Why I Moved From Public Service to Consulting: The Next Chapter in Cultural Leadership
by Dr. Stephen Borys, President & CEO of Civic Muse
The work to build cultural spaces and strategies that don’t just survive but transform lives and communities is more complex, more urgent, and frankly, more interesting than ever before.
Throughout my years in the museum and academic communities, I learned what it means to build trust: with artists and audiences, with Indigenous and local communities, with governments and philanthropic partners. Together, we did more than open doors to new galleries; we opened doors to new ways of thinking about cultural institutions — as civic platforms, as catalysts for reconciliation, as places of learning, healing, and honest reckoning.
That experience also revealed a hard truth: many cultural organizations today are stretched thin, caught between rising expectations and fragile resources, between aspirations of equity and the inertia of old systems. They need fresh thinking and steady guidance. They need people who understand the inside of institutions — who know how to navigate boards, unions, funders, governments, and communities — but who can also stand just outside the frame, offering perspective and hard-won lessons.
That’s why I founded Civic Muse. It’s not a departure from public service; it’s a deepening of it. Consulting gives me the freedom to partner with a diverse range of museums, universities, Indigenous organizations, collectors, and nonprofits, helping them advance projects that matter — from building new architectural spaces rooted in community values, to reshaping governance so it reflects reconciliation and equity, to designing education programs that meet this moment of societal change.
I also believe the cultural sector doesn’t just need technical expertise. It needs strategic partners who understand its moral imperatives. Who will ask: How do we embed Indigenous leadership not as a checkbox, but as a structural norm? How do we move beyond audience numbers and start measuring trust, belonging, and the social capital that arts institutions build over generations? How do we shape policies and campaigns that don’t just keep museums afloat, but make them indispensable to civic life?
In shifting from a director’s desk to a consultant’s table, my commitment to culture has only deepened. This new vantage point allows me to work alongside many leaders, boards, and communities to solve problems, take bold risks, and shape futures that are as accountable as they are ambitious.
On this Musings platform, I plan to share reflections from these journeys — the promising experiments and the uncomfortable lessons, the innovations that push our field forward, and the reminders of why we do this work in the first place. I invite you to follow along, challenge these ideas, and, perhaps, find insights that spark change in your own institutions.
Musings isn’t just a one-way communication with me blogging. It’s also about quarterly salons you’ll see starting to roll out in September, on Meet up at the Square at 240 Tache. Or for folks who want deeper conversations, it’s about future collaborations worldwide. In the meantime, check out the media we’re reading: where the arts, culture, and nonprofit landscape is evolving. Or join our virtual bookclub on the leaders, boards, and community members reimagining culture.
Because at the end of the day, the goal remains the same: to build cultural spaces and strategies that don’t just survive, but transform lives and communities in ways that endure. — Stephen
