Senior Director of Operations

Noah Spiegel joined the Urban Green Lab team in April 2020 as Director of Operations. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he grew up in Portland, ME, and moved to Nashville in 2012. He started his career as a stage manager for theatre, ballet, symphony, and opera, and over the course of his career has lived or worked in over 41 states.

Noah’s stage management career includes productions at some of the nation’s leading arts institutions.  Highlights include Die Fledermaus directed by the late comedy legend Charles Nelson Reilly (The Dallas Opera); and working with Stephen Sondheim on the revival of the celebrated Live from Lincoln Center production of A Little Night Music whose cast included Jeremy Irons, Juliet Stevenson, Claire Bloom, and Anna Kendrick, directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Susan Stroman (NYC Opera).

Noah has served in leadership roles at companies including Nashville Children’s Theatre, Nashville Opera, and Tulsa Opera, where he improved and streamlined operations, reduced costs, and increased revenue. He implemented best practices in contracting and support for over 300 staff, singers, orchestra, and stage crew each season.

He is a champion for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. From 2010-12, he served on the Leadership Team for Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Tulsa Young Professionals (TYPros) Diversity Crew, leading diversity and inclusion initiatives for the nation’s largest YP organization.  He helped to develop the nation’s first sensory-friendly opera program with Vanderbilt’s TRIAD program (The Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders) and is a graduate of Metro Arts’ REAL: Racial Equity in Arts Leadership program.

Noah is a Licensed and Certified Nonprofit Consultant (CNC) and owns a boutique consulting practice that enjoys a strong relationship with the Center for Nonprofit Management, where he serves as a consultant and facilitator. With clients across the U.S. and internationally, his work includes arts groups, law firms, counseling agencies, ministries, social service agencies, and women’s shelters. He is on the faculty for Young Leaders Council and is the project lead for CNM's OnBoard program, where he teaches business professionals how to serve on nonprofit boards.

Tulsa Business Journal named Noah as one of 2009’s “40 Under 40” Professionals to Watch. In 2010, he was named “The Visionary” by Tulsa People Magazine for their article Change Agents in Tulsa. He has spoken at or served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, OPERA America, Metro Arts, Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, and Americans for the Arts.

He is on the board of Tennessee Diversity Consortium and has served on the boards of Nashville Arts Coalition (past Chair) and Tennesseans for the Arts (past President). He is a member of the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), national and Middle Tennessee chapters, holds a certificate as a Talent Optimization Consultant with Predictive Index, a certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting with BoardSource, is a trained Circle facilitator, is a member of the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations and Executives, is a Certified Nonprofit Consultant (CNC) and is a Standards for Excellence Licensed Consultant. He attended the University of Southern Maine, where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in technical theatre and received his master’s in fine arts in stage management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In his free time, Noah takes pottery classes at The Clay Lady's Campus and studies mindfulness meditation.