— Advisory Practice

A clear direction. A practical path forward.

MPD helps arts and cultural organizations, nonprofits and municipalities turn research, community knowledge and organizational priorities into plans people can use.

Who this is for

When to call

You need to renew your strategic direction, reconcile competing priorities, understand your community’s cultural ecosystem, or connect an existing plan to implementation.

Organizational Strategic Planning

Municipal Cultural Planning

For arts and nonprofit boards and leadership teams renewing their direction, reviewing how they work, or resolving competing priorities.

For municipalities assessing cultural assets, community needs and infrastructure, or deciding where to invest in culture.

How the work happens

How I help

I combine research and consultation with an understanding of your organization’s resources and responsibilities.

Stage 01

Stage 02

Stage 03

Stage 04

Agree on purpose

Review evidence

Hear from people

Plan next steps

I work with your leadership team to define the purpose, the decisions ahead and who needs to take part.

I review your plans, budgets, participation data and other records to understand where you are starting.

I hear from board members, staff, community members and partners through a process suited to your project.

I turn the findings into priorities, responsibilities and a realistic schedule for implementation.

Your plan and workbook

What you receive

Depending on scope, you receive a strategic plan, a summary of consultation findings and an implementation workbook.

Support for implementation

I agree the scope and deliverables with you before the work begins.

The workbook sets out responsibilities, timing, progress measures and implications for leadership.

Where useful, I can develop a tailored internal GPT to help your team work with the plan and its supporting evidence.

Discuss your needs

— Illustrative example — no client or candidate data

Example of the work

This illustrative example shows how a priority can lead to specific actions and a review point. It contains no client data or documented client results.

Priority: Make participation easier

Rationale: Combine participation evidence with conversations about cost, timing, accessibility and trust.

Action item — Phase 1

Review participation barriers | Program lead | First month

Action item — Phase 2

Test one access change | Program and operations | Months 2–3

Action item — Phase 3

Review evidence and decide whether to expand | Leadership team | Month 4

Decision point: Did the change improve access, and can the organization sustain it?