We like to think of ourselves as ‘evaluation and impact renegades’ in that we are one of the first museums in the U.S. with an independent evaluation and impact function positioned on the business side. This was intentional, in service of continuous improvement, to closely inform and shape strategic institutional and departmental decision making. My role was created two years ago to establish the function and to grow a department, and I’ve been honored to inaugurate both. In this new space, we find innovative ways to collect, analyze, interpret, and reflect on data to better understand our audiences and visitor experience. We work in consultative collaboration across departments—education, curatorial, exhibitions, public programs, community engagement and family programs, marketing, advancement—for true systemic, integrated, timely, actionable evidence-based discussion. We are an extension of each team.

This backdrop came together to make the case for creating my role at the Barnes. It’s a needed one, happening more and more across mid-sized and large arts and cultural institutions.

Toward the close of my time as an undergrad, I became interested in education. After Penn, I went to law school knowing I was unlikely to be a lifelong lawyer but trusted the skills learned would serve as a strong professional foundation. I practiced law for five years, then went back to Penn to get my doctorate at the Graduate School of Education.

During my time at PennGSE, I discovered I wanted to spend time at the nexus of education research, practice, and policy. I landed at the Philadelphia Education Fund, deepening the capacity of the School District of Philadelphia to implement programming drawing on primary research, promising practices, and ultimately shaping policy. I then moved into higher education, first as an administrator building master’s programs at UArts, then as an administrator leading accreditation at Drexel, and teaching at PennGSE and Drexel throughout (and to this day). This backdrop came together to make the case for creating my role at the Barnes. It’s a needed one, happening more and more across mid-sized and large arts and cultural institutions.

The Barnes has an educational mission, and I see my professional life as in service of education. That’s the way I give back to Penn. — June 3, 2024 • Photo by Brooke Sietinsons