by Hannah Elder
For Meg Winikates, working in the cultural heritage field “felt accidentally inevitable.” She was always interested in education, but was unsure whether she wanted to teach formally or informally. In high school, she worked as an intern at the Museum of Science, but it was really an encounter with a Park Ranger at the Grand Canyon that inspired her to work in cultural heritage. In college, she majored in English Literature & Language while also working at a number of cultural heritage institutions and taking a wide variety of courses. After college, she tried teaching, but ultimately decided that the realm of informal education was the one for her. She combined her passion for education and love of museums, serving as the Associate Education Director at the Discovery Museum and as the Programs Coordinator for the Art & Nature Center at the Peabody Essex Museum. Currently, she is the Director of Engagement at the New England Museum Association (NEMA).
NEMA is the professional service organization serving the museum people of New England. Its members include institutions, museum professionals, and businesses and individuals that serve museums. A few of its members may be a surprise to some; NEMA welcomes zoos, aquariums, historic sites, and history enactors to join its family of museum people. In addition to its advocacy, NEMA provides many services to its members, including professional development, workshops, a free webinar series, regional networking opportunities, and a plethora of online resources. NEMA also produces a quarterly journal, New England Museums Now, which Winikates co-edits. The journal includes articles on a central issue relevant to museums, news from NEMA and the museum world, and notices of professional development opportunities.
Winikates’ role as Director of Engagement at NEMA includes outreach to museums and outreach and advocacy on behalf of them. One of the major ways she practices outreach to museums is through trainings for museum people, including museum staff, boards, and trustees. She teaches introductory and advanced workshops in advocacy techniques, teaching professional museum people what they can do in advocacy. Topics can include the difference between advocacy and lobbying or understanding how visitors really use exhibits. Winikates says that in her workshops, she is helping museum people understand how to tell stories. She views stories as an important part of advocacy, as they help the public engage with the museum. Effective storytelling is effective advocacy and Winikates helps museums help themselves through storytelling.
Winikates advocates for museums by organizing advocacy events at state and national levels. At state events, Winikates works with state-level museum associations to meet with legislators at the state house of each state. She helps the museums advocate for themselves, but also sets them up for success in the future, by making sure they follow through on plans and continue their own advocacy efforts. In early February, Winikates and NEMA visited Maine for Maine Museums Day, where they hosted an advocacy training, coordinated appointments with legislators, and hosted a reception at the State House.
Also in February, Winikates visited Washington, D.C. for the 2019 Museums Advocacy Day. Winikates and Dan Yaeger, NEMA Executive Director, led a contingent of New England museum people. They visited legislative offices and spoke on behalf of NEMA member organizations, touching on topics like the importance of museum education and charitable giving to museums. They also spoke in support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and encouraged legislators to continue funding it.
The final major component of Winikates’ advocacy work involves legislative tracking. She keeps an eye on state and national legislatures to track legislation that may impact museums. She pays particular attention to state budgets and any legislation that could affect the museum tax protections currently in place. If she identifies any such legislation, she can make museums in that state aware of it and encourage them to speak to their representatives about it.
Winikates is passionate about museums engaging in civics education. One of her favorite advocacy events at NEMA was Being “the Room Where It Happens:” Museum Opportunities for Civic Engagement, a workshop that encouraged museums to engage in discourses around civics. It educated museum people on the importance of civic education in museums and gave guidance on how to advocate for civic education programming. The workshop reflects a wider shift in the museum world, of museums really embracing their role as trusted institutions and standard bearers against what some may call “fake news.” It’s a shift that Winikates is excited about and she looks forward to watching it continue to develop.