Welcome to DNA Expo 2026, a free, daylong online event that brings us together.
January 29, 2026, 11:00-17:30 EST – an online journey from setting your data direction to confidently putting your data to work.
Full workshop details are below. Resources will be shared.
Canva Whiteboard
Presenter Slide Decks
DNA Expo Schedule
- 11:00 EST: Forming Your Data Direction
- 1 hr 30 mins
- Sarah Nielsen, Relativ Impact
EVENT OVERVIEW
This session will help arts organizations take the vital first step in building strong impact measurement and management capabilities – developing a clear impact strategy. By defining your impact intentions and understanding what your data query is, the session lays the groundwork for collecting meaningful evidence and shaping a compelling, mission-driven data narrative.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Actionable insights, fresh strategies, and an understanding of the necessary foundation for measuring and managing your impact.
FORMING Your Data Direction
Led by Sarah Nielsen, Relativ Impact
- 12:30 EST: Storming: Co-Developing Cultural Indicators
- 1 hr 30 mins
- Robin Sokoloski, Mass Culture
EVENT OVERVIEW
In this workshop, Robin Sokoloski leads participants through a “data walk”: an engaging, exploratory process designed to help organizations develop values-driven cultural indicators.
Participants will be invited to rethink what impact means to them and explore the tools, questions, and practices that support meaningful, ongoing tracking of their work.
Whether you’re new to data or looking to deepen your organization’s learning culture, this workshop offers a clear and accessible pathway for building a data strategy rooted in curiosity, equity, and relationship-building.
Come ready to reflect, explore, and imagine what becomes possible when we measure what matters.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
- Understanding that meaningful Impact begins with your own values, questions, and communities, not with external benchmarks
- Learning that thoughtful, values-driven questions shape clearer, more useful data
- Understanding that indicators aren’t just metrics, they can emerge from lived experiences, relationships, and shared aspirations
- Participants discover they can turn big, abstract concepts into practical indicators that reflect real change.
STORMING: Co-Developing Cultural Indicators
Led by Robin Sokoloski, Mass Culture
- 14:00 EST: Norming: Making Sense of Your Data
- There are three roundtables running simultaneously during this block. If you’d like to choose one, email robin@massculture.ca with your preference. If not, we’ll place you in a roundtable randomly.
- 45 mins
- 3 Roundtables
- Connecting the Dots: Turning Numbers into Insights
- Tara McWhinney, Charity Insights Canada Project
- Kate Cornell, Charity Insights Canada Project
CONNECTING THE DOTS: TURNING NUMBERS INTO INSIGHTS OVERVIEW
This informative roundtable, led by Charity Insights Canada Project, will provide participants with broader trends in the entire Canadian charitable sector, as well as specific data on the arts and culture. This roundtable will help arts organizations see how to begin to scrutinize data, put their data in context, and think about data strategically
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Participants will walk away with the three ways they can strategically use data in grant applications, sharing with policymakers, and talking to donors.
- Revisioning Public Art: Storytelling and Story-Holding
- Queen Kukoyi, Oddside Arts
- Nico Taylor, Oddside Arts
- Alli Rolle, Oddside Arts
REVISIONING PUBLIC ART: DATA ANALYSIS FROM BLACK PERSPECTIVES OVERVIEW
Revisioning Public Art asked how we read community stories, and how our lived experience as Black artists shape the stories we collect and interpret. In this roundtable session, the Oddside Arts team reflects on using decolonial approaches to analyse data in ways that amplify fellow Black artists and the realities that brought the work into being.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Participants will come away from this session with critical understandings of how ethical collective storytelling can be infused throughout the data collection and analysis process. With this knowledge, participants can attune their research skills to reflect community stories in a way that creates meaningful change.
- Making Sense of Your Data
- Heather Wilkinson, Wonder'neath Art Society
- Linnet Finley, Community-Engaged Fiber Artist, Project Coordinator & Lead Artist Facilitator with Wonder'neath
MAKING SENSE OF YOUR DATA OVERVIEW
Making Sense of Your Data is an in-progress report from a data coaching team on the path to creating our first organizational impact report. We will share the tools that we have been using to map out our organizational relationships and existing systems of data collection, and to identify gaps in information and the systems to manage and analyze it effectively. We will discuss how our relationship with data is evolving in the process and the insights we are gaining about its significance in sharing our impact.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Articulating the impacts of our relationships is vital to our sustainability; data narratives can provide insights to articulate the depth of our relationships internally and externally.
NORMING: Making Sense of Your Data
Connecting the Dots: Turning Numbers into Insights
Led by Tara McWhinney and Kate Cornell, Charity Insights Canada Project
Revisioning Public Art: Storytelling and Story-Holding
Led by Queen Kukoyi, Nico Taylor and Alli Rolle, Oddside Arts
Making Sense of Your Data
Led by Heather Wilkinson and Linnet Finley, Wonder'Neath Art Society
- 14:45 EST: Intermission
- We will be using this time to set up the breakout rooms for our Empowering session, beginning at 3pm Eastern. So, join us early to settle in for two engaging workshops.
- 15 mins
- 15:00 EST: Empowering: Turning Data Into Insight
- This block includes two concurrent workshops. To choose your session ahead of time, email robin@massculture.ca with your preference. If you don’t choose in advance, please arrive during the intermission (2:45–3:00 PM Eastern) so we can place you in your preferred workshop.
- 1 hr 15 mins
- 2 Workshops
- Future Digest: Simulating Arts Sector 2050
- Betty Xie, Founder & CEO of Forward Avenue, Fundraising Consultant, Filmmaker
FUTURE DIGEST: SIMULATING ARTS SECTOR 2050 OVERVIEW
What does the future of Canada’s arts sector look like, and how do we make sense of it before it arrives?
In this interactive workshop, participants will be guided through a rapid speculative future brainstorming exercise to collectively imagine two contrasting futures for the arts sector in 2050. Leaning into playful methods of speculative writing, collective daydreaming, virtual mind mapping, participants will explore how trends, values, and structural forces shape possible futures, and reflect on how those futures are already being rehearsed today, by connecting those insights with the data narratives drawn from Mass Culture’s DNA platform.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
- An “aha” understanding that similar trends can lead to very different futures, depending on how they are interpreted and acted upon
- A practical understanding on how to incorporate play, creativity, imagination to generate insight and foresight
- Actionable insights on how connect the dots between developing trends and signals and historical data
- A deeper appreciation on how strategic foresight can support organization-wide or sector-wide panning
- Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue – Searching for Canadian Culture
- Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University Research Chair
- Juan Sulca, Software Engineer
- Michael Li, Multidisciplinary Designer
- Silvana Sari, Design Researcher
CANADIAN CULTURAL DATA CATALOGUE – SEARCHING FOR CANADIAN CULTURE OVERVIEW
We will explore the Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue, a guide to cultural data of all kinds. It includes cultural datasets at the federal, provincial, and local levels, from arts organizations, public sector, academic, arts consultants, and collections, researchers, Indigenous organizations. We will use case studies to find datasets. Participants will explore the prototype with its designers.
What Canadian cultural datasets are available? How can you find and use them? How can these datasets be applied to support your needs?
TOP TAKEAWAYS
- Actionable insights in how to use different kinds of data to understand an issue or challenge facing them and to make effective arguments.
- Understanding the breadth of datasets that are available to support their needs or their research.
- New understandings, whether trends over time, audience development and change, economic and social impacts of culture.
- Access to datasets created through years of Canadian robust cultural research.
Presented in collaboration with TAIP (The Arts Impact Partnership), this workshop kicks off TAIP’s Arts Impact Workshop Series.
EMPOWERING: Turning Data Into Insight
Future Digest: Simulating Arts Sector 2050
Led by Betty Xie, Founder & CEO of Forward Avenue, Fundraising Consultant, Filmmaker
Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue – Searching for Canadian Culture
Led by Dr. Sara Diamond, Juan Sulca, Michael Li, Silvana Sari
- 16:25 EST: Evaluating Your Fundraising Readiness Through Data
- 1 hr 5 mins
- Michelle Yeung
EVALUATING YOUR FUNDRAISING READINESS THROUGH DATA OVERVIEW
In less than one hour, this lab will assess your organization’s fundraising readiness across seven core areas, identify your highest-leverage next step, and learn how simple data practices could make fundraising more focused, achievable, and effective.
Review the session’s fundraising framework and accompanying blog article here.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Fundraising success is less about doing more, and more about strengthening the system
A Case for Support doesn’t need to be big or intimidating; it’s clear, aligned “why”
You need both – a strong case without a plan (and a plan without data) leaves results to chance
Data isn’t extra work. It is a decision-making shortcut that reduces guesswork and builds confidence
Board and staff don’t all need to solicit but everyone can play a meaningful role in a culture of philanthropy
EVALUATING Your Fundraising Readiness Through Data
Led by Michelle Yeung, Mass Culture
- FORMING DATA
- Forming Your Data Direction
Sarah Nielsen
Sarah Nielsen is a fundraising and impact measurement specialist with more than ten years of experience in the social impact sector. She is a Director at Relativ Impact, where she works with partners and clients worldwide to help purpose-driven organizations strengthen their impact measurement and management (IMM), strategic communications, and resource mobilization efforts.
She has supported numerous arts and culture organizations in building their IMM capabilities, including Mural Routes, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, and Migrate Art.
Sarah also serves as Campaign Chair for a YMCA endowment fund in Canada, leading fundraising efforts that support summer programming for youth. In addition, she leads the Impact Measurement and Management Community of Practice for the Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) and sits on the Steering Committee for Women in Philanthropy South Africa (WiPSA).
- NORMING DATA
- Connecting the Dots: Turning Numbers into Insights
Tara McWhinney
Dr. Tara McWhinney is a feminist political economist with expertise in social policy analysis and cartographic research. Her dedication to understanding the intricate connections between politics, economics, and gender issues drives her work forward. Tara also has extensive experience of the Canadian charitable sector, as an educator, and both a front-line social worker and volunteer with local charities. Tara has joined the CICP for a Postdoctoral Fellowship and is keen to apply her cartographic and research skills to further an understanding of the needs and challenges of Canadian charities.
Kate Cornell
Dr. Kate Cornell is a feminist, an advocate, and a writer. She has worked all over the charitable sector as a policy wonk, an executive director, and a project manager. With a PhD in Communications and Culture, Kate is a contract lecturer in the University of Toronto - Scarborough's Arts Management program. As a consultant, she regularly works with Aftermetoo, the digital platform for survivors of workplace sexual harassment. Additionally, Kate is a Principal Consultant with Purposeful where she specializes in projects focused on decent work. Lastly, Kate was thrilled to join the Charity Insights Canada Project in 2025 as the Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications.
- Revisioning Public Art: Storytelling and Story-Holding
Queen Kukoyi
Queen Kukoyi is a gender-queer, neurodivergent, multidisciplinary artist with 20+ years combating structural violence against Black and Indigenous youth using youth resources, arts education programs in schools, community centres and mental health & justice advocacy. Their creative practice encompasses queer theory in a meta-analytical afrofuturistic convergence of art and technology, mindfulness, sound, and noetic sciences through poetry, digital collage animations, and augmented reality.
Nico Taylor
Nicole “Nico” Taylor is a performance and digital artist, curator, and scholar whose work dissects social constructions surrounding race and representation and highlights Black bodies using cosplay, storytelling, and graphic design. As a scholar, her interest in pop culture and designation as a proud blerd spurred the pursuit of a Master of Arts at Concordia University on decolonial practices, feminism, cosplay subculture, and Afrofuturism.
Alli Rolle
Alli Rolle is a queer, non-binary multidisciplinary artist and poet with 10+ years of experience conducting anti-colonial, community oriented research. The Research and Project Coordinator at Oddside Arts, Alli engages with theoretical frameworks that challenge structures of power rooted in white supremacy and reimagine life possibilities for Black, Queer, POC, disabled, and neurodivergent people.
- Making Sense of Your Data
Heather Wilkinson
Heather Wilkinson a visual artist, educator, and arts advocate located in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. She is the co-founder and Artistic and Executive Director of Wonder’neath Art Society, a charitable visual arts and craft centre based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax supporting community engagement through the arts, artistic expression, and creative collaboration since 2014.
Linnet Finley
Linnet Finley is a community-engaged fibre artist, educator, and mother living and working in the North End of Kjipuktuk/Halifax, NS. She is the Coordinator and Co-lead Artist Facilitator for Wonder’neath’s Open Studio Program. With a strong interest in creative problem-solving, she leverages efficiency to enhance the work environment and is a self-professed “spreadsheet nerd.” Recently, Linnet has been exploring map-making, specifically localism, representations of community, and the practice of counter-mapping.
- EMPOWERING DATA
- Future Digest: Simulating Arts Sector 2050
Betty Xie
Betty Xie is a fundraising consultant, leadership coach, and filmmaker working at the intersection of nonprofit management, strategic foresight, and media creation. She is the Founder and CEO of Forward Avenue, a boutique consulting and coaching firm that supports small charities to raise more revenue with less overwhelm.
As a coach, she has worked with organizations including the Toronto Arts Foundation and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, supporting program participants to gain greater clarity in their careers and creative practices. Her work as a filmmaker and storyteller informs her facilitation style, blending narrative, systems thinking, and embodied reflection.
- Future Digest: Simulating Arts Sector 2050
Dr. Sara Diamond
Dr. Sara Diamond, Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, President Emerita OCAD University is University Research Chair and Professor in OCAD U’s the Faculty of Arts and Science. A computer scientist, historian, artist, and designer, Diamond holds deep interest in the relationships of human practices, diverse cultures, and technologies. Her art works include www.codezebra.net, an early creative neural network that measured and visualized emotion in language patterns. Her cultural sector funded research includes creating the Canadian Cultural Database Catalogue a deep resource for cultural research; qualitative research tools for screen industries; and Crossing Fonds, a digital platform for archival collaboration and data remediation. She is co-PI of the iCity2.0 network applying generative design and procedural visualization to plan complete and equitable communities. She serves as co-director of Abundant Intelligences: Expanding Artificial Intelligence through Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Diamond is Chair of the Toronto Arts Foundation board and of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education board.
Juan Sulca
Juan is a maker, coder, tape enthusiast, and recently a designer with a background in Computer Science and 6 years of experience as a software engineer. He has worked across various industries, where he applied and developed his technical expertise and contributed to a wide array of projects. He is passionate about coding and making, especially electronics and physical computation. In addition, he is interested in our relationship with technology and how technology helps define our lives and interact with the environment around us.
Michael Li
Michael Li is a Toronto based multidisciplinary designer working at the intersection of art, design, data, and cultural technology. Graduated from the Industrial Design undergraduate program at OCAD u, he now works as a research assistant and UX designer on the national Canadian Cultural Data Catalogue (CCDC) at OCAD university, where he develops user interfaces, metadata schemas, cultural taxonomies, and data-governance frameworks supporting a data-fluent future for Canada’s arts and culture sector.
Silvana Sari
Silvana Sari is a design researcher with a background in graphic design and UX, focusing on cultural preservation and inclusive community engagement through design research and strategic foresight.
Through the DNA Platform and accompanying learning tools, DNA will empower the arts sector with a data-driven mindset, showcasing the genuine value and immense impact this sector brings to society. Thank you to our partners and funders for supporting this vital initiative.
If you believe in the power of data- and research-driven work, donate to Mass Culture today!
This initiative is made possible through the support of the following
