Located in Los Angeles, I’d love to help with your project in exhibitions, project management, public programs, school tours, collections management, digital content, or anyway you’d find helpful.

I learned to love museums going to the open house day at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. I’d love to go into the backstage areas and wanted to become part of that museum world. Museums have the potential to create connections between the past and present to advance social justice. My goal is inspire curiosity and social change through museums.

Originally from Los Angeles, I received a Master’s in Museum Studies with a concentration in Exhibition Development. I’ve had experience at institutions from Washington, DC, Utah, and Hawai'i. I’ll describe two of my favorite projects and list resume below. The two projects I’m most proud of is Courage and Compassion and Quest of the Pony Express.

While at Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) I created, managed, and installed the traveling exhibition Courage and Compassion: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War II Experience through 12 sites across the country. The exhibition tells the national story of Japanese Americans during WWII and is localized for each community. I created relationships with partner community organizations across the United States to work together on logistics, content, and programming. I worked with each organization on their local content to add to the exhibition.

I could honestly talk about this project for hours. Each location was special in its own way. Working with different partners and seeing how this exhibition affected each site had a profound effect on me. My favorite story was in Monterey, California. About 500 residents of Monterey signed a petition printed in a local newspaper to welcome back Japanese Americans to Monterey. Signatories of the petition included legendary author John Steinbeck. The original petition was considered lost until 2009 when it was rediscovered. The original petition was part of the exhibition.

Quest of the Pony Express at Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum was an interpretive 5k run themed for the Pony Express. Camp Floyd was once a stop on the Pony Express and is located in the small town for Fairfield, Utah about 20 miles from a more urban area. Participants would deliver mail to one end of the race representing St. Joseph, Missouri and receive another piece of mail to deliver to back to Camp Floyd. Along the way, they would pass signs with information on other pony express stops and exchange a small plastic horse much like real Pony Express riders changed horses. The race was a fun different way to learn history while getting exercise outside.

Here’s more of my experience.

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND EXHIBITS, Go for Broke National Education Center – Los Angeles, CA

2016 – 2020

• Directed educational outreach, exhibitions, and programming for nonprofit organization focused on Japanese American veterans during World War II (WWII)
• Administered a $500K federal grant to curate, develop, and manage traveling exhibition Courage and Compassion to travel to 12 partner locations throughout the United States with 80,000+ visitors
• Oversaw permanent exhibition Defining Courageto welcome over 20,000 in first full year in operation
• Coordinated federal grant project to build listening stations focusing on Oral Histories within permanent exhibition
• Wrote grants leading to over $200K in funding for preservation, exhibitions, and education projects
• Curated temporary exhibitions including H.R. 442, Called to Serve, Portraits of Courage, and Nikkei Samurai
• Led public programs focusing on social justice and the Japanese American WWII story
• Managed full-time and part-time employees, contractors, and outside curators to reach education goals

CURATION SPECIALIST, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii – Pōhakuloa Training Area, HI

2014 – 2016

• Maintained an archaeological collection of over 20,000 objects including lithics and avifaunal remains at an Army training facility in accordance with federal legislation and Army regulations
• Spearheaded an innovative outreach program focused on public-facing events and marketing, including designing a creative brochure, organizing a small exhibition on artifacts found on the military base, organizing activities for Earth Day open house and conducting presentations for VIP visitors such as congressional delegates
• Authored the curation portion of the Cultural Resources Program Annual Report for publication
• Collaborated with researchers to further studies on avifaunal species identification

CURATOR, Camp Floyd/Stagecoach Inn State Park & Museum – Fairfield, UT

2012 – 2014

• Researched, wrote exhibit text, designed, prepared objects, obtained copyrights, and installed a variety of exhibitions on archaeology, masonry, sketches of Camp Floyd, coins, and military life
• Devised and implemented creative new annual programming including a Quest of the Pony Express 5K interpretive run, an archaeology day, and a murder mystery event
• Generated $6,000 in grant funding to develop interpretive exhibits, implement a scholarship program for history camps, and create an Archaeology Day event
• Integrated new technologies of QR codes, YouTube videos, digital scavenger hunts, and podcasts to drive growth
• Managed Camp Floyd’s social media and web presence to increase organizational awareness
• Led living history field trips and history camps as a pre-Civil War soldier/pioneer woman