diversity

Webinar Highlights: Museum Think Tank: Cultural Organizations as Incubators for Social Impact

Recent events have prompted individuals, companies, and organizations across the world to take a deeper look at their role in society and explore how they can play an active part in driving the change they want to see. Museums and cultural organizations, with their mission-based work and commitment to community, have an especially important role to play in this current moment. To step up and effect change in areas of social justice, cultural professionals are turning to their colleagues within the field, as well as seeking inspiration and guidance from other industries to generate fresh ideas and develop meaningful new approaches.

Over 2,000 people joined the Tuesday webinar, which took the form of a museum “Think Tank” where innovative voices from the museum field converge with social impact entrepreneurs who are addressing some of society’s most challenging issues. We had Brendan Ciecko (CEO & Founder @ Cuseum), Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell (Head of Public Programs @ Smithsonian American Art Museum & Renwick Gallery), OnRae Watkins (Senior Manager @ ARTLAB - Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden), David Delmar Sentíes (Executive Director & Founder @ Resilient Coders), and Jon Feinman (Executive Director & Founder @ InnerCity Weightlifting) as they explored how museums can serve as incubators for social impact and social justice.

Watch the full recording here.

Here are the major takeaways.

Webinar Highlights: Striving Towards an Equitable Future: Addressing Systemic Injustice as a Cultural Organization

Across the nation, we are mourning the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery & Breonna Taylor with sadness and distress. Recent events have illuminated the systemic injustice that remains entrenched in our country and its institutions. As professionals in the cultural sector, it is pressing to situate our current moment, as well as the long history of deep-seated racism and inequality, in the context of museums and cultural organizations. As mission-based organizations serving diverse communities, it is critical to engage in a dialogue on the role of our institutions in a time of tragedy, anxiety, and unrest.

Last Wednesday, around 3,000 people joined Brendan Ciecko (CEO & Founder @ Cuseum), Terri Freeman (President @ National Civil Rights Museum), Damon Reaves (Interim Senior Curator of Education @ Philadelphia Museum of Art) & Cecile Shellman (Senior Diversity Fellow @ American Alliance of Museums) for a discussion on how cultural organizations can face systemic injustice, strive towards a more equitable future, and be beacons of hope for their communities.
Watch the full recording here.

Here are a few of the biggest takeaways from the conversation.

Webinar Highlights: Membership Mondays: Diversity & Community Support in Membership & Visitor Service

Across the nation, we are deeply shaken and distressed by the death of George Floyd and the widespread injustice towards the Black community. In light of current events and the national reckoning with deeply-rooted systemic racism in our country, it is vital and urgent to explore these issues in relation to museums and cultural institutions, both internally and in the context of supporting communities, serving diverse populations, and creating social impact.

This Monday, over 1,700 people joined Dan Sullivan (Head of Partnerships @ Cuseum), Kevin Thomas (Senior Manager, Membership and Annual Fund @ National Museum of African American History and Culture), Jeanette O’Bryant (Development Officer @ National Civil Rights Museum) & Ash Harris (VP of Guest Experience @ San Antonio Zoo) for a discussion that situated the national situation in the context of museums and culture. As membership, development, and guest services professionals, the panelists offered unique perspectives on how cultural organizations can renew their commitments to diversity, inclusion, and community support in this current moment and going forward.

Watch the full recording here.

Here are a few of the biggest takeaways from the conversation.

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