Key Accomplishments

Led development of Our Place at the Table: Honoring Birth Mother Stories in May 2013. This pop-up exhibition explored the complex experiences of birth/first mothers.

• Collaborated with 18 birth/first mothers, who contributed ideas, words and objects.
• Partnered with On Your Feet Foundation of Northern California.
• Over 180 people visited the exhibition during its three-hour run.
• Over 700 comments were posted on Facebook, during a highly charged exchange about exhibition ideas.

Co-curated a multi-platform project with the Presidio Trust.  Adoption Museum Project was deeply involved in nearly every aspect of Operation Babylift: Perspectives and Legacies, which included a physical exhibition and a public program series. It ran for nearly a year, from 4/16/15-4/3/16, at the Presidio Officer’s Club.

• The exhibition was extended twice due to strong visitor interest. It received more than 33,000 visits.
• Over 350 reflection cards were written and posted by visitors in the gallery.
• The exhibition was honored nationally for excellence in label writing.
• Adoption Museum Project led development of 7 public programs designed to explore exhibition ideas more deeply.
• Helped design and deliver group visits (adoptee Teen/Tween Club) to the exhibition, Presidio docent training, and exhibition evaluation.

Organized two convenings to think about adoption systemically: Mapping Adoption and Think Tank.

Prototyped an interactive installation for children and their families: Birdland.

Featured in this New York Times article: “Museums Showcase Attitudes and Beliefs as Well as Objects”.

Published a perspective in the Chronicle of Social Change: “More Than Just a Day: Holding All the Pieces of Adoption”.

Shared our work with diverse audiences: a national adoption conference, three museum conferences and a museum graduate studies program.