MANY 2023 Omar Eaton Martinez

The Museums Association of New York is thrilled to announce Omar Eaton-Martínez, Senior Vice President for Historic Sites, National Trust for Historic Preservation is our 2023 Conference Opening keynote.

Opening Keynote

“Where is the Love? How to Bring Justice to Museums”

Sunday, April 16

Omar Eaton-Martínez

Senior Vice President for Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation/ Board Chair Association of African American Museums

Omar is the host of The Museum J.E.D.I. Show podcast that holds discussions on the intersections of museums and social justice.

Currently, Omar is the Senior Vice President for Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where he leads the preservation, interpretation, and overall stewardship of 28 historic sites across the country to tell the full American story.

He led the Prince George’s County Historical Resources which include historical house museums, an aviation museum, the Black History Program and archaeological parks. He oversees the programming of those sites with an emphasis placed on preserving, sustaining and enhancing these resources as well as engaging and building communities through education, outreach and innovation.

He also worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, National Park Service, the Office of the National Museum of the American Latino Commission, and NASA. He was a K-12 teacher in New York City and Washington DC.

He has had leading roles in racial equity organizations like Museums and Race: Transformation and Justice, Museum Hue as well as a part of the Museum as Site for Social Action project. His research interests are Afro Latinx identity in museum exhibitions, Diversity and Inclusion in museums and cultural institutions; and Hip Hop history, culture, and education. Moreover, he has supported public history projects centering on blackness in Puerto Rico.

In 2019, Omar was selected to be an American Alliance of Museums Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Inclusion (DEAI) Senior Fellow, which is dedicated to diversifying museum boards and is a gubernatorial appointee to the Maryland Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Commission. In 2020, he was elected to the Board of Directors for the Association of African American Museums. In 2021, he was elected to be the Vice President and in 2022 he became the President of the board. In January 2022, he began a multiple-year term on the Executive Council for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.