This course introduces archivists to practical approaches for embedding equity, access, and community engagement into institutional planning. Participants will gain tools to align mission, strategy, and organizational practices with inclusive values, and to develop actionable plans that support long-term, community-centered impact.
Upon completion of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Explain how equity, access, inclusion, and community engagement can inform institutional planning in archival settings.
- Assess an archive’s mission, policies, programs, and practices for alignment with inclusive values and community needs.
- Apply inclusive planning tools to set priorities, define goals, and identify measurable actions.
- Develop a practical action plan that supports sustainable, community-centered institutional change.
Instructor bio:
Rebekah “Becky” Beaulieu, Ph.D., is the Louise Taft Semple President & CEO of the Taft Museum of Art, where she has served since September 2022. A museum leader and scholar with nearly three decades of experience, she is widely recognized for her expertise in museum management, finance, fundraising, strategic planning, and board relations. Before joining the Taft, she served as director of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and associate director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine.
Beaulieu is the author of Financial Fundamentals for Historic House Museums (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017) and Endowment Essentials for Museums (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), co-editor of The State of Museums: Voices from the Field (MuseumsEtc., 2018), and a contributor to Financial Management in Museums: Theory, Practice, and Context (Routledge, 2024). Her forthcoming books include The 75 Most Frequently Asked Questions about Museum Finance (Bloomsbury, 2027) and Transforming Museum Workplace Cultures (Bloomsbury, 2027).
In addition to her museum leadership, Beaulieu taught art history, museum studies, and museum administration at Connecticut College and guest lectured at Carnegie Mellon University, the George Washington University, and Harvard University. She recently completed a five-year term on the American Alliance of Museums’ Accreditation Commission and now serves as Treasurer of the American Alliance of Museums Board of Directors. She is the past treasurer of the American Association for State and Local History and serves as editor of the AASLH book series for Bloomsbury. Beaulieu holds master’s degrees in Art History and Museum Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and in Arts Administration from Columbia University and earned her Ph.D. in American and New England Studies from Boston University. She is also a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors.
She lives in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, with her husband, Patrick Ford, and their three cats.
Registration Fee:
SAA Members: $209
Employees of SAA Member Institutions: $259
Nonmembers: $289