About AAM

About AAM

The American Alliance of Museums’ mission is to champion museums and nurture excellence in partnership with our members and allies.

From art museums to science centers, arboretums to zoos, members of the diverse museum community share something in common—strong support, standards of excellence, knowledge sharing, and professional networks provided by the American Alliance of Museums.

Since 1906 the Alliance has been a leader in developing best practices and advocating for museums, as well as providing a host of opportunities to museum staff and volunteers. More than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners benefit from the work of the Alliance.

Strategic Priorities

AAM’s 2016-2020 strategic plan is the result of an 18-month effort of our staff and board of directors. During that process, we gathered input from more than 500 AAM members and non-members via 30 formal listening sessions.

This plan commits the Alliance to pursuing goals that advance our mission:

Access: deliver relevant content and superior user experience
Thought Leadership: influence and inspire action
Global Thinking: connect US museums to the international community
Advocacy: champion museums
Excellence: build and celebrate a stronger museum field

As we pursue our goals, we will focus on topics that our membership strongly believes are vital to the future viability, relevance and sustainability of museums, including:

Diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion in all aspects of museum structure and programming
Museums’ expanding role in an evolving ecosystem of P-12 education
Changing business models for museums’ financial sustainability

Who we are

Constitution and Bylaws

AAM’s constitution and Bylaws are available for download to current members of the organization.

Please login and click on this link to access those documents.

Get Involved with AAM

Read more about all the ways you can get involved with AAM. From becoming a member to becoming a board member we’ve got lots of ways to connect.

Land Acknowledgement

Every community owes its existence to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hopes of better lives, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth.

For our virtual land acknowledgment, we would like to specifically acknowledge the ancestral lands of the Piscataway people, the lands on which the American Alliance of Museums office is located. We pay respects to their elders past and present.

We encourage you to use this native lands map so you can learn what lands you occupy—visit: native-land.ca

AAM Members get exclusive access to premium digital content including: