Stewarding Change with Purpose
The longer I've spent helping institutions navigate change, the more I've become interested in the questions that make change possible
A LITTLE ABOUT MEFor more than two decades, I've worked with organizations across fifteen countries on five continents—leading major rebranding and fundraising campaigns, advising institutions through periods of change, and now overseeing Canada's largest cultural infrastructure project.
On paper, those experiences don't appear to have much in common. In practice, they've all revolved around the same challenge: helping institutions earn public trust, attract investment, and adapt to changing communities.
That's the work I've dedicated my career to.
Some people know me as the New Yorker who moved to Calgary to lead Werklund Centre. Others as the youngest CEO to oversee a major North American cultural centre. Or as the bestselling author of The Audacity of Relevance. All are true—but none of it really explains what motivates the work.
WHAT I BELIEVEI've spent most of my professional life inside institutions of all shapes and sizes. And while they might have different missions, or serve different communities, their success is based on remarkably similar questions: How do institutions earn trust? How do they change without losing themselves? What responsibility do they have to the communities they serve?
Those questions have shaped how I lead.
I've come to believe that leadership isn't about having the loudest voice or the clearest answers. It's about aligning boards, governments, donors, staff, and communities around shared direction — aligning purpose with action, and navigating complexity with humility.
Change doesn't ask institutions to become something new. It asks them to become more fully themselves.
WRITING & SPEAKINGWriting and speaking have become an extension of my practice.
If you've read my work or heard me present, you know the ideas I share aren't polished theories or universal answers. They're reflections born from conversations, difficult decisions, unexpected setbacks, generous mentors, and moments that challenged my assumptions.
Some begin in boardrooms. Others in classrooms, or during long moments of reflection after particularly difficult days.
I do it because putting ideas into words forces me to think more clearly. Sharing them is my way of inviting others into that process—whether through The Audacity of Relevance, or in conversation with the boards, teams, and audiences I speak to directly.
BEYOND WORKI was born in Toronto, raised in Buenos Aires, spent nearly two decades building my career in New York City, and now call Calgary home.
Living across cultures has taught me that while every community is unique, people everywhere want many of the same things: places where they belong, institutions they can trust, and reasons to believe tomorrow can be better than today.
That's why I've never thought of culture as entertainment alone. Or education as simply instruction. Or philanthropy as fundraising.
At their best, they're all ways of strengthening the social fabric that holds communities together.
That's the work that continues to inspire me.
In The Community
The relationships, milestones, and moments—on and off the job—that shape who I am.
