AAM’s 2026-2031 Strategic Plan: A Defining Chapter As We Approach 125 Years
Museums are among the most trusted institutions in American life, but the challenges facing the museum field are growing more complex every year.
AAM’s 2026–2031 Strategic Plan responds with a clear focus on the work that advances the field. Over the next five years, and leading up to AAM’s 125th anniversary, AAM will strengthen advocacy, expand professional learning and peer connection, modernize the path to museum excellence, and build a stronger national narrative about the value of museums.
The result: more support, stronger networks, and a louder collective voice for the museum field.
Our Mission:
AAM advances a flourishing museum sector through bold advocacy and shared learning.
Our Vision:
A society transformed by museums that inspire wonder, deepen understanding and connection, and expand opportunity for all.
Strategic Priorities:
Over the term of this strategic framework, AAM will:
Double Down Where It Matters Most
AAM will concentrate its energy where it can have the greatest impact—advocacy, learning, professional standards, and convening the field—so museum professionals have stronger support and clearer leadership in the moments that matter most.
Expand How the Field Learns and Connects
Members will have more ways to grow their skills and their network through a modernized digital experience, flexible learning opportunities, a new leadership accelerator program, and Affinity Communities that connect them to peers across roles, identities, and institution types.
Strengthen the National Voice for Museums
AAM will expand advocacy beyond Washington through a coordinated 50-state strategy while advancing a stronger national narrative about the value of museums, equipping museum professionals with the tools, data, and shared messages needed to advocate for their work in every community.
Modernize the Path to Accreditation
AAM’s Accreditation program will be modernized and recalibrated to broaden access while preserving its credibility, making it more attainable, more valuable, and more visible to funders, policymakers, and the public.
What You’ll See First
The strategy begins to take shape in 2026 through several early initiatives:
- Launch of Affinity Communities to strengthen peer networks
- Launch of an in-person leadership accelerator program
- Expansion of advocacy through a coordinated 50-state strategy
- Pilot of a modernized digital infrastructure for museums going through Accreditation
- Launch of new technology infrastructure and website, enhancing member experience in how you find resources, connect with peers across the field, and learn
- New self-paced learning programs to support your work and strengthen your museum
Join us!
If you’re interested in joining our Alliance or contributing your skills and expertise, learn more about the many ways you can get involved.
This year, AAM was awarded a Platinum Seal of Transparency, the very highest level attainable from Guidestar. We hope this transparency gives you added confidence in our mission, accomplishments, and commitment to you.
FAQ
As AAM’s previous strategic framework concluded in 2025, the museum field started rapidly facing new challenges related to funding and censorship, in addition to ongoing struggles with workforce development and institutional sustainability. The strategic planning process allowed AAM to assess the environment, gather member input, and identify where we can have the greatest impact over the next five years.
AAM worked with the DeVos Institute to create this community-informed strategic plan which was informed by hundreds of data points, extensive research, and stakeholder engagement, including:
- Surveys of members and museum leaders
- Interviews with sector stakeholders
- Input from the AAM Board and staff
- Environmental analysis of peer organizations and associations
This process helped identify where AAM can lead most effectively and where member needs are greatest.
AAM’s last strategic plan was a strategic framework that served as a bridge plan to guide our post-pandemic recovery. That framework focused on four areas: Social & Community Impact; DEAI & Anti-Racism; The Museum Community; and the Way We Work. As a result:
AAM redesigned its digital content architecture to help members find resources more easily, resulting in a 40% increase in resource use.
The Office of Museum Services at IMLS was funded at $50 million for the first time in history. House Interior attempts to defund NEA and NEH were resoundingly defeated.
AAM’s messaging about museums’ social and community impact was echoed in the Executive Order on Promoting Arts, Humanities, Museums & Libraries
Museums were included in key federal plans and strategies such as the operational plan for COVID-19 vaccinations in children under 5, the federal plan for equitable long-term recovery and resilience, and strategies to prevent hate-motivated violence.
AAM developed, tested, and refined a validated survey instrument, accompanying toolkit, and cohort training model for museums to measure their social impact within their communities and enhance their data-driven advocacy efforts.
AAM evaluated all the elements and processes of our excellence programs and identified areas for revision to improve their accessibility, equity, and long-term sustainability.
The importance of DEAI as a central consideration for directors doubled over prior years, according to AAM and AAMD surveys.
Museums across the country made significant progress in diversifying their boards, reducing the share with all-white membership from 46% to 27%.
AAM issued a framework, report, and collection of papers on the topic of voluntary restitution, repatriation, and reparations.
This plan sharpens AAM’s focus on the areas where it is most distinctive and most needed, as identified by our field: advocacy, shared learning, professional standards, and convening the field.
It also emphasizes clearer institutional storytelling, stronger member engagement, and investments in organizational capacity and member experience.
Members will see expanded opportunities for professional learning, stronger peer connection, more robust advocacy support, and continued leadership in museum standards and best practices. New initiatives such as Affinity Communities and a leadership accelerator program will create additional ways for museum professionals to grow their careers and connect with colleagues across the field.
Many core programs will continue, but some will evolve. For example:
- Advocacy will expand to include coordinated state and local engagement.
- Accreditation will be modernized and recalibrated to broaden access while maintaining credibility.
- Learning opportunities will expand through flexible formats and leadership development opportunities.
The goal is to strengthen and grow the programs that members value while ensuring they remain relevant and impactful.