We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 AMM Awards! We look forward to celebrating these outstanding individuals and institutions during the annual conference in Quad Cities next week and virtual events taking place this fall.
Best Practices Award
Naper Settlement
Naperville, IL
How do you get visitors to understand a century-old piece of technology that you can’t turn on?
This question vexed Naper Settlement, an outdoor history museum on 13 acres in Naperville, IL, with their c. 1912 Wood Bros. threshing machine. The thresher is a macro artifact from one of the most significant events in human history—the mechanical revolution in agriculture.
Naper Settlement sought to use innovative technologies to bring this machine to life. Projection mapping was used to animate the workings of the machine, while a short film shares the story of the impact of this piece of equipment on the way people ate, worked, and lived. The team developed interactive characters using artificial intelligence (AI) to offer museum visitors a first-person perspective on farming and life in Naperville through time.
AMM looks forward to celebrating Naper Settlement, the Naper Heritage Society, and the whole Thresher Experience team through this year’s Best Practices Award!
Groundbreakers Award
State Historical Society of Iowa
Des Moines, IA
It is estimated that 54,000 people in Iowa identify as blind or having low vision. Recognizing that their museum was not accessible to this audience without assistance, the State Historical Society of Iowa set out to transform their visitor experience. In 2021, the staff initiated a collaboration with the Iowa Council of the United Blind and the Iowa Department for the Blind to pilot various initiatives in the museum. With input and feedback from these partners, they tested braille transcription, touch tours, audio description tours, large print exhibit text, and eventually building navigation technology.
With the support of a Prairie Meadows Community Betterment Grant, the society implemented NaviLens building navigation technology at the State Historical Museum. The platform has enabled blind and low-vision visitors to independently navigate museum spaces, access detailed information, and engage with exhibits through a variety of media. The app has enhanced the experience for all museum visitors, who benefit from access to multimedia content including images, videos, audio tours, language translations, and educational materials.
AMM is pleased to honor the State Historical Society of Iowa’s crucial steps to improve accessibility and the visitor experience through this year’s Groundbreakers Award!
Distinguished Career Award
Dr. Elena Gonzales
Chicago, IL
Throughout her 20+ years in the museum profession, from Chicago to Washington, DC, Dr. Elena Gonzales has been devoted to community collaboration and advancing social justice. Elena joined the Chicago History Museum in spring 2021 as a guest curator and a year later transitioned to the position of Curator, Civic Engagement and Social Justice at the Museum. Elena is spearheading Aquí en Chicago, a project and exhibition stemming from a protest by high school students from Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy: Rudy Lozano Campus that called out the lack of Latino/a/e representation in the museum’s exhibitions. Her thoughtful approach to community engagement and storytelling has nurtured connections and uplifted underrepresented voices. Through partnerships and collaborations fostered by Elena, the museum has exchanged resources and expertise with local communities.
As her peers expressed in their nomination, Elena is a “dedicated and fearless scholar” who “has shone brightly, displaying leadership, vision, mentorship, and creativity while impacting staff and Chicago’s communities positively.” After reading their testimony, we too are inspired by Elena’s “ability to push the museum to foster civic engagement and social justice at a time when some institutions were shying away from addressing the harm they have caused their communities,” and that she has penned the book Exhibitions for Social Justice so that her peers might learn from her research and experience in this area.
AMM is thrilled to celebrate the visionary leadership of Dr. Elena Gonzales through the Distinguished Career Award!
Distinguished Career Award
Sara Jane DeHoff
Toledo, OH
For more than five decades, Sara Jane DeHoff has helped shape some of the Midwest’s most innovative programs and enduring institutions. Originally from Iowa, Sara Jane relocated to Northwest Ohio in 1975 and quickly became a central figure in the region’s cultural development. She has served on the boards of nearly every major arts and education organization in the Toledo area, including the Toledo Museum of Art.
Sara Jane is an advocate, philanthropist, and leader whose contributions have helped shape the Toledo Museum of Art’s growth and evolution. Her involvement began in 1990 when she joined the Georgia Welles Apollo Society, partnering with curators to help acquire new works for the collection. By 1995, she had joined the Board of Directors, where she quickly became an active participant across a wide range of committees, including art, education, development, buildings and grounds, governance, and nominating. Her commitment to the museum deepened further when she was elected Board Chair in July 2023.
Sara Jane’s nominators attribute their success to her vision and devotion to the arts. They described her as a “visionary leader and champion of education” who is “deeply respected not only for her thoughtful leadership, but for the joy, curiosity, and sense of purpose she brings to every conversation.”
AMM is thrilled to honor Sara Jane DeHoff and recognize her tireless advocacy and visionary leadership through the Distinguished Career Award!
Promising Leadership Award
Chris Morehead
Indianapolis, IN
Chris Morehead began his career in cultural institutions as Manager of Volunteer Services at Newfields. Over the past decade, he has rapidly advanced through roles spanning volunteerism, internships, community engagement, customer service, guest experience, and operations. In his current role as Director of Experience and Operations, Chris oversees and supports frontline operations across Newfields’ 152-acre campus, championing the institutional mission to enrich lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature. He has dedicated his energies to finding ways to strategically improve and grow systems-level operations, and leading “with a deep care for people, whether they are guests, coworkers, or community members. He does not just get things done; he elevates the people around him while doing so.”
The impact of Chris’ leadership has been both community-wide through his volunteer service as an Access Pass Program committee member at The Children’s Museum, and national through his service with the American Association of Museum Volunteerism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris also formed a local crisis-response network for visitor services professionals that evolved into a sustained cross-museum collaboration. His museum peers describe his leadership style and dedication to excellence as driving forces behind this powerful and collaborative local support network. He is a rising leader whose “impact is regional in scope, collaborative in nature, and profoundly human in approach.”
AMM looks forward to shining a light on Chris Morehead’s compassionate and strategic leadership through the Promising Leadership Award!
Promising Leadership Award
Rahim Thompson
Skokie, IL
Rahim Thompson is the Senior Program Manager at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC) in Skokie, IL. Relatively new to the museum profession, he brings a background in project management, journalism, and production to his role, having developed more than 200 public programs addressing today’s most urgent issues—from antisemitism and genocide to LGBTQ+ rights and racial justice. Through thought-provoking lectures, live performances, film screenings, powerful discussions, and global anti-hate initiatives, Rahim has empowered tens of thousands of audience members—uniting activists, scholars, and communities in a space for meaningful dialogue and civic transformation.
In recognition of his leadership, Rahim was promoted to the project team for the expansion of the Museum’s award-winning Survivor Stories Experience, a world-first interactive XR technology used to preserve and share survivor testimonies by combining high-definition interviews with AI-powered voice recognition technology. In 2025, the initiative made history by adding three new testimonies, including that of Kizito Kalima, the first non-Holocaust survivor featured—a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Known for his “positive attitude, collaborative spirit, and commitment to mentoring junior team members,” Rahim is widely respected for “fostering an environment where everyone feels seen, respected, and empowered.”
AMM is pleased to recognize the leadership and programmatic achievements of Rahim Thompson through the Promising Leadership Award!