Suzanne L. Davis

Background

About Suzanne L. Davis

I believe in the power of cultural heritage organizations to create positive, transformational change in society, and I create vision and strategy to help institutions and individuals engaged in this work thrive in any setting. I am committed to and excel in three areas: strategic planning, fundraising, and applied research. I know that strategic planning can transform institutions and individuals. In my role as president of the American Institute for Conservation-which is the largest membership association for cultural heritage conservation professionals in the world-I led a year-long member-engaged strategic planning effort which resulted in an inspirational and actionable plan focused on issues of contemporary relevance. The department I direct at the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum creates plans to achieve strategic goals, and my development and coaching sessions with junior colleagues also incorporate strategic planning. My primary strengths in this area are curiosity, creativity, and strong, realistic planning skills. In the area of fundraising, my key strengths are the ability to tell a compelling story and to connect projects with sponsors who have deep interests in those areas. In my current position at the Kelsey Museum, I have raised more than $2 million from both public and private funders to support projects focused on conservation, collections care, and community-engaged archaeology. The central goal of my research is to empower professionals in the cultural heritage space to be creative and productive in challenging situations. My research outputs include concrete findings as well as discussion of transferrable methodology and/or actionable recommendations for the future of the field. Much of my work has been collaborative and interdisciplinary, and it has focused on work in difficult or under-resourced settings, work with especially challenging materials, and issues of professional history and practice, including equity. Many of my publications can be downloaded from my Academia page: https://umich.academia.edu/SuzanneDavis