Ottawa, Ontario – January 2026 – The Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC–Canada) is pleased to announce the successful completion of a pro bono advisory engagement for the Durham Art Gallery, a vital cultural institution serving its community through visual arts, education, and public programming.
At a critical point in its organizational evolution, the Durham Art Gallery engaged the CMC Pro Bono Program to address mounting infrastructure strain, capacity shortfalls, governance challenges, endowment inertia, and executive succession risk. The resulting engagement delivered a clear, actionable one-year roadmap designed to stabilize operations, strengthen governance, and position the Gallery for long-term sustainability.
The roadmap is structured across three phases:
Phase 1 focuses on rapid stabilization through program prioritization, the formalization of volunteer management, and targeted engagement with a regional economic development agency. These actions are designed to immediately relieve operational pressure on the Executive Director while deliberately building capacity.
Phase 2 strengthens organizational resilience through governance renewal, including By-Law amendments, emergency succession protocols, the strategic use of fractional talent, and the activation of the Durham Art Gallery’s endowment through a coordinated Private Investment Management strategy. This phase culminates in preparation for an Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) Seed application to support future growth.
Phase 3 emphasizes continuity and visibility. Progress monitoring, the securing of a permanent part-time Executive Director successor, and the launch of visible capital wins, signal stability and renewed momentum to stakeholders and the broader community.
Rooted directly in the Durham Art Gallery’s articulated problem statements, the roadmap delivers measurable outcomes: self-sustaining staffing capacity, strengthened risk-mitigation leadership, and data-driven programming decisions. The report’s appendices provide ready-to-use templates, tools, and reference materials, enabling the Gallery to move immediately from planning to execution.
With this foundation in place, the Durham Art Gallery is positioned not only to endure, but to thrive, ensuring that its cultural light remains brighter, bolder, and sustainable for years to come.
About the Durham Art Gallery
The Durham Art Gallery is a community-based public art gallery dedicated to presenting contemporary visual art, fostering creative engagement, and supporting artists and audiences through exhibitions, education, and outreach programs. The Gallery plays a vital role in enriching cultural life and accessibility within the Durham Region.
About Laura Novitsky, MBA, CMC, PMP
Laura Novitsky is a bilingual business leader with over thirteen years of experience leading operations and complex multi-million/billion-dollar programs across not-for-profit, public, and highly regulated private sectors. Her career has led her through diverse and seemingly disparate fields from start-ups, food manufacturing, process engineering, steel production, IS/IT, nuclear power and fuel design to healthcare – honing her remarkable flexibility, adaptability, and agility in distilling and tackling multifaceted business challenges across industries and subject matter.
Laura holds an Executive MBA from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, a Bachelor of Science, the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation, and is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) with CMC-Canada. She is an active Board Director serving in the Ontario mental health and addictions space and is a Forty Under 40 Honoree.
Laura finds her deepest and truest meaning when exploring new countries, customs, and languages. She is a world traveler with a passion for working in international business contexts and environments, with cultural intelligence as a core personal and professional value.
About CMC-Canada Pro Bono Program
The CMC-Canada Pro Bono Consulting Program connects skilled volunteer consultants with non-profit organizations to provide strategic planning and operational support at no cost. For more information about the program or to apply for assistance, please visit https://www.cmc-canada.ca/Pro-Bono-Consulting-Program, or contact: pro-bono@cmc-canada.ca.
About CMC-Canada
The Canadian Association of Management Consultants (CMC-Canada) fosters excellence and integrity in the management consulting profession. CMC-Canada administers, and its provincial Institutes confer, the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation in Canada. The Association and its 2500+ members advocate for the CMC designation and are dedicated to advancing the profession and delivering the benefits of these efforts to the client community. CMC-Canada is a founding member of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI), now CMC-Global, a global network of management consultants of 49 member countries.
CMC is dedicated to strengthening Canadian communities by providing pro bono consulting services to non-profit organizations that serve diverse populations and address critical social needs. For more information about CMC Canada, contact: membership@cmc-canada.ca.
