Redesigning institutions to adapt and deliver

Institutions built for stability are now operating in conditions they were never designed for.

Honey Dacanay leads and advises on the structural changes governments and public institutions need to deliver: how they organize teams, make investment decisions, govern technology and data, and hold leaders accountable.

Her experience spans executive leadership, service modernization, enterprise policy and digital delivery. She turns modernization ambitions into changes in how institutions work.

Selected impact

Over two decades, Honey has led substantial teams and portfolios, built digital and data capabilities, and changed the legislative, policy and governance foundations of public-sector delivery.

01

Organizational leadership

Directed 110 employees, 80 contractors and a $150 million portfolio. Established enterprise analytics and led a client-data and service personalization roadmap.

02

Enterprise digital reform

Led digital policy and performance across 95 federal organizations, including the redesign of service and digital policy, data governance and technology funding.

03

Legislation and policy

Helped establish the Ontario Digital Service and led development of legislation removing 48 legislative and regulatory barriers to modern service delivery.

04

Governance and implementation

Introduced agile governance to accelerate technology and service decisions, and piloted Rules as Code to assess the effects of proposed policy changes before implementation.

05

Public-sector capability

Built digital learning programs and contributed to curriculum adopted by more than 270 universities and learning programs worldwide.

Current Work

Advisory

Strategy, Governance and Delivery

Helping institutions turn strategy into delivery through operating-model redesign, executive accountabilities, policy and governance reform, and digital and data capability building. Current work includes AI readiness, open-source policy, shared digital foundations, and implementing standards through tools and delivery practices.

Teaching & Mentorship

Building Adaptive Institutions

Teaching current and future public sector leaders how to position institutions to adapt, modernize, and deliver under changing conditions. Includes AI in the Public Sector, an open graduate course built around a diagnostic for institutional adaptive capacity.

Research & Writing

Field Guide to Institutional Reform

An interview-based research project examining what institutional reform requires, how change leaders and sponsors navigate it, and what helps change endure.

Writing

Notes on institutional change

Essays on institutions, reform, implementation, and the realities of changing large systems.
The Inner Circles
Essay New
The Inner Circles
Every large institution has an invisible social geography that exists alongside its org chart. This essay explores how proximity to power shapes behaviour, influence, and institutional change.
Read essay →
 The Absent Sponsor
Essay
The Absent Sponsor
Most change work survives only as long as someone with real authority is willing to protect it. This essay is about what happens to the work and the person doing it when that protection does not exist.
Read essay →
 The Unwritten Map
Essay
The Unwritten Map
Every large institution runs on two systems: the one that's written down and the one everyone learns the hard way. This essay explores the gap between them.
Read essay →

Get in touch

Contact me about leading institutional reform, strengthening digital delivery, or advising on strategy, policy and governance.