Retired CEO of QuadPara Association authors a book
Long-term Hillcrest resident, Arie Seirlis, is relocating to the coast.
ARIE Seirlis is the retired CEO of the QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA), an advisor to the presidency on disability matters, a serial entrepreneur and a soon-to-be-published author.
He says that no one knew who he was or what he was made of before his high-profile accident at the age of 23.
Before his spinal cord injury, Seirlis enjoyed a happy and privileged childhood.
How it started
Seirlis was injured while modelling for a TV commercial at a Durban water park when he was a young man. According to him, the process of rehabilitation after the accident was challenging.
”It was a hard journey and a difficult transformation from an active 23-year-old to being completely incapacitated, through a spinal cord injury in a high-profile accident. I broke my neck modelling in a TV commercial,” he says.
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A successful entrepreneur, Seirlis has owned multiple businesses and brings some of these philosophies into his NPO management style.
He says that he closed his signage business in Pinetown as he felt he could be more useful in the disability sector. Seirlis was employed as the CEO of QASA for 20 years. When he joined the organisation, it had one Johannesburg-based office. Now, a national organisation, QASA offers products, programmes and services for quadriplegics and paraplegics.
He says, “Most NPOs spend 80% of their time raising funds and only 20% of their time spending the funds. It should be split in the reverse. I developed strategies that worked, and when I handed over the reins in 2019, I was proud of what I’d achieved there.”
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It’s a topic that he covers in his book.
“I wrote about the process of how that happened, how you build an NPO from the ground up, and how to form good sustainable relationships. I would say to our donors and sponsors that we wanted to build a relationship rather than receiving once-off donations.”
The impact made
In his role as an activist, Seirlis has met many interesting people.
“I advised South African presidents like Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma on disability issues, and I still advise President Ramaphosa. I travelled the world and spoke at conferences all over the planet. I’ve spent time with Christopher Reeves and understood his goal to find a cure and why he had a mission to walk again. Life is about achieving your goals and you can do it seated. I feel that it is most important to be integrated back into society. Let’s make sure you have a voice and you are heard – you have a job and a life. “
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