. Both dynamic and thoughtful, she has an exceptional skillset that will help advance the Union's mission on behalf of professional directors and choreographers in this time of great opportunity and challenge for an industry that is evolving and reinventing itself.'

'Unions have the power to protect artists, strengthen their collective voice, and shape the future of our field,' said Saifi. 'I'm excited to join Laura Penn and the SDC team. I look forward to amplifying the voices of directors and choreographers and ensuring more people understand the impact of their work and their contributions to the theatre.'

Raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Saifi holds an MFA in Theater Management from Yale's David Geffen School of Drama, where she was the first Pakistani in her program, and a BA in Practical Filmmaking from MetFilm School, London, where she studied directing. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of the Yale Cabaret's 58th season. In 2014, Saifi founded Drama Queen Productions, a women-led creative agency in Pakistan. She has produced work for global brands and international organizations such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Domino's, the United Nations, and USAID. Her independent projects include Estro Fest, a multidisciplinary festival for women in Karachi, and Sisters in Arms, a film that screened on the festival circuit and for which she was nominated for a producer award at London's Underwire Film Festival. Across her work, Saifi champions greater access to the arts and more opportunities for artists from underrepresented communities.

SDC is the theatrical union that unites, empowers, and protects professional stage directors and choreographers throughout the United States. Our mission is to foster a national community of professional stage directors and choreographers by protecting the rights, health and livelihoods of all our Members; negotiating and enforcing employment agreements across a range of jurisdictions; facilitating the exchange of ideas, information, and opportunities; and educating current and future generations about the critical role of directors and choreographers in leading the field. SDCweb.org