How can museums move beyond simply telling stories about marginalized communities to creating opportunities to tell stories with them? Meaningful engagement requires more than checking a box or adding a new perspective to an existing interpretation—it means building relationships and trust, listening to community expertise, sharing decision-making power, and creating space for communities to shape how their histories and experiences are represented.

In this Empowering Museum Voices Fellowship-led webinar, our panelists will explore what authentic, collaborative engagement can look like in practice. Together, we’ll consider how museums can amplify marginalized voices without speaking over them, avoid tokenizing or extractive approaches, and navigate multiple perspectives while creating interpretation and programs that are relevant, respectful, and engaging. We’ll also explore how museums can sustain relationships beyond a single project, recognize what meaningful engagement looks like, and respond thoughtfully when institutions make mistakes.

Whether your museum is just beginning this work or looking for ways to deepen existing relationships, this conversation will offer ideas and inspiration for moving from inclusion as a checkbox toward meaningful partnership, shared authority, and ongoing relationship-building.

The statements and opinions expressed by panelists, hosts, attendees, or other participants of this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of, nor are endorsed by, the American Alliance of Museums.