Strategy and insight at the intersection of community development, social justice, and the arts
Photo by Daniel Noone
Get in touch at:
danya (at) danyasherman (dot) com.
Sherman Cultural Strategies is a Boston-based consulting firm that works locally and nationally at the intersection of community development, the arts, and social justice. We bring teams of consultants together to support the evolution of values-driven partners in the philanthropic, non-profit, and government sectors through strategy, research, writing, and facilitation.
Motivated by a lifelong interest in developing collective power, sustaining relationships, and fighting injustice, we support leaders and organizations through generative collaboration and creative expression.
Founder and Director Danya Sherman (she/her/hers) supports just and equitable systems change through organization development and collective creative expression so that communities have the resources they need to determine their futures and thrive. She was a Senior Consultant on the Research Strategies team at ArtPlace America until its planned sunset in December, 2020. Prior to that, Danya founded and was the inaugural Director of Public Programs, Education, and Community Engagement at the High Line, where she led key community development and cultural equity partnerships and programs.
In addition to her consulting work, she teaches courses on cultural equity and community development. Her writing and journalism has been published in Shelterforce, Next City, Take Shape and by Rutgers University Press. She has addressed audiences at Providence Athenaeum, the Boston Society of Architects, the New School, Drexel University, and elsewhere on equitable urban development, community engagement, public space, and the cultural dimensions of public transit and trains. Danya holds a Master’s in City Planning from MIT and a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University (CT).
Danya and Deidra Montgomery work together on strategic planning, research and learning, and other projects. Over four years they’ve built a meaningful partnership, and co-lead projects with Mural Arts Institute, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and more. They are currently developing a cooperative business entity.
Areas of expertise include:
Program Development & Management
Research & Writing
Organizational Capacity Building
Strategic Planning & Evaluation
Arts Partnerships & Cultural Programs
Current and past partners include:
