Veronica Pardo calls for cultural leaders to confront systemic harm and redesign workplaces

Veronica Pardo, a cultural equity leader with over two decades of experience in Australia, argues that the arts sector's crises—broken funding, precarious employment, demographic clashes, and declining workforce wellbeing—demand deeper, braver conversations about cultural leadership. She contends that institutions can be sites of harm or healing, depending on leaders' willingness to transform power dynamics and conflict responses. Pardo criticizes outdated people-and-culture systems that reproduce sameness and marginalization, and urges leaders to redesign human systems, embrace genuine diversity, and approach conflict with integrity rather than fear. She highlights that senior leaders often remain insulated from accountability while middle management bears the brunt of crises. Pardo, former CEO of Arts Access Victoria and Multicultural Arts Victoria, now runs an independent consultancy and chairs Western Edge Youth Arts. Her reflections target CEOs, executives, and board members, urging them to engage with issues affecting those with least power. She warns that without systemic transformation, the sector will continue to erode talent and push diverse leadership to the margins.