AAM Awards honor ASTC members

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has announced the individuals, programs, and institutions recognized for leadership and excellence within the museum field. Seven of the 17 honorees are part of the ASTC community.

AAM has updated its Awards Program in recent years to better align with the alliance’s strategic framework and more fully center equity and inclusion. The changes include a more accessible nominations process, expanded eligibility, and the opportunity to recognize multiple honorees in many categories to better highlight exemplary work across all types of museums and roles in the museum field.

The 2024 AAM awards will be formally presented at the 20224 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo to be held this May in Baltimore, Maryland.

Distinguished Service Award

AAM calls Doug Jones “an exemplary leader of natural history museums and a renowned expert in paleontology who has created a thriving, first-of-its-kind natural history museum.” Since 1997, he has more than doubled the size of the museum’s staff with now more than 30 full-time research curators who, along with other collections management staff, care for and curate more than 50 million specimens. In addition to his tenure on the ASTC Board of Directors, Doug has also served as president of the Association of Science Museum Directors and Florida Association of Museums, AAM Board Chair, and a member of the board for the Natural Science Collection Alliance.

Nancy Hanks Award for Rising Stars

As Senior Manager, Community Science, Miguel Ordeñana promotes and creates community science projects—and recruits and trains participants. He leads NHMLAC’s Southern California Squirrel Survey and Backyard Bat Survey and advises on a Nicaraguan jaguar project he initiated in 2012; he also serves on the boards of Friends of Griffith Park and the National Wildlife Federation. AAM said that “Miguel is dedicated to making science and access to nature more equitable, with a goal of increasing the representation and retention of underrepresented communities within the environmental and museum field.”

KT Todd leads a portfolio of research, evaluation, and professional development projects at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh dedicated to centering equity and justice at the intersection of research and practice in museums. AAM cites KT for work exploring “liberatory efforts around race, gender, dis/ability, and LGBTQIA issues—building synergies for coordinated equity work across identities and issues. Their approach recognizes that systemic change requires interrogating both the external work we do with visitors and the internal ways we organize and lead our museums; additionally, it necessitates time for relationship-building and healing alongside actively striving for improvement.”

As Chief Strategy Officer for COSI, Stephen White leads a global strategy for partnerships at the city, state, and federal levels; oversees the organization’s ambitious business model; and leads execution of COSI’s strategic plan. AAM noted that “during his seven years in the museum field, Stephen championed the theory of ‘Servant Learning’ as an engagement strategy during the COVID pandemic crisis, and has been an exemplary model in how to serve communities and bridge the education gap and digital divide.” He has spearheaded the Learning Lunchbox initiative, which has provided informal learning kits to more than 350,000 underserved youth around the world—and which were developed in partnerships with partners including the White House, NASA, and Department of Energy.

Recognition for the Advancement of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion

As Director of Strategic Initiatives, Jenni Martin provides strategic vision and direction for museum-wide initiatives at Children’s Discovery Museum, including major exhibition projects and programming, museum partnerships and collaborations, organizational change, and museum-research partnerships. She has spearheaded the museum’s Latino, Vietnamese and Autism Community Development Initiatives, including launching Common Ground, a program to facilitate dialogue and exhibit co-creation among families recently emigrated from China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Vietnam. She also co-founded the Cultural Competence Learning Institute (CCLI)—a partnership between the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, ASTC, the Association of Children’s Museums, and the Garibay Group. Since it was established in 2013, CCLI has prepared more than 47 museums and 175 individuals to lead on issues of equity, inclusion, accessibility, and diversity.

Boston Children’s Museum opened the You, Me, We! (YMW) exhibit in February 2023 to support the needs expressed by parents and caregivers to support children as they begin to perceive, explore, and question complex topics including identity, fairness, stereotyping, and discrimination. According to AAM, the “exhibit represents a chance to move beyond ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance’ to celebration of similarities and differences that make up people in our communities and the world around us…. YMW helps children build cultural competence at an early age, laying the groundwork for a greater level of understanding and compassion, which will ripple forward for generations.”

The Color of Science is an innovative science interest and literacy program that invites the public to engage with STEAM professionals. Originally launched at The Franklin Institute, the program delivers the message that ‘science is for everyone’ by spotlighting the stories of remarkable individuals from diverse backgrounds. In addition to year-round activities, the program is anchored by two free signature events: a ‘passport’ experience for students from diverse, urban schools—and an evening panel discussion for adults and students.

Additional Information

• “AAM Recognizes 13 Individuals and 10 Institutions for Exemplary Work in the Museum Field,” March 19, 2024.