When AAAM was incorporated in February 1978, women were front and center, literally and symbolically. They were among the visionaries and leaders of this new organization and champions of the movement for Black cultural preservation. Two women in particular, Rowena Stewart and Joan Maynard, helped set the direction and tone for AAAM during its earliest years. As an accomplished museum founder and director, Stewart was elected the first woman president of the AAAM board of directors in 1980, bringing a bold, future-oriented perspective. Maynard, a pioneering preservationist and community historian, provided steady guidance and strategic clarity during AAAM’s most challenging moments. Both women shaped the trajectory of public historical practice nationwide.
This session highlights their lives, leadership, and enduring influence. It will explore the lessons their careers offer today’s museum practitioners and will address the persistent challenges faced by women leaders in the field. Panelists include distinguished museum executives who knew Stewart and Maynard personally and who have forged their own transformative leadership paths. A short video in tribute to the Stewart-Maynard legacy will premiere. This conversation continues the five years of programming leading up to the 2028 golden 50th anniversary of AAAM.
Respondent:
Christy S. Coleman is a tireless advocate for the power of museums and narrative correction. She’s an innovator in the museum field having held leadership roles at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and the American Civil War Museum. She now serves as the Executive Director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Ms. Coleman is the recipient of numerous awards for her decades of impact, including four Honorary Doctorates. In 2018, Time Magazine named her one of the 31 People Changing the South and in 2019, Worth Magazine named her one of 29 Women
Changing the World. In 2023, she received the David McCullough Prize for Excellence in American Public History. She’s also an accomplished public speaker and has appeared in award-winning documentaries including Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Black Patriots: Civil War Heroes, When the Monuments Came Down and Kevin Costner’s The West. In her spare time, she’s a historical consultant for film and television. Most recently she’s worked on the award-winning film Harriett, Showtime’s miniseries Good Lord Bird, and the upcoming miniseries, The Gray House.
Moderator:
A certified interpretive planner and skilled outreach facilitator, Joy Bailey Bryant is a specialist in municipal engagement around culture, working with city officials, institutional leaders, and developers in global municipalities to creatively plan cities and bring people to public institutions. Joy has been an integral part of the development of hundreds of cultural spaces—museums, parks, gardens, libraries and the like—where people are doing the searching work to define themselves through discovery, storytelling, and objects. Joy led the teams for planning on remarkable projects like the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Among her many notable projects, for the expansion of the Albany Civil Rights Institute in Albany, Georgia, Joy led the team unearthing thousands of untold stories of the Southwest Georgia Civil Rights Movement. Driven by the engagement philosophy of “meet people where they are,” Joy has authored several articles on community engagement. Following her mantra, Joy is known for holding community conversations at festivals, conferences, on social media, houses of worship, centers of community, schools, and even bars. A member of the advisory board of the Girl Scouts of Heart of the Hudson and the National Heritage and Archives committee for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Joy has spoken on numerous international and national professional panels. Before joining Lord, Joy was on the transition team at the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) evolving the General Operating Support (GOS) grant to the Museums for American grant. Joy holds an M.A. in Arts Management from American University and a B.S. in Public Relations from Florida A&M University (FAMU).
Panelist:
Kinshasha Holman Conwill is an author, editor, artist, and expert on museums, contemporary visual art and culture, and cultural policy. She is Deputy Director Emerita of the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) at the Smithsonian Institution and a former director of The Studio Museum in Harlem. In her two-decade career at NMAAHC, she was lead editor and co-editor for major publications. She worked hand in hand with Founding Director Lonnie Bunch and was the lead strategist of its design and construction and grand opening. At the Studio Museum she organized and co-organized over forty exhibitions. She has been interviewed and cited in numerous print and digital publications and podcasts. She is a past Chairman of the National
Museum and Library Services Board, a former President of ArtTable, and has served on the boards of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Municipal Art Society of New York, as a member of the Board of Overseers for CalArts, and as a panelist for major city, state and federal arts agencies, including the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions, the Bush
Foundation, the California Arts Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs (New York), the Ford Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Rockefeller Foundation. She has served on the faculties of the American Association for the State and Local History, the Harvard University Program for Art
Museum Directors, the Salzburg Seminars, and Virginia Management Institute. She was named one of the 100 most influential museum professionals of the 20th century by the American Association of Museums. She is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of the Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French Government, the highest civilian decoration awarded in France. She was a National Achievement Scholar, Mount Holyoke College; and holds degrees from Howard University (BFA) and the University of California, Los Angeles (MBA).
Panelist:
Amina Dickerson is President of Dickerson Global Advisors. She is an arts activist and patron with decades of experience working with and for artists and arts organizations. She has served in leadership positions at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, the Chicago History Museum, the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, and the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. A seasoned leadership coach, strategist, and facilitator, Amina supports both experienced and emerging leaders in philanthropic, nonprofit, and civic sectors.
Panelist:
Joy Ford-Austin is President and CEO of Joy Ford Austin, Arts and Humanities Advocacy. She is former Executive Director of the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. She was Executive Director of the African American Association of Museums during the 1980s. In 2003, she surveyed African American Museums nationwide to assess their readiness for a National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall.
Poet:
Jessica Care Moore is the CEO of Moore Black Press, executive producer of BLACK WOMEN ROCK!, and founder of the literacy-driven Jessica Care Moore Foundation. An internationally renowned poet, playwright, performance artist, and producer, she is the recipient of the 2013 Alain Locke Award from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Moore is the author of The Words Don’t Fit in My Mouth, The Alphabet Verses The Ghetto, God is Not an American, Sunlight Through Bullet Holes and We Want Our Bodies Back. Her poetry has been heard on stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the London Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 2023, The Detroit News wrote an Artist Spotlight article focused on her life.