This luncheon is open to Directors, Deputy Directors, CEOs, CFOs, Leadership Team Members, and Trustees. The Luncheon will feature guest speaker Ben Garcia, Executive Director, American LGBTQ+ Museum. He will share his experiences being the first Executive Director of a new museum.

Cost: $65

Ben Garcia (he/him) has worked for 22 years to help museums become places of welcome and belonging for all people. He has presented and published regularly on creating structural equity in museums through transparency, accountability, fair labor practices, and by including missing voices and perspectives. Prior to joining the American LGBTQ+ Museum as Executive Director, Ben worked in various roles as an educator and administrator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Skirball Cultural Center, and Hearst Museum of Anthropology. He then served as Deputy Director of the Museum of Us, and as Deputy Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer at the Ohio History Connection. He is versed in museum interpretation, operations, management, fundraising, and decolonizing practice. Ben led initiatives to return Indigenous ancestral human remains and belongings in San Diego and Ohio. He also serves as a board member at Equality Ohio, working to get the Ohio Fairness Act passed.

Sponsored by Mad Systems