Hywel Sims

An accomplished strategist and expert in planning and organizational capacity building, Hywel W. Sims (he/him/his) has been a servant leader of people across a number of industries, causes, and countries for over 30 years. Throughout his prolific career, he has held numerous executive positions, assisting various organizations in times of financial challenge, contraction, and growth and in responding to community needs in the arts and social service sectors in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.

Prior to joining ACG, Sims served as CEO of Musica Viva Australia, the country’s oldest professional not-for-profit performing arts company and largest employer of individual musicians, with a budget of approximately $12 million. In this role, Sims planned extensive national tours and artist development programs, led an artistic director search, guided a comprehensive national brand transformation, and steered the organization through the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, sustaining stable and successful operations and ensuring support for artists and staff. A strong advocate for equity and inclusion, Sims utilized his expertise to ensure that Indigenous voices and perspectives of First Nations’ communities were fully represented in all aspects of strategic and program planning. He partnered with First Nations’ artists and colleagues to devise the organization’s first Reconciliation Plan and created formal protocols for working with First Nations’ peoples. He also designed and implemented a new music education program in which two First Nations’ ensembles travelled to schools nationally. Under Sims’ leadership, the growth in philanthropic funding achieved unprecedented levels.