"Inspired. Motivated. Prepared. Overwhelmed, eager, empowered. Exhausted." --Sharleen Eusebio, 2010 Diversity Fellow

 

Diversity Fellowships
AAM and EdCom are committed to making museums more responsive to diversity in every aspect of their work, and the mission of EdCom includes serving as an advocate for diverse educators and audiences. One way that EdCom encourages museums to represent diversity among their staff is by awarding fellowship assistance to new museum education professionals of diverse backgrounds to attend the AAM Annual Meeting. This professional development opportunity helps those entering the field to establish associations with organizations and individuals who will serve as resources to them throughout their museum careers.

 

Here's what the 2010 Diversity Fellows had to say about their experiences at the Annual Meeting:

 

Sharleen Eusebio

 

       More than anything else, the AAM Annual Meeting reaffirmed that I have chosen the absolute perfect career for me. It had been almost a bane in my educational past that I could barely pick out one interest on which to focus out of my many passions: literature, culture, travel, science, writing, history, art …almost everything under the sun. I’m so happy now that I’ve found a solution: museums! In museums you can learn all there is about the human experience. This is where I can exercise all my skills and interests. Here, I can feel valued among a corps of equally passionate professionals. These are people who appreciate the work of their peers (as I witnessed upon showcasing some of my work at the Marketplace of Ideas) and who are happy to contribute to a young professional's development (as made evident by a roundtable facilitator's suggestion that I report out to the group at large instead of taking the spotlight herself.) Also, it was wonderful to see that at the end of the day, museum professionals know how to have a great time!

 

For these reasons and more, I am grateful to EdCom for affording me this opportunity. Because as I look back at my time at the AAM Annual Meeting, I can say that I got a taste of everything I can look forward to as I prepare to enter the museum field. And with that grand debut looming closer, I continue to recall the experiences I’ve had, the lessons I’ve learned, and the people I’ve met – and I am overcome with a renewed voracity to touch lives and leave a positive imprint on this world.

 

Motoko Hioki

 

Monique Valadez

 

 

       Since attending the conference, one of the ideas I’ve been able to start up in our museum is a virtual museum. As Alvarez mentioned, museums are accessible to the whole world thanks to the Internet. At our museum, we’ve started documenting events and exhibits with a video camera to share with the world, and create a “museum without borders”. Technology is helping the Museum community expand far beyond physical reach, breaking down barriers, and educating without stepping foot inside a building or leaving home.

 

        The most compelling discussion that changed my thoughts of museums and even had me reevaluate my life was by Julia Alvarez. She made me realize that I was living comfortably in boundaries. In order to live and discover new things I had to step outside, break away. Today, I am more enthusiastic of being a new museum professional and I know AAM will be there to help me break boundaries. AAM has become my muse.

        I thank EdCom for this awesome experience. If it was planned this way or not, the conference had succeeded in creating a real museum world without borders. Also, thanks for letting me rediscover L.A. and reminding me why I love living in one of the most culturally diverse places in the world.

 

 

Past Diversity Fellows

 

2009

 

• Naomi Coquillon, Associate Director for School Programs, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD
• Lucy Lau-Bigham, High School Apprentice/Education Project Coordinator, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia

2008

• Lauren Haney, Coordinator of Public Programs at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
• Safiyah Jackson, Education Fellow in Arts and Culture Management, Chicago, IL

Download reflections on the AAM Annual Meeting from Lauren Haney and Safiyah Jackson.

 

2007

• Ester Fernandez, Curator of Education/Associate Curator, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
• Matthew Lewis, Intern, Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural Center and Museum, Sells, Arizona
• Brian Carter, Education Director, Northwest African American Museum, Seattle, Washington