By Tom O’Connor

With the start of a new season, we’re proud to announce that Tom O’Connor Consulting Group is now TOC Arts Partners.

This new name reflects the evolution of our practice over the past decade, from a solo consultancy to a collective of strategists, storytellers, connectors, researchers, artists, and all-around problem solvers. Along the way, we’ve had the privilege of working alongside more than 150 arts and culture client partners in 25 states and across 11 unique genres, from stages to screens, museums to municipalities. These include both our strategy and executive search clients—with the latter resulting in over 90 successful placements of executive and senior leaders. Every collaboration brings new perspectives, deepens our expertise, and strengthens the sector we all care about so deeply.

Our field’s challenges can only be met through community. That’s why we partner deeply with organizations to align strategy, structure, and leadership toward a thriving cultural sector. While our name is new, our mission remains the same: to bring the care, experience, network, and discernment that arts and culture organizations need in this moment and beyond. As our founder, I am personally so pleased that our name can now fully embody the “we” that fuels our continued impact, despite the great pride I take in having founded TOC Arts Partners as a solo enterprise. I am also immensely proud of this generous and talented group of humans who I learn from every day and am so privileged to lead.

We look forward to continuing this journey with you, and to the work we’ll do together to strengthen, grow, and inspire the arts and culture sector.

Faithfully and gratefully,

Tom O’Connor and the TOC Arts Partners Team

Tom O’Connor has spent over 20 years working in the cultural sector. He is a Trustee for Theatre Development Fund in New York City, has served on the faculty of graduate programs at Yale University and Brooklyn College, and received his MSW in Clinical Social Work from Fordham University.