Menon Dwarka founded MPD Culture Consultants to help arts and culture organizations become clearer, stronger, and more aligned with their missions.

Menon sees arts organizations as civic spaces where people shape identity, belonging and public life. He brings a post-colonial and intersectional approach to equity work, helping organizations connect their commitments to changes in programming, governance, staffing and community relationships.

My Background

His cross-sector work includes public-private partnerships and strategic planning for arts spaces, including capacity-building work for QuadReal.

Menon’s media appearances include CBC Television, WBAI Radio, TVOntario’s The Agenda, The Walrus Talks and Sesame Street.

He joined the inaugural Banff/Toronto Arts Council Cultural Leaders Lab cohort. He also served on the City of Toronto committee that advised on the 2018–2022 Culture Plan.

Menon holds BMus and MMus degrees in Music Composition from the University of Toronto, and was an ABD Ph.D. candidate at SUNY Stony Brook.

Menon has led organizations at many scales. In Toronto, he served as both Artistic Director and Executive Director of 918 Bathurst Centre. He has also served on the board of the Canadian Opera Company, where he chaired the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In the United States, he led the music departments at the 92nd Street Y and Harlem School of the Arts and served as Executive Director of Greenwich House Music School.

As Senior Vice President at Arts Consulting Group, Menon completed organizational equity and IDEAS audits for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Arraymusic, and the Toronto Musicians’ Association. Through MPD Culture Consultants, he now works with arts and culture organizations to align people, culture, and impact.