FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2021
Contact: Amanda Bertone
(888) 234.4236 Ext. 219
TORONTO — Arts Consulting Group (ACG), the leading provider of hands-on management consulting services to the arts and culture industry, today announced that Menon Dwarka has joined the firm as Senior Vice President to lead and expand ACG’s services to Canadian organizations. Based in Toronto and New York, his expertise is focused on supporting opportunities for more diverse management teams, boards of directors, programming, and accessible cultural facilities that better serve the changing demographics of North America.
Mr. Dwarka has held executive director, artistic director, and community arts leadership positions in Canada and the United States over the last 25 years. Whether implementing project management programs and digital town halls at Soundstreams, winning Digital Strategies Fund grants from the Canada Council for the Arts for Arts Etobicoke, or introducing electronic music programs with Morton Subotnick at the 92nd Street Y, Harlem School of the Arts, and Greenwich House Music School, Mr. Dwarka’s innovative approach to the arts has always resulted in increased audience engagement and community development with a focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and access. His expertise resides in leveraging technology in service of creating more diverse programming and administrative spaces.
A disruptor of stratified ecosystems and systemic structures, Mr. Dwarka prides himself in being able to work with both large and small arts and culture organizations. He has also led grassroots organizations like Toronto’s 918 Bathurst Centre and served as a board member of Canadian Opera Company, guiding its equity, diversity, and inclusion taskforce. His cross-sector work to achieve public/private sector partnerships, such as his community arts work for QuadReal developers, demonstrate his unique ability to work with a variety of stakeholders to ensure the viability of arts spaces and venues across urban and suburban settings.
In making the announcement, ACG President Dr. Bruce D. Thibodeau said, “I am delighted to welcome Menon Dwarka to the ACG team as Senior Vice President. He brings an abundance of international knowledge and insight to the firm and will be instrumental in expanding ACG’s reach in Canada. As an active thought leader in the arts and culture sector, we are excited to provide his extensive expertise to our clients throughout North America.”
“I couldn’t be more excited about joining ACG,” said Mr. Dwarka. “The team has some of the brightest, most thoughtful people I’ve worked with over my 25 years in the arts and culture sector. I will have the opportunity to serve clients on both sides of the United States-Canada border and have a unique ability to support and showcase Canadian talent for a global audience. The variety of clients we serve is also something I’m very much looking forward to, as well as further advancing ACG’s commitment to its IDEAS framework of how we make the diversity within our professional activities deeper, more forward looking, and authentic. I’ve benefited so much from mentors on both sides of the border and it seems only fitting that, at this stage of my career, my focus should be on paying it forward for the next generation of arts leaders.”
Mr. Dwarka has worked as a peer reviewer of grants for the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, City of Ottawa, and Toronto Arts Council, where he currently sits on the Music Committee. Organizations that he has led have received support from all three levels of government, as well as the Metcalf and Jackman Foundations, among others.
A sought-after public speaker, Mr. Dwarka has been featured on CBC Television, WBAI Radio, TVOntario’s The Agenda, and The Walrus Talks. He also appears on a regularly occurring segment on Sesame Street. He was part of the inaugural cohort of the Banff/Toronto Arts Council Cultural Leaders Lab as well as the City of Toronto’s Economic Development and Culture’s Strategic Planning Committee, which oversaw the creation of Toronto’s 2018-2022 Culture Plan. In addition, Mr. Dwarka served as Support Lead for the Metcalf Foundation’s Creative Strategies Incubator and is Chair of Humber College’s Program Advisory Committee and Canadian Opera Company’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. He holds a bachelor of music and master of music in music composition from the University of Toronto.
About Arts Consulting Group
ACG is the leading provider of hands-on interim management, executive search, revenue enhancement, strategic planning & community engagement, facilities & program planning, and other capacity building services for the arts and culture industry. Founded in 1997, ACG is a full-service firm that effectively works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, universities, government agencies, and for-profit entities that operate in the creative industries. The firm takes a contemporary approach to client challenges and opportunities focused on growing institutions, advancing arts and culture, and enhancing communities. ACG team members have leadership experience in every artistic and cultural discipline and they seamlessly adapt to clients’ rapidly changing strategies, business models, and operating environments. The firm currently has locations in Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit ArtsConsulting.com or contact info@ArtsConsulting.com or (888) 234.4236.