Excellent point, although it does not always work.  The two
African-Americans on my board have done little, if anything, to expand our
presence into the African-American community.   I have had to put the push
in that direction and having recently hired an African-American Program
Director, we will, I think, make some progress.  Sometimes the latter makes
more impact than just having  the minority on the Board.


------
Robert Handy
Brazoria County Historical Museum
100 East Cedar
Angleton, Texas  77515
(409) 864-1208
museum_bob
[log in to unmask]
http://www.bchm.org

----------
From:   Ross Weeks[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Tuesday, March 16, 1999 10:14 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: Ethnic Diversity

It is up to the museum's CEO to put before the nominating committee the
names of minorities who might be willing to serve on the board.  The board
typically will not take that initiative.

You don't identify the kind of museum you have, nor where it is.  Those
make
a difference in how an institution builds the diversity of its board, in my
experience.

If the museum has an educational program, for example, the educational
community has a stake in it.   Schools typically have ethnic diversity in
faculty and administration.   Social service agencies and government bodies
include potentially helpful board members.  Corporations are more and more
ethnically diverse, and encourage their executives to provide expertise to
the non-profits in their communities.  There are businesses owned by
various
minorities.

My personal view is that "ethnic diversity" is a means to an end.  A museum
board needs to represent its constituency, and also find ways to broaden
its
following.  No board member "ought" to be chosen unless that individual can
assist the museum in its mission and its support.  Ethnic nominees should
be
proposed on the same basis that other members are nominated -- how can they
help?  Having token ethnicity on the board for the sake of looking good on
grant applications, being politically correct, or whatever, serves no good
purpose.
Ross Weeks Jr.
http://histcrab.netscope.net

-----Original Message-----
From: jennifer marie cohlman <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 1999 9:20 AM


>Hello,
>
>I was wondering if anyone had ideas on approaching your mueum board to
>become ethnically diverse?  Particularly if the board seems open to the
>idea, but unsure how to take it to the next level.