Marsha Semmel

Marsha Semmel is an independent consultant working with cultural and educational organizations on leadership development, strategic planning, and partnerships. In 2019, she published Partnership Power: Essential Museum Strategies for Today’s Networked World, Rowman & Littlefield/AAM. She is co-editor of a forthcoming volume, Change Is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, to be published in the summer of 2022 by Rowman & Littlfield/AASLH. Semmel has served as Special Initiatives Advisor to the National Endowment for the Humanities; Senior Adviser to the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement; and Senior Adviser to the Noyce Leadership Institute. She has been Adjunct Faculty for the Bank Street College Graduate program in Leadership in Museum Education Program since 2015. Semmel served in leadership roles at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) from 2003-13, including interim director, director for strategic partnerships, and deputy for museum services, and at the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1984-1996, where she was Director for Public Programs from 1993-1996. She has been President/CEO of Conner Prairie, a history museum near Indianapolis, and Women of the West Museum in Denver. She is active on numerous boards, including, currently, the Council for American Jewish Museums, the Arlington Arts Center, and the Planet Word Museum in Washington, DC. She is past chair of the Arlington County Commission for the Arts.