With the theme of ELEVATE, WMA attendees will celebrate our 90th anniversary, uplifting one another to improve our individual and institutional practices, creating space for essential ideas and conversations. Through our shared identities and unique differences, WMA 2025 will be a testament to the strength and dedication of cultural professionals and their organizations in the face of adversity.
Six session tracks, exciting programs, and informal discussions will provide a fruitful environment for various perspectives to be shared and multifaceted learning opportunities for all cultural institution professionals, regardless of specialty. Participating in areas outside your area of expertise will promote integration of ideas from multiple disciplines, foster the acquisition of knowledge, and provide insight on how to apply that knowledge – all of which advances our collective understanding of the field and our work
For more information on WMA 2025 sessions, please view our Preliminary Program.
Thursday, October 2, 2025
11:15-12:30
- Elevating Your Mindset in Collections
- Collections
- Beyond the Refrigerator Magnet: Brand Strategies that Fulfill Promise
- Business & Administration
- Reciprocal and Transactional Relationships
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Nevertheless, she/they/he persisted: strategies for staying the course in turbulent times
- Other
- From Hesitation to Action: Building Advocacy Confidence in Museums
- Community Engagement,
- Business & Administration
2:00-3:15
- Scoring Big: A Playbook for Building a Culture of Philanthropy
- Business & Administration
- Aloha Nō - despair, healing and love in the time of HT25, the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Turn up the NOISE: Elevating Your Museum's Strategic Plan
- Business & Administration
- Leadership & Career Path
- Museum Experiences for Climate Engagement
- Visitor Experience
- Community Engagement
- Beyond the Budget: Unlocking Hidden Funds for Collections
- Collections
3:45-5:00
- Exhibit Redesign: Strategies for Success
- Business & Administration
- Let's Talk About the Needs/Experiences of AANHPI Museum Folks
- Community Engagement
- Museums in the Second Trump Administration
- Other
- On Governance: Elevating Museums Through Cooperative Models
- Business & Administration
- Leadership & Career Path
- Elevating the Voices of Our People: The Journey of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Collections
Friday, October 3, 2025
9:00-10:15
- Exhibit Planning with Mission in Mind: "Big Ideas" Elevate Exhibits
- Visitor Experience
- NAGPRA and Collections: Repatriation-Centered Data Best Practices
- Collections
- Indigenous
- Decolonizing Science Narratives in Museums
- Indigenous
- Visitor Experience
- AI For Museum Professionals: Practical Tools and Smart Solutions
- Business & Administration
- Let's Talk Leadership: Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between
- Leadership & Career Path
11:00-12:15
- Using Evaluation and Data Story-telling for Successful Fundraising
- Business & Administration
- Beyond Representation: Authentic Indigenous Engagement for Museums
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Enhancing Accessibility: Supporting Blind and Low Vision Visitors in Museums
- Visitor Experience
- Community Engagement
- Elevate WMA's D&I Committee: Help Us Establish Our Goals
- Community Engagement
- When Your Stuff Doesn't Fit: Addressing Collections Facility Challenges
- Collections
2:00-3:15
- Come as you Are: A discussion among emerging, mid-, and late-career museum professionals
- Leadership & Career Path
- Elevating Community Stories During Challenging Times
- Community Engagement
- ADROIT Workshop: Enhancing Visitor Experience Through Design
- Visitor Experience
- ELEVATE Museum Workplace Culture
- Business & Administration
- Leadership & Career Path
- Many Voices: A discussion with Native leaders about how museums can better serve the Native community
- Indigenous
Saturday, October 4, 2025
9:00-10:15
- Succession: How Museums Can Do It Better Than The TV Show
- Leadership & Career Path
- Beyond Words: Three Approaches to Test Titles and Messaging
- Business & Administration
- Tending the Fire in Dark Moon Times
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Filling the Well: Elevate Your Self-Care Practice
- Leadership & Career Path
11:00-12:15
- Found in Collections: Elevating Conundrums
- Collections
- Exhibits with Intent: Designing exhibits as platforms for programming
- Visitor Experience
- Community Engagement
- You Nailed It! Building a Media Toolbox
- Business & Administration
- Leadership & Career Path
- How the West Will Elevate America 250
- Other
3:45-5:00
- Destination Transformation: Effectively Navigating Organizational Change
- Leadership & Career Path
- Navigating New Policies - strategies for a changing political landscape
- Leadership & Career Path
- Business & Administration
- Indigenous
- Community Engagement
- Visitor Experience
- Collections
- Increasing Collections Access Through Collaboration
- Collections