About Us
Edward McMillan, co-founder
Edward is the founding visionary for this project. He is a trained actor and singer and worked in UK theatre between 2009 and 2013, performing in UK tours, regional theatres and on cruise ships. Whilst in London, he produced and directed productions Crazy For You at the Bloomsbury Theatre and Spring Awakening at the Garage Theatre. He has maintained close links with UK creatives in the theatre industry. In addition to his professional experiences in theatre, Edward has prior experience as a business owner; for five years, he ran McMillan Music, a boutique tuition agency for music lessons based in London.
A native Brit, Edward has also lived in Germany and Russia. Edward moved to Brussels five years ago to work with the European Commission. He left Brussels in 2017 to work as a diplomat in Jerusalem. The idea for The Bridge came to him while on this posting and he was excited to return to Brussels in September 2020 to put his ideas into action.
On top of his literature-focused BA in German and Russian, Edward has an MA in Musical Theatre and an MSc in International Relations. He is currently pursuing an EMBA from Quantic School of Business.
photo credit: Kerrana McAvoy
Dot Zacharias, co-founder
Dot is an experienced social impact entrepreneur with experience of working in mental health and wellbeing. Over the last four years she has been managing her own business in Belgium, running workshops and events in large companies including Belfius Bank, SWIFT, L'hoist, Brussels Airlines, Carmeuse, European Commission and many more. Prior to this, Dot was a senior member of the management team for a community business fund in the UK and brings her passion and knowledge of community business to The Bridge.
Dot has an MA in Russian Studies from the University of Edinburgh and is passionate about bringing English-language professional theatre to Brussels to serve the multicultural community, showcase new perspectives and bring people together.
Volunteer with us
Building a theatre is more than a two person job. Behind the scenes we have a growing list of volunteers helping us to create The Bridge. Sounds like fun? Get in touch!