EXPERTISE & EXPERIENCE

David B. Devan

PRINCIPAL

For 18 years, I led Opera Philadelphia as General Director, overseeing everything from Festival O — a boundary-pushing reimagining of opera’s role in community — to the difficult decisions required during budget crises and the pandemic. Before that, I spearheaded the turnaround of Pacific Opera Victoria in Canada. These experiences taught me that sustainable organizational change needs equal parts strategic clarity, cultural intelligence, and operational pragmatism.

Now I help mission-driven leaders navigate the same strategic pressures I faced as an executive — without losing clarity about what matters most.

I began my career after training as a competitive pairs figure skater — an early lesson in discipline, trust, and shared responsibility that continues to inform my work today.

I live in Philadelphia with my husband, David, and we spend as much time as possible in the Canadian backcountry with canoe paddles in hand.

Some of the organizations Portage & Practice has had the joy of working with

City of Philadelphia
Cultural master plan 

The Wilma Theater
Operating model and plan 

Jacob's Pillow
Optimization study

Spotlight PA
Strategic plan

Natural Lands
Operational planning

FringeArts
Leadership transition study and plan

City Opera Vancouver
Mentorship and collaboration for new Executive Director

I Dream
Creative Producer of a new musical in development by Douglas Tappin,
Jonathan Payne, and Quentin Darrington

Jazz Philadelphia
Operational planning, festival readiness, and partnerships

Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnership at Drexel University
Prototype of a diagnostic tool for cultural organizations to assess change readiness

Lenfest Institute for Journalism
Strategic plan for enabling sustainable solutions for the next era of local news

Ministry of Awe
Brand study

Performance Garage
Governance retreat

  • Art Sanctuary (Vision and mission facilitation)

    Bearded Ladies Cabaret (Strategic planning facilitation, responsibility charting, coaching)

    FringeArts (Leadership transition discovery)

    Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (Mission and vision facilitation as chair of the board)

    Jazz Philadelphia (Vision, mission and strategic priority facilitation)

    Opéra de Montréal (Mission and vision facilitation)

    Opera Philadelphia (Facilitation of 3 strategic plans)

    Opera Association in Canada (Facilitation of discovery process for future association work and priorities)

    Pacific Opera Victoria (Strategic planning facilitation)

    Pig Iron Theatre Company (Vision and mission facilitation)

    Vision 2020 (Strategic priority facilitation)

  • WORLD PREMIERES

    ANDY: A Popera (Allen/Visconti/Jarboe/Lally and ensemble)

    Breaking the Waves (Mazzoli/Vavrek)

    Charlie Parkers’ Yardbird (Schnyder/Wimberly)

    Cycles of My Being (Sorey/Hayes/Brownlee)

    Denis & Katya (Venables/Huffman)

    Elizabeth Cree (Puts/Campbell)

    Glass Handel (Costanzo/Visionaire)

    Sky on Swings (Beecher/Moscovitch)

    We Shall Not Be Moved (Roumain/Joseph)

    The Wake World (Hertzberg)

    War Stories – I Have No Stories To Tell You (Beecher/Moscovitch)

    10 Days in a Madhouse (Orth/Moscovitch)

    PARTNER IN DEVELOPMENT

    Cold Mountain (Higdon/Scheer)

    Dark Sisters (Muhly/Karam)

    Dito & Aeneas: Two Queens, One Night (Jarboe, Kazemi)

    The Listeners (Mazzoli/Vavrek)

    Oscar (Morrison/Cox)

    Silent Night (Puts/Campbell)

    Woman with Eyes Closed (Higdon/Dye)

    These works have been produced for over 300 performances across 7 countries in over 75 production runs.

  • Art Sanctuary (Vice Chair & Treasurer)

    The Association of Opera in Canada - formerly Opera.ca (Chair)

    Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (Chair)

    Jazz Philadelphia (Treasurer)

    Opera America (Member at Large)

    Philadelphia 250 (Chair DEIA Committee)

    Pro Art Alliance of Greater Victoria (Vice Chair)

Folks we work with

  • Dr. Valerie I. Harrison

    Dr. Valerie I. Harrison currently serves as Temple University's Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Impact. As an educator, Valerie’s research and teaching interests involve issues of race, education, and the law. She is also an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and College of Liberal Arts and co-author of Color Him Father: Stories of Love & Rediscovery of Black Men and Do Right by Me: Learning to Raise Black Children in White Spaces. Valerie has a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, African-American/ Black Studies (Temple University), Master of LIberal Arts (Temple University), Doctor of Law - JD (Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law) and Bachelor of Arts - BA, Economics (University of Virginia)

  • Maureen Craig

    Mo Craig is the CEO of MoStrategy, LLC. She is a brand strategy expert and self-described “provocateur.” Her firm focuses on Customer Understanding & Empathy, Brand Development & Marketing Strategy, Innovation and Foundational Research. Prior to this, she was the Chief Strategy Officer at Red Tettemer in Philadelphia. Her clients included: Comcast, Honda, Blue Cross, The Simpsons (Fox TV), The Pew Charitable Trusts, Mitsubishi, Logitech, the Australian Tourist Commission, the CA State Division of Recycling.

  • Haeg Design

    Haeg Design is the creative studio of Ford and Ali Haegele— an actual marriage of right-brained and left-brained creatives. They deliver the highest quality design and creative services backed by years of agency experience from their home-based studio in Collingswood, NJ. haegdesign.com

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