Partnership Power

Marsha Semmel is a national museum leader who has served in senior executive positions at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. She has been the President and CEO of two museums, Conner Prairie and the Women of the West Museum. Semmel has been senior advisor to the Noyce Foundation’s Noyce Leadership Institute, a global program for science and technology center leaders. She is currently on the faculty of the Bank Street College of Education’s graduate program in museum leadership and serves as senior advisor to the Center for Science and Civic Engagement, a national network of academic and informal learning organizations based at the State University of New York Stony Brook.

• PART I: Partnership Power: Essential Museum Strategies for Today’s Networked World Introduction Marsha L. SemmelPART II: Partnership PerspectivesChapter 1: My Partnership Journey Marsha L. SemmelChapter 2: From a Museum Basement to a City of Learning: Pittsburgh’s Remake Learning Network Gregg BehrChapter 3: Partnerships as the Great Good PlaceElyse Eidman-Aadahl Chapter 4: Partnerships, Not Mergers Peter Ellsworth Chapter 5: Us Versus Them: How to Bridge Boundaries to Discover New Partnership Frontiers Chris ErnstChapter 6: Partnering with the Public John Falk Chapter 7: Meaningful Partnerships and the Eight “Ates” Kate Goodall Chapter 8: Why Museums Must Turn Outward to Find the Right Partners Richard C. HarwoodChapter 9: Mapping Collaborations David La Piana and Melissa Mendes Campos Chapter 10: Growing a Strategic Partnership Mindset within a New Museum Marsha Semmel, based on interviews with Auntaneshia Staveloz, Allison Prabhu, Nicole Bryner, and Marion McGeeChapter 11: Partnerships for STEM Beyond the School Day Ronald L. Ottinger and Cary SneiderChapter 12: Museums Can Take a Lead in Cultivating Vibrant Learning Ecosystems Katherine PrinceChapter 13: Strategic Partnership as Organizational Practice: The Hive NYC Learning Network Raphael SantoChapter 14: Creating the People’s University Marshal Semmel, based on interviews with Felton Thomas, Jr.PART III: Partnership ProfilesChapter 15: From “They” to “We”: A Study in Collaboration Balboa Park Cultural Partnership Team under leadership of Peter Comiskey, Edited by Kristen MihalkoChapter 16: Partnering in Digital Resource Creation Nik Honeysett,Chapter 17: In Pursuit of Freedom: A Partnership Grows in Brooklyn Deborah SchwartzChapter 18: Habla Espanol? Tammie KahnChapter 19: Partnerships in Transforming a Neighborhood and Learning Landscape Jane Werner and Suzanne McCaffreyChapter 20: A Museum Turns Outward: Listening and Learning Marsha Semmel, based oninterviews with Joe Hastings and Kristen LeighChapter 21: Growing and Evolving a Network of Small Cultural Organizations Marsha Semmel, based on interviews with Althemese Barnes, Phyllis Ford, and Audrey DavisChapter 22: Be Our Guest! The GW Model for Programming Museums John WetenhallChapter 23: Catalyzing Neighborhood Revitalization Marsha Semmel, based oninterviews with Marvin Pinkert and Lindsey ThompsonChapter 24: An Institutional Commitment to a New Model of Community Collaboration Elisabeth Callahan and Karleen GardnerChapter 25: Partnership 3.0: The Case of OMSI Marsha Semmel, based on interviews with Nancy Stueber, Marcie Benne, Lauren Moreno, and Kyrie KellettChapter 26: Growing the “Experiment Station” through New Partnerships Marsha Semmel, based on interviews with Dorothy Kosinski and Suzanne WrighPART IV: Tools, Tips, and ResourcesChapter 27: Resources for Partnerships and NetworksMarsha L. Semmel

Read the seven pages that constitute the introduction. Because you will be changed by it. Seriously. . . And then jump to the first chapter and read another 12 pages, because it is as powerful a rationale for expanding and centering notions of partnerships in museums as you will ever read. . . . Reading from this book will allow you to add enormous value in your next exhibition development or strategy meeting. I will certainly be assigning parts of the book ahead of future strategic priority meetings at my own institution. For anyone who believes in greater representation and social betterment as outcomes for our work, this is essential reading. . . . Do not make the mistake of assuming that this book is just for your colleagues in programs, education, or visitor experience. It is for anyone who cares about equity, social cohesion, and generosity as values in exhibition development. . . . Partnership Power is an exercise in generosity. Semmel invites us into a community of practice. All the reader need do is open the book and join a group of committed pathbreakers working toward a vision of shared authority, flattened hierarchies, and strong ecosystems. Semmel is a consummate educator who weaves the threads of myriad ideas and thinkers into an accessible, compelling case for blowing past traditional notions of partnerships to work within a landscape of networked organizations.