Aid is usually imagined as something structured—grants, logistics, procurement cycles—but Maitri moves differently, flowing through networks of trust rather than bureaucracies. When ventilators ran short, it found an answer in sleep apnea machines; when PPE supply chains broke down, it repurposed garment factories​. This wasn’t aid in the traditional sense—it was hacking the system in real time, proving that crisis response doesn’t have to be slow, centralized, or constrained by the old rules.

Creative organizations operate in a landscape where traditional strategic models often fail to capture the fluidity of artistic work, funding cycles, and cultural shifts. This framework embraces experimentation and adaptability, allowing institutions to treat strategy itself as a creative act—iterative, responsive, and deeply contextual. By prioritizing participatory decision-making, stress-driven strategy, and storytelling as an organizational tool, it provides a model that aligns with the unique realities of the creative sector.

In 2017, I worked with Canadian Heritage to explore how creators could better navigate Canada’s copyright regime. Through an experiment at Artscape Daniels Launchpad, we tested approaches that ranged from technical workshops to embedding copyright discussions within relational, reflective experiences, like an Indigenous media festival. The results underscored a vital insight: creators don’t just need information—they need spaces where complexity and contradiction can provoke curiosity, adaptation, and action.

Nearly a decade ago, the Toronto Arts Council Cultural Leaders Lab challenged us to rethink leadership as a relational, adaptive practice rooted in the messy realities of cultural ecosystems. It wasn’t about top-down authority or applying corporate strategies to the arts—it was about embracing complexity, creating space for emergence, and finding courage in uncertainty. As the world has grown more precarious, the lessons of the Lab feel more urgent than ever. How do we lead when the ground beneath us is shifting? How do we tell stories that invite others into a shared, more habitable future? The Lab didn’t offer answers, but it showed us how to ask better questions—and those questions still echo.

New Fundamentals ran once, but its impact lingers. Developed during a moment of institutional change, the program brought together cultural leaders to explore creative, collective approaches to leadership. Nearly a decade later, its questions about collaboration, complexity, and the future of cultural work remain as urgent as ever.

In 2016, Canada's dance leaders gathered for a pivotal discussion on sustainability and collaboration within the arts. With funding streams tightening and audiences shifting, the meeting explored how dance service organizations could unify to face these challenges. Drawing from a successful UK merger case study, participants crafted recommendations to foster resilience: deepening partnerships, embracing diversity, and creating shared infrastructure. This initiative represents more than structural change—it’s a blueprint for how the arts can thrive through collective innovation and inclusion​​.

One of the most transformative ideas to emerge from the Landslide project was the necessity of expanding the dance sector’s network of allies. Historically reliant on government funding, dance organizations often operate in resource-scarce environments. To counter this, we proposed engaging stakeholders from sectors similarly grappling with large-scale societal changes, such as automation and the erosion of community bonds.

The potential here is vast. For example, Landslide explored partnerships with urban planners and environmental organizations, reframing dance as a tool for public engagement and urban renewal. In this vision, a dance company could collaborate with a city to activate underused public spaces—turning neglected areas into hubs of community activity through participatory dance events.