If you’ve ever served on—or worked with—a nonprofit board, you know the experience can be… complicated. For many chorus leaders, the board can feel like a mysterious group of decision-makers, often more focused on the finances than on mission or community. Yet in today’s environment, boards are being asked to do more: to be bold, courageous, and resilient in the face of political pushback, shrinking arts funding, and shifting community needs.
To help us understand the board’s role in 2026, we spoke with dr. antonio c. cuyler, an international thought leader on access, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI), a consultant to major arts organizations, and a Professor of Music in Entrepreneurship & Leadership at the University of Michigan.
In this candid conversation, dr. cuyler explained why bold chorus boards matter now more than ever—and why “business as usual” is no longer good enough. Let’s dive in.
dr. cuyler: What makes this moment particularly challenging is that we’re in what I call “the reckoning.” It’s what people have been trying to steer us away from, but it’s been coming for the last 30–35 years. Since the late 80s, early 90s, Republicans have been saying that they want to get rid of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). They never wanted the NEA even to be founded.
Now, through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, every source of funding is under attack — corporations, foundations, and individuals. There’s even a white paper circulating in Republican circles arguing that any nonprofit with more than 20% of its budget from earned revenue should have its tax exemptions taken away. This is the climate that the boards have to lead through.
They’re going to have to decide: Are you really a nonprofit, or are you a for-profit wanting to get nonprofit benefits? Because if you’re not willing to serve your whole community and if you’re not sticking with your DEI work, maybe you should rethink your 501(c)(3) status.
dr. cuyler: I would first say, “Let’s go back to the tax-exempt purposes. Maybe we’re not a social justice organization, but we are a charitable organization, and charitable organizations are supposed to prioritize relief of the poor, the distressed, the underprivileged—“eliminating prejudice and discrimination” is right there in the IRS tax-exempt purposes. If we don’t want to do that, then maybe we have to relieve ourselves of our nonprofit status.”
dr. cuyler: You can become a B Corporation. B Corporations want to do good in society, but they also want to make money. And maybe that’s the problem—we don’t want to step out into new models and figure it out. We’re a little bit intellectually lazy, and so we want to just kind of stick with this thing that we know, even if we’re not really good at it. The organizations that this model fits for are thriving even during these times because, as my colleague Dr. Joy Young said, “they prioritize community over the cannon.” Choruses should ask, “Have we prioritized our community in such a way that they trust us and will show up for us in these uncanny times?” If the answer is no, it’s a growth opportunity.
dr. cuyler: Yes. Boards are actually going to have to step up, and they’re going to have to lead. You’ve got some boards that are going to have to decide: Are we going to stick with our ADEI work? Because if you’re not doing ADEI, and you’re a nonprofit cultural organization—tell me: How are you serving your entire community?
If you’re not serving your entire community, which is made up of the public—and the same public that has given you 501(c)(3) status with the benefits of tax exemptions and tax deductions for your corporate, foundation, and individual donors—then maybe you shouldn’t have that status if you don’t want to serve the entire community, including the people who believe that ADEI excludes them when most of us know that, actually, it includes them. Choruses cannot afford to exclude anyone.
dr. cuyler: I would ask, “Are you afraid of offending your donors and patrons, or your community?” If the community isn’t reflected in the donors and patrons, then, as a nonprofit, you’ve got a problem. If you know what your community wants you to do and how it needs you to show up, then perhaps your donors and patrons should have less of a voice than the community at large.
The community is the reason why you have the whole shebang in the first place. Donors and patrons are very important, I’m not saying they’re not. But if you don’t have community support, then you’re betraying your responsibility to your community for this small group of people (the board) who have lots of power and control of the organization. The community is already providing you with tax exemptions and tax deductions, which are likely more valuable monetarily than donor funding, but we do not know because we have not estimated the value of tax exemptions and tax deductions, as nonprofit hospitals have.
dr. cuyler: For me, the source of my boldness and courageousness in all of this was going back to basics. What is the thing that I know, right? And the fact of the tax-exempt purposes—I situate all of the strategies there. Because when you look at them, you go, well, I’ll be darn, the solution to the problem is right there if we focus on education, on eliminating prejudice and discrimination, on lessening the burdens of government.
That’s what bold boards do: they root themselves in those tax-exempt purposes and make decisions from that foundation, not from fear.
dr. cuyler: I think the duty of care is really hard. Obedience is essentially the law. Loyalty is about avoiding conflicts of interest. But duty of care is, “Do you care enough to show up and to be present? To not just rubber-stamp and go along to get along?”
Sometimes when you show up, people want to move too quickly because they have other obligations such as their full-time jobs and families, and such. But I’m the person who has questions and who doesn’t want us to rush. We need to be more thoughtful about the decisions we’re making, because they’re going to take us down a path. Duty of care is probably the most difficult, and I wish board orientations did a better job at conveying that. We’d have stronger and more democratic boards across the creative sector if they did.
dr. cuyler: I wish that board orientations did a better job, because I think we’d have stronger boards. Ideally, you would have an equally informed ED or President and CEO and board, and they work together collaboratively—bipartisan, even—to serve the organization’s mission and thereby their communities. That’s when boards are at their best.
dr. cuyler: People have mythologized and romanticized NEA funding to mean something more than it actually does. NEA funding serves as a good housekeeping ‘seal of approval’. It’s considered prestigious. But let’s be clear: it makes up less than 1% of all funding available to cultural nonprofits. If it disappeared tomorrow, the organizations that survive will be those that realign their missions and reconnect with their community.
dr. cuyler: Imagine this—what if choral organizations had stepped up and said, “We’re going to replace the education that is being taken away from our public school system?” How many more people would be prepared to show up and sing in the choir, be in the audience, or be part of the community?
People want to belong right now. A part of education is teaching people how to be with each other again. Post-COVID, we’ve forgotten that. Bold boards would lean into that—teaching people it’s okay to be vulnerable, to need other human beings, to belong.
dr. cuyler: There are some cultural organizations that are figuring out ways to extend their value beyond artistic excellence and artistic merit. Penumbra Theater in Minneapolis tries to do some of that—by prioritizing well-being. You may get a little food security, a little income security, a little housing security, and then you get some art.
That’s courageous leadership: connecting the work of art to the well-being of the community it serves.
dr. cuyler: Practice democracy by inviting the community in to help you actually think about artistic programming. By giving them a stake in what you’re programming, you are almost ensuring that they’re going to show up. Because it’s theirs too, that’s how you strengthen both your board and your community connection. For me, the most important value arts and culture provide is social bridging, bonding, and cohesion, especially in times when the public’s trust has eroded in so many of our institutions. Seek the public’s trust, and you’ll gain not just an audience, but also your community.
dr. cuyler’s insights remind us that bold boards aren’t about fearlessly chasing funding or playing it safe—they’re about grounding decisions in purpose, community and courage. In a moment of real uncertainty for the arts, chorus boards have a powerful opportunity to lead with clarity, conviction, and care.
What does “bold leadership” look like on your chorus’s board right now? Where do you see tension between mission, money, and community—and how is your board navigating it? Share in the comments so we can all learn and grow together!