A Leader On, Off the Field

Sitting at her brother’s soccer practice, 8-year-old Elizabeth Seelman thought, “I can totally do that.”

She has more than proved her 8-year-old self right, becoming the second woman to be inducted into the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame for soccer. Now, as Southern California Edison’s principal manager of Local Public Affairs, she leads a team of 10 government relations and public policy professionals throughout Los Angeles County who drive business priorities by cultivating strategic relationships with government and community decision-makers.

Seelman’s path to leadership began as a child when she joined her first soccer team, battling a bunch of boys for playing time as the only girl on the team.

Though outnumbered, she outshined the boys.

“From an early age, I had a lot of individual success playing soccer, but my time playing at Georgetown is where I really started developing my leadership style,” she said.

As Seelman prepared to graduate from high school, she was courted by colleges. Right before signing with the U.S. Naval Academy, she took a chance on an upstart soccer program in Washington, D.C.

“I was really interested in international relations and politics, and Georgetown University has one of the best schools of foreign service,” she said. “Their soccer program was brand new, but I fell in love with the school and how welcoming all the girls were on the team.”

The Georgetown women’s soccer program was still in its infancy when Seelman joined it, having only competed as an NCAA Division 1 program for two years.

“There were a lot of growing pains and tough losses, but I played with incredibly intelligent, driven, gritty ladies who consistently exemplified perseverance in the face of adversity. As team captain, I had to develop both resiliency and positivity.”

Seelman is most proud of witnessing the team’s growth and success. She led Georgetown women’s soccer to its first berth in the Big East Championship. Now, the soccer team is nationally ranked and has captured seven of the past eight Big East Conference Championships.

“As a central midfielder, it was my responsibility to read the field and create plays, but there were 10 other key players on the field that needed to be in unison and working together to score goals. I quickly learned that I must leverage the strengths of all my teammates if we were ever going to achieve our team goals.”

She continues to apply those lessons today.

“I have a strong philosophy within my SCE team to leverage people’s strengths. I want to encourage them and inspire them to keep pushing those strengths,” she said. “Everyone brings something special to the team.”

Seelman still pushes herself to be her best. She has traded in soccer shoes for running shoes, routinely challenging herself to run marathons where her biggest competition is herself.

Today, she uses her degree from Georgetown to advance thoughtful public policy that aligns with SCE’s strategic priorities, including a clean energy future.

For more information on SCE careers, visit edisoncareers.com