By Cristin Dorgelo
Charting a course for the future is one of the more difficult things we are called upon to do as leaders and as individuals. The futures of our institutions, the future of our communities, and the future frontiers of science and technology are inextricably linked. As we scan those horizons and set a vision for the future, we must demonstrate adaptable leadership, creativity, and courage.
As I approach my one-year anniversary with ASTC, I am so glad we have taken time to listen carefully to members, stakeholders, and partners. Through that listening work, we have heard about your opportunities, challenges, and emerging strategies as you aim for increased impact across your communities, educational ecosystems, and regional innovation engines. You have told us that to achieve those goals and continue to thrive as community resources, you are working to become even more welcoming and inclusive institutions.
At ASTC, we have a lot more listening, as well as planning and decisions, ahead. We have continued planning for ASTC’s future, taking into account the clear and helpful feedback we have heard from many of you. As we work to support your future success, we are excited by the ambitious yet achievable goals—“moonshots”—you have shared with us. We’ll celebrate these moonshots in September at our 2019 ASTC Annual Conference in Toronto. The future of science centers is bright, and working toward that future together is inspiring.
In this issue, we’re exploring the future of science centers by looking across the broad pillars of our organizations with creativity and courage to determine the best course for our institutions, taking stock of our history, examining particular strategies adopted by museums to best serve the future of their local communities, and considering the best practices in staffing and talent.
We hope you’ll find these articles as informative as we have and that you can use something you learn within this month’s issue to add to the visioning work you continue to do for the future of your organizations.
Cristin Dorgelo is ASTC’s President and CEO.