Monica M. Smith

About Monica M. Smith

I am the Chief of the Informal Learning Office (ILO), part of the Library of Congress\' Center for Learning, Literacy, and Engagement. ILO\'s mission is to help make the Library of Congress - the nation\'s library - a place to engage, inspire, and inform the public, especially youth and families, with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity.Before coming to the Library of Congress, I spent almost three decades at the Smithsonian\'s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, part of the National Museum of American History (NMAH). I directed the planning and development of museum exhibitions, invention education outreach, and public programs, as well as other research and educational projects about the history and impact of invention and innovation in America.My professional roles as an administrator, project director, program manager, public historian, museum educator, and grant principal investigator represent extensive experience supervising interdisciplinary teams, overseeing multi-million dollar budgets, grants, and contracts, as well as leading impactful scholarly and educational initiatives.My projects at NMAH include overseeing the Lemelson Center\'s Spark!Lab hands-on invention studio and directing & serving as PI on three major National Science Foundation-funded exhibitions:\"Change Your Game\"(opened at NMAH in March 2024);\"Places of Invention\"; and \"Invention at Play,\" a traveling exhibition with two versions that traveled to 22 museums and won the prestigious Excellence in Exhibition award from the American Alliance of Museums. Another Smithsonian exhibition,\"From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar,\" led me to become a featured speaker in the Smithsonian Channel’s award-winning film “Electrified: The Guitar Revolution.\" Over the years I have published numerous peer-reviewed and popular book chapters, journal articles, and blog posts about invention, innovation, and creativity. In addition to my career at the Smithsonian, I served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Museum Education, the premier professional publication for museum educators. I also serve on the Board of Directors and as Historian of the Rotary Club of Washington, DC, which supports local, national, and international service projects.Specialties: Project management, including grants, budget planning and oversight, and contracting; supervising multidisciplinary teams; exhibition development; research, writing, and editing; educational materials, programs, and activities development; informal STEM learning.

Experience

1. Chief of Informal Learning and Engagement

   Library of Congress

   Dec 2023 — Present · Washington, DC, US

Education

• Pomona College

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, History

• Georgetown University

  Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate, McCourt School of Public Policy, Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management

  2016

Skills

• American History
• Grant Writing
• Archives
• Museum Education
• Cultural Heritage
• Editing
• Public Speaking
• Art History
• Project Management
• Museums
• Program Development
• Blogging
• Informal Education
• Research
• Art Exhibitions
• History
• Museum Collections
• Exhibit Design
• Archival Research