Tune in for live virtual events highlighting 2025 AMM Awards recipients this fall!
Promising Leadership Award: Chris Morehead
Tuesday, October 7
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
Chris Morehead is the Director of Experience and Operations at Newfields in Indianapolis, IN, where his career in the museum profession began 10 years ago. Chris has dedicated his energies to finding ways to strategically improve and grow systems-level operations. He leads these efforts with a deep care for people, whether they are guests, coworkers, or community members.
Learn about Chris’ leadership path, the obstacles he’s navigated in museum operations, and where he seeks inspiration and support at this stage of his career.
Click here to sign up
Best Practices Award: Naper Settlement
Tuesday, October 14
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
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. Naper Settlement sought to use innovative technologies to bring this machine to life.
Meet the team that produced this experience and find out how they creatively—and carefully—embraced these new technologies.
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Promising Leadership Award: Rahim Thompson
Tuesday, October 21
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
Rahim Thompson is the Senior Program Manager at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC). Rahim brings a background in project management, journalism, and production to his role and has developed more than 200 public programs addressing today’s most urgent issues—from antisemitism and genocide to LGBTQ+ rights and racial justice.
We’ll chat with Rahim about his people-centered approach to programming and how he’s fostering an environment where everyone feels seen, respected, and empowered.
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Distinguished Career Award: Sara Jane DeHoff
Monday, October 27
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
Sara Jane DeHoff is an advocate, philanthropist, and community leader. 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 (TMA).
During a conversation with Adam Levine, the museum’s president and CEO, Sara Jane will reflect on her motivation for getting involved in the advancement of the TMA and other arts organizations, why she’s an advocate for programs like residencies, and her hopes and dreams for the arts sector.
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Groundbreakers Award: State Historical Society of Iowa
Monday, November 3
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
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 collaboration with the Iowa Council of the United Blind and the Iowa Department for the Blind, they have piloted various initiatives in the museum from braille transcription and touch tours to NaviLens building navigation technology.
Meet the team members who are spearheading this work across the agency, their successes and lessons learned.
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Distinguished Career Award: Dr. Elena Gonzales
Tuesday, November 18
3:00-3:45 pm CT (4:00-4:45 pm ET)
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, where she has since spearheaded Aquí en Chicago, a project and exhibition stemming from a protest by high school students from Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy that called out the lack of Latino/a/e representation in the museum’s exhibitions.
Join us for a conversation with Elena about the vision and motivation for this project, how she’s using storytelling to nurture community connections, and what it means for museums to build trust and be trusted when this work is caught in political crosshairs.