AAM Peer Reviewers in Their Own Words
Share best practices and elevate the field
“The Museum Assessment Program Peer Review process is one of the best professional development opportunities that I have ever experienced. I have reviewed a host of museums and have always gained professional insight that was useful for my museum. As a seasoned professional, it is incredibly important to me to share best practices and elevate our field.”
-Michael Shanklin, CEO of Explore! Children’s Museum, Washington, DC
Better understand the issues confronting the field
“I look forward to every assignment. I have learned so much with each visit. I have become familiar with museums across the country, in various disciplines, deepening my understanding of the issues confronting the field.”
-Laura Roberts, Roberts Consulting, Cambridge, MA
Gain professional and personal satisfaction
“There are great benefits to serving as a peer reviewer that go well beyond being out of the office for a few days. A visit to another museum invariably results in a changed perspective about one’s work–you are rewarded with new ideas to consider and comforted by knowing that your museum’s issues really aren’t that different. Serving as a peer reviewer is essentially paying it forward for the field and, at the same time, doing something that is personally satisfying and rewarding for yourself.”
-Randy Ray, Executive Director of The History Museum, South Bend, IN
Rewarding work with AAM
“I think working with AAM on Accreditations, MAPs, and advocacy is one of the more rewarding aspects of my museum career.”
-Cliff Vanderpool, Director of Development and Communications, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
A great professional development tool
“Although I began as a MAP Peer Reviewer with the intent to be of service and return to the field what I had been gifted, I have found I continue to learn and advance my own practice. I recommend it, without any reservations, as a professional development tool.”
-Sunnee O’Rork, Executive Director, i.d.e.a. Museum, Mesa, AZ
Get more than you give
“Even as a long-time MAP peer reviewer I’m still excited when asked to serve because of what I gain from this unique professional development process. It causes me to assess my own professional leadership and whether the operations of my own institution measure up to AAM’s standards and best practices well before I ever work with the selected museum. I take away more from the peer review process than I ever give. Thank you AAM for allowing me to grow as a leader and sharing what I’ve learned with others.”
-Norman Burns, President and CEO, Connor Prairie, Fishers, IN