加利福尼亚州奥克兰博物馆被美国博物馆联盟选中，参与提高博物馆董事会多样性和包容性的开创性举措

(OAKLAND, CA) 八月 7, 2019—The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) has been selected by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) to participate in “Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion.” This unprecedented national initiative to diversify museum boards and leadership is taking place across 5 U.S. cities and includes a cross-section of museums of all types and sizes.

Backed by $4 million in grants from three foundations (The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Alice L. Walton Foundation, and Ford Foundation), Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion, will provide the framework, training, and resources for museum leaders to build inclusive cultures within their institutions that more accurately reflect the communities they serve.

“Building a more inclusive museum field is achievable only with museums trustees and leaders committed to long-term change and improvement,” said Laura Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums. “Museum boards, in particular, set the tone for their institutions and are well positioned to be agents of change. We commend the museum directors and trustees who have committed to this program for investing in their own operations and serving as models for all museums.”

“The Oakland Museum of California is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access at every level of our organization, from programming and audience development, to staff and Board capacity-building,” said Lori Fogarty, director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California. “The OMCA Board, which comprises 40% people of color, has been advancing this commitment for a number of years, and is looking forward to taking the next step in furthering this effort in collaboration with the broader museum field. We are most grateful to AAM and the Mellon, Walton and Ford Foundations for making possible this vital national effort through the Facing Change initiative.”

Earlier this year, as part of the Facing Change initiative, AAM announced an Excellence in DEAI Task Force charged with developing recommendations to embed diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion more deeply into AAM’s excellence programs. AAM also named ten DEAI fellows who will work with AAM to implement trainings and support the museum boards in developing sustainable and measurable inclusion plans.

The Need for Action

AAM’s field-wide diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) initiative responds to extensive and multi-year research that underscores the need and desire for change.

In 2017, AAM and BoardSource examined museum board leadership and found a disconnect in the area of diversity and inclusion. The survey revealed that nearly half (46 percent) of museum boards are entirely white, 77 percent of museum directors believe expanding the racial and ethnic diversity of their boards is important to advancing their missions, but only 10 percent of museum boards have developed a plan of action to become more inclusive.

A recent survey by the Mellon Foundation demonstrated that employment in the US museum sector does not reflect the makeup of the communities these institutions serve, despite decades of local and national efforts.

About the American Alliance of Museums
The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.
 

关于加州奥克兰博物馆
加州奥克兰博物馆（OMCA）讲述了构成加州的许多故事，为人们之间更多的联系、信任和理解创造了空间和背景。通过其包容性的展览、公共项目、教育举措和文化活动，奥克兰博物馆将加州人聚集在一起，并激发对我们州的艺术、历史和自然环境对我们自己和彼此的启示的进一步理解。OMCA拥有超过190万件物品，将其艺术、历史和自然科学的多学科藏品与加州的第一人称和通常不为人知的叙述结合起来，所有这些都在其110,000平方英尺的画廊空间和七英亩的园区内。 博物馆将在2019年庆祝其成立50周年，作为湾区领先的文化机构，并为来自该地区、该州和世界各地的游客提供研究和了解加州动态文化和环境遗产的资源。 museumca.org

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