Randi Korn

Founding Director, RK&A

Email: korn@rka-learnwithus.com

Randi is Founding Director of RK&A and currently serves as Intentional Practice Leader.  With a passion for museums, Randi works with museums and other cultural organizations to improve their practices to ultimately achieve impact for the public good.  Her approach to planning – Intentional Practice – grew over the last decade from her evaluation work and desire to strengthen the relationship between museums and the public.  As an impact-driven approach to planning, Intentional Practice is designed to encourage staff to work collaboratively to articulate their intended impact on audiences, evaluate their achievement of impact, reflect on what they learned, and align their actions to deepen the impact of their organization.  Collectively, these actions—planning, evaluating, reflecting, and aligning—result in two vital outcomes—learning within the organization and learning among visitors. 

She is the author of Intentional Practice for Museums: A Guide for Maximizing Impact (Rowman & Littelfield, 2018).

Lawrence Yerdon

President & CEO, Strawbery Banke

Email: lyerdon@sbmuseum.org

Lawrence Yerdon is the President & CEO of Strawbery Banke Museum. He began his career in the history field as an interpreter for the National Park Service at the Adams National Historic site, the home of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams, and, later, at Plimoth Plantation, the reconstructed 1627 Pilgrim settlement. For ten years Yerdon served as the first director and curator of the Quincy Historical Society, in Quincy, Massachusetts—one of the Commonwealth’s most active local historic organizations. In 1986 Yerdon was appointed director [later president] of Hancock Shaker Village. The Shaker Village, located in Western Massachusetts, is a living history museum interpreting Shaker life, work and art. In September of 2004 Yerdon joined Strawbery Banke Museum, an urban living history museum telling the 300+ year history of Portsmouth, NH, as President and CEO. Yerdon earned undergraduate and master's degrees in history, and an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has been active professionally serving as President of the Bay State Historical League, President of the New England Museum Association, a member of the Council of the American Association for State and Local History, an IMLS grant panelist, and an AAM accreditation reviewer. While in Quincy, Yerdon served on the Historic District Commission and the Quincy Cultural Council. While at the Shaker Village, he was Vice President of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, and a Trustee of the Darrow School. Currently Yerdon serves on the board of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, and the Arts and Architecture Committee of HH Richardson’s landmark, Trinity Church in Boston.

Trevor Jones

Executive Director and CEO, History Nebraska

Email: trevor.jones@nebraska.gov

Trevor Jones is Executive Director and CEO of History Nebraska. He has worked as a curator, exhibition designer, educator, and digital specialist in museums and universities around the country. His passions are improving management in museums and helping organizations use their artifact collections to support their mission. He has written and presented extensively on these topics, and is the founder of the group Active Collections and co-editor of the book of the same name. Trevor holds BA degrees in history and German from Grinnell College, an MA degree in history and Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. He is a member of AASLH Council.

He is the co-author of Active Collections (Routledge, 2018) and Major: A Soldier Dog (Six Foot Press, 2019).

Max A. van Balgooy

Director, History Leadership Institute; President, Engaging Places LLC

Email: Max.vanBalgooy@EngagingPlaces.net

Max A. van Balgooy is co-editor of Reimagining Historic House Museums: New Approaches and Proven Solutions, a new anthology of two dozen essays by leaders in the field, and director of the History Leadership Institute, which provides professional development for mid-career and advanced professionals working in history organizations. These experiences provide a rich source of ideas for Engaging Places LLC, where he blogs occasionally about the opportunities and challenges facing historic sites and house museums. 

John Marks

Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives, AASLH

Email: marks@aaslh.org

John Marks is AASLH’s Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives. He manages several partnerships, initiatives, and programs, including guiding field-wide planning for the 250th anniversary of the United States, AASLH’s engagement with the History Relevance initiative, management of the History Leadership Institute, as well as other special projects. He also serves as managing editor of the AASLH book series, co-published with Rowman & Littlefield, and as editor of History News. He holds a PhD in history from Rice University and a BA from Lynchburg College. He is a native of New Jersey.