NEW YORK CITY: After a seven-year run with HERE, producing director Meredith Lynsey Schade has announced she will be leave her position with the Off-Off-Broadway company. Schade’s departure comes not long after the exit of director of external affairs Brenna Thomas.

“I am deeply grateful for the time that I’ve spent at HERE over the last seven years,” Schade said in a statement. “HERE is a unique organization that centers artists in all aspects of our work, and the dedication of the staff to these artists is bar none. Watching our organization rise up during the pandemic to become such an essential resource to the arts community both in New York City and nationally has been so meaningful to me. It has made the decision to leave all the more difficult. HERE is on the cusp of a great transformation, and I am eager to watch as that comes into fruition.”  

Schade began working for HERE in 2015, starting as a general manager then assuming the role of producing director in 2019. She introduced an inclusive leadership model that engaged staff in the active growth of the institution, with committees focusing on everything from staff benefits and the beautification of the facility to equity, accessibility, and climate justice initiatives. Credits as a producer include Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s The Hang at HERE), as well as the Broadway productions of The Inheritance, Hadestown, Network, What the Constitution Means to Me, The Glass Menagerie, A Doll’s House Part 2, Hello, Dolly!, The Front Page, and Spring Awakening, among others. She served on the board of the Assembly and has worked with several organizations in creating new strategic and board development plans. During the pandemic, she became a key advisor to artists and venues across the nation as they navigated government relief including the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, Paycheck Protection Program, Employee Retention Tax Credit, and New York State Shared Work programs. 

“We’ve been so thankful to have Meredith’s leadership at HERE,” founding artistic director Kristin Marting said in a statement. “Her incredible support for artists and staff here has been instrumental to the organization’s success, and we will miss her dearly.” 

HERE is looking to fulfill the role of managing director by this fall.  The position entails co-leading HERE’s organizational capacity and strategic planning with artistic director, supervising HERE’s day-to-day departmental activities, including development, general management, and finance and working closely with the department heads in each of these areas and overseeing their activities. More information about the position can be found at  here.org/work-with-us/.

Founded in 1993, HERE includes two stages specializing in hybrid performance, dance, theatre, multimedia, and puppetry in addition to art exhibition space and a café. As of 2020, the company’s budget was around $2.9 million.