Tessitura is pleased to announce the newest members of the company’s board of directors. 

As a nonprofit member-owned cooperative, Tessitura is governed by leaders of the arts and culture organizations that use its technology. Serving performing arts and admissions-based institutions across 10 countries — spanning North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand — Tessitura’s board of directors represents key constituencies in this community. 

The three new board members joining in 2026 are Rhys Davies, Head of Digital Services at Wales Millennium Centre; Ruth Taylor Kidd, Chief Financial Officer of Folger Shakespeare Library; and Alex Sarian, President & CEO of Werklund Centre.

About the new board members

Rhys Davies is the Head of Digital Services at the iconic Wales Millennium Centre situated in Cardiff Bay. He leads the center’s Tessitura business unit and is also responsible for the technology infrastructure, the implementation of innovative technologies and the information security program. He is also a key member of the business’ senior leadership team.

Rhys joined Wales Millennium Centre in 2022 due to his experience in technology and love of the arts. One of his initial projects was the upgrade from v15 to v16. Prior to joining Wales Millennium Centre, Rhys built a successful IT consultancy that worked with businesses ranging from not for profits to multimillion pound corporates. He was also an IT Director at a global multidisciplinary law firm.

Rhys holds a BA in business economics and an MSc in information systems and is a mentor on the UK’s One Million Mentors program. He is currently enrolled on the flagship 20Twenty Executive Leadership program at Cardiff Met University. Rhys is an active member in his local community and coaches two kids’ soccer teams, which means that skills such as negotiation, diplomacy, reasoning and patience are often put to good use!

Ruth Taylor Kidd brings more than 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector to her role as Chief Financial Officer of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Appointed in September 2018, Ruth has extensive experience with museums, having served as the Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Capital Children’s Museum, Director of Budgeting and Planning at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Assistant Director of Development at the American Museum of Natural History.

She also served as Chief Financial Officer for Ashoka, a nonprofit whose mission is to cultivate and support social entrepreneurs throughout the globe. In addition to her internal positions, Ruth has served as a consultant to numerous small and mid-size nonprofits in the Washington, D.C., metro area, where her work focused on budgeting, strategic planning and process redesign.

Ruth holds a master’s degree in public and private management (MPPM) from the Yale School of Management with concentrations in nonprofit management and marketing. She is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she received her B.S. in psychology. Ruth attended the Getty Leadership Institute’s Museum Management Institute. She is a member of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and ArtTable, a national organization for professional women in the visual arts. 

Alex Sarian is a bestselling author on institutional relevance and President & CEO of Werklund Centre, one of Canada’s most dynamic arts centers, where he leads the largest cultural infrastructure project in Canadian history. He recently oversaw the transformation from Arts Commons to Werklund Centre, following a landmark $75 million gift — the largest private donation to the performing arts in Canadian history.

Appointed in 2020 at age 36, Alex became the youngest CEO of a major performing arts center in North America. Before returning to Canada, he spent nearly two decades in New York City in senior roles at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. There, he led international consulting efforts across 15 countries, advising governments, foundations and creative institutions on civic engagement and public value.

Named one of The Globe and Mail’s 10 most influential figures in Canadian arts and culture (2024), Alex is also a recipient of the 40 Under 40 award for leadership in business, culture and public life. Born in Toronto and raised in Buenos Aires, Alex holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University and has completed executive education at the Ivey Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has taught at NYU, Pace University and City College of New York, and has served as advisor to global organizations including Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, SXSW and the Varkey Foundation.

His acclaimed book, The Audacity of Relevance (2024), was hailed by Forbes as “a manifesto for the arts in times of crisis” and has become required reading in arts leadership programs worldwide.