Anne W. Ackerson

About Anne W. Ackerson

Lead by design. These three words now shape my career path and the work I do for others. Little did I know when I began my first museum job that I would discover a passion that has fueled my work ever since. After many rewarding years serving as the director of several historic house museums and historical societies in Central and Eastern New York State, I began a consulting practice to assist nonprofit cultural and educational organizations define and realize their relevancy to and engagement with their communities. Renewing organizational commitment to meaningful work and the audiences who are the beneficiaries of it are central to my client relationships. My aim is to provide the strategic thinking glue.I\'m fortunate I get to lead workshops about all sorts of board and organizational development, governance and planning issues. I also write regularly about management and leadership issues for cultural institutions at my blog, Leading by Design (http://leadingbydesign.blogspot.com). I currently lead a course on leadership and administration for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) and I co-teach an online course on leadership in museums for Johns Hopkins University. I\'m pleased to have had the opportunity to work with AASLH\'s standards and excellence program, StEPs, as a webinar presenter and content provider. I co-authored Leadership Matters: Museums in an Age of Discord for Rowman and Littlefield, now in its second edition. I\'m also the co-author of Women in the Museum: Lessons from the Workplace (Routledge 2017), which explores gender equity issues in the museum workplace. My article about the status of heritage organizations in New York State, “The History Museum in New York State: A Growing Sector Built on Scarcity Thinking” was published in the Summer 2011 issue of the journal, Public Historian. Specialties: Nonprofit Organization and Board Development, Executive Search Preparation, Meeting Facilitation, Organizational Assessment and Benchmarking, Policy and Procedure Review/Development/Update, Stakeholder Engagement and Communications, Content Development, Copy Writing and Editing, Organizational/Strategic Planning, Planning Tune-ups, Organizational VisioningVisit leadingbydesign.blogspot.com for more information.

Experience

1. Instructor

   Museum Study, Llc

   Jan 2020 — Present

   I developed and teach a four-week course for nonprofit executive directors on building better relationships with their governing/advisory boards.

Education

• Eisenhower College

  BA, Art History

  1971 — 1975

• University at Albany

  Facilitation: Essential Skills for Managers, Team Leaders, and Change Agents.

• Cornell University

  e-Leadership Institute, Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations and Cornell University School

Skills

• Team Management
• Board Training
• Arts
• Organizing Meetings
• Project Planning
• Leadership Development
• Archives
• Strategic Planning
• Nonprofit Leadership
• Governance
• Executive Development
• Writing
• Grant Writing
• Project Management
• Non-Profit Development
• Board Development
• Visioning
• Philanthropy
• Museum Education
• Organizational Change
• Executive Coaching
• Non-Profits
• Program Development
• Board Relations
• Succession Planning
• Arts Administration
• Staff Development
• Fundraising
• Blogging
• Historic Preservation
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Organizational Development
• Organizational Leadership
• Meeting Management
• Nonprofits
• Research
• Project Facilitation
• Event Management
• Meeting Planning