Who I Am
I'm passionate about transforming complexity into clarity — there's nothing I love more than tackling a challenging puzzle and creating order from chaos. With 15+ years of experience, I've built my career managing complex business and technology projects exclusively within the arts and culture sector, as well as the ecosystem of vendors that serve them.
My approach combines extensive project management knowledge with industry understanding to lead initiatives that help organizations fulfill their missions. The CRM implementations and business transformation projects I've led for some of North America's largest and most respected cultural institutions have delivered strong revenue growth and dramatically improved operational efficiency.
I founded Colleen O'Hara Consulting because every organization deserves a partner who can help their most important work actually succeed.
How I Work
"Why?" has been my favorite question for a long time. I've learned that when you understand why, every other question becomes easier to tackle. We'll start with a conversation about your current needs or challenges to make sure we have clear objectives to guide the team throughout the project.
Once we're clear on what needs to be accomplished and why, I recommend the project execution support that is best suited to your needs and budget. I can work in phases guided by internal milestones and prioritized needs, or on a retainer basis throughout your project timeline to make sure the team has the support they need.
What size organizations do you work with?
I work with organizations of all sizes, scaling my projects to support the leanest of teams to the most complex of large institutions.
What types of organizations do you work with?
While I work exclusively within the arts and culture sector, my experience spans from museums and science centers to all forms of performing arts organizations. My experience is focused specifically on the operational and strategic challenges unique to this sector. As a singer myself, this sector has always been near and dear to my heart.
What if I need technical support too?
I focus on strategy, alignment, and execution, partnering with Faire Collaborative, a trusted network of technical specialists to round out project teams depending on the specific requirements of your project. This allows us to move seamlessly between project phases without having to manage multiple vendor relationships yourself. Learn more about our partnership.
Are you affiliated with any technology vendors?
No — while I do have deep expertise in Tessitura, my approach is intentionally vendor-agnostic. I start with your organization's business needs and goals, then help identify the right solution — whether that's Tessitura, another platform, or no new system at all. I'm not incentivized to steer you toward any particular option.