Schedule

Session Speakers

• Mike Adams serves as Director, Museum and Audience Engagement, at Hagley Museum and Library, and as Board Vice President at the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center. Among other roles, was an adjunct professor in the museum studies graduate program at the University of the Arts and, in 2020, was recipient of SMA’s Small Museum Award.
• Marc Baum is the President of the International L. Frank Baum & All Things Oz Historical Foundation and Co-Director of the foundation’s All Things Oz Museum located in Chittenango, NY (birthplace of L. Frank Baum)
• Lauren Canty, the JPPM Curator at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, has dedicated her career to the management, care, and understanding of museum collections. She has experience stewarding artifacts at museums of many different types and sizes, including sites within the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service networks.
• Candi Claggett is a museum educator and public historian dedicated to developing dynamic, research-based programming that bridges history, culture, and community. At the Patterson House and Gardens, she designs and leads interpretive experiences that foster learning, dialogue, and deeper connections with the past.
• Kayla Doyle has worked at Liberty Hall Museum for the past six years and is now the Curator of Archives. She has a strong background in education, collections management, and exhibition design allowing her to create engaging opportunities for visitors.
• Jess Edberg is the Executive Director of the Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely, Minnesota and serves on the boards of the MN-Alliance for Heritage Response, MN Alliance of Local History Museums and the St. Louis Co MN Historical Society. Jess also plays on the local women’s hockey team, takes advantage of the many amazing regional natural resources, volunteers for the International Wolf Center and travels when she can.
• Julie Fether is the archivist for the EBT Archives and Special Collections. A former project manager and instructor in higher education, she holds a master’s degree in museum studies and a post-baccalaureate certificate in digital curation from Johns Hopkins University.
• Hannah Gaston, the Director of Education at Liberty Hall Museum, is passionate about making historic house museums relevant and compelling to modern audiences and sharing her work with the wider museum community, recently publishing and presenting with the New Jersey Association of Museums, Institute of Museum Ethics, Muse Weekly, and American Association for State and Local History. She holds a B.A. in History from Elmira College and an M.A. in Museum Education from Seton Hall University.
• Lindsay Hollister‘s current position as Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s first horticulturist has been informed by a lifetime of mentorship with a family landscape business, a Permaculture Design Certification, Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional training, and the Master Gardener program. At JPPM, her work includes restoring the 1930’s formal gardens at the Patterson Mansion, and managing the park’s 570-acre landscape.
• Rick Kriebel is the Manager of Collections & Programs at the Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation in Stephens City, VA, a post he has held for over seven years. He holds a BA from Grove City College and an MA from from The Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY Oneonta.
• Michael Madeja (he/him) is the Director of Education at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. Before joining the Independence Seaport Museum, Mike worked for and volunteered with various non-profits, including most recently serving as the Head of Education Programs at the American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum and as the Chair of the Education Committee (EdCom) for the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).
• LaShell Martinez has more than a decade of museum volunteer experience and brings a unique perspective to accessibility and engagement. At Kaleidoscope Heritage Focus, she design inclusive, hands-on solutions that help museums connect meaningfully with staff, volunteers, and visitors.
• Kristen Matulewicz is the Curator of the 1850’s Gothic Revival Mansion and historic gardens, Rockwood Park & Museum in Wilmington, DE. Before curation, she had a 12-year career in Museum Education with a reputation for working with local communities, underserved populations, and practicing artists to create opportunities for accessible learning that saw her awarded the Delaware Art Educators Association’s Educator of the Year in the field of Museums.
• Elise Petersen-Deitrick is a museum educator with a little over 12 years of experience in traditional museum education and other forms of community engagement work. Her experience spans across history, science, and art museums in Atlanta, Southern Appalachia, and various regions of Maryland.
• Katherine Quigley: As Curator of Collections at Liberty Hall Museum, Katherine is responsible for the care of nearly 10,000 items in the museum’s collection. With degrees in Archives and Public History from New York University and History from Boston College, as well as ten years of experience in historical research, interpretation, and collections management, she is committed to balancing the preservation of historic materials with facilitating public access.
• Dr. Jennifer Rogers brings 25+ years of museum and volunteer experience, helping small museums thrive through strategic guidance in collections, programming, exhibitions, and community engagement.
• Heidi Schlag is the founder of Culture-Link Communications, where she helps museums and cultural organizations strengthen their marketing through strategic coaching, fractional services, and staff training. With 25 years of experience in heritage tourism, she specializes in connecting museums to broader tourism networks—like DMOs, Main Streets, and Byways—to amplify their reach and impact through smart, cross-sector collaboration.
• Rebecca Shulman is a museum educator and cultural consultant with over 25 years of experience working in and supporting museums. She spent 15 years working as a museum educator in New York City before becoming the inaugural director of the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum in Peoria, Illinois, and now runs Museum Questions Consulting and works with clients around the country.
• Byron Smith is the Executive Director & Curator of the Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation in Stephens City, VA, a post he has held for over twenty years. He holds a BA from Grove City College, a CMS from Harvard University, and an MA from the University of Richmond.
• Kim Staub is the Executive Director at Wyck Historic House, Garden, & Farm, a national historic landmark in Northwest Philadelphia. Before joining the team at Wyck, Kim was the Collections & Exhibitions Manager at the Betsy Ross House and served as the Vice-President of Philadelphia’s Historic Neighborhood Consortium.
• David Tobias: Secretary of the HRIYPT and retired Director of the Land Acquisition Program in New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection. With a Master’s degree in Environment/Economics from Yale, Dave’s focus has been to protect public health by ensuring that the natural resources upon which our water supplies and ecosystems depend will remain intact and resilient for future generations.
• Nora Venezky holds a Master of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto and has a deep passion for small museums. She has served as Executive Director for the Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum, Greenbrier Historical Society, and Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry. Currently, she is the Development Director at Homesteads for Hope, a Rochester, NY nonprofit supporting adults with disabilities. In addition, she serves as the President of the Small Museum Association, advocating for the needs of small museums nationwide.
• Robert Wills: President of the HRIYPT and Past Commodore of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club; registered architect and retired GIS Coordinator for Dutchess County, NY.
• Scarlett Wirt is the curator and archives custodian for the Friends of the East Broad Top, and an advisor to the East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections. Prior to joining the EBT team, Scarlett led the Defense Department’s cryptologic history program, and worked as a National Park Service museum curator and archivist.
• Jake Wynn is a tourism marketing professional with Visit Frederick, Maryland, and a public historian with a passion for making history accessible and engaging. A former Director of Interpretation at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, he has spent over a decade bringing American history to life through storytelling, with a focus on Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region and the Civil War.
• Michaela Zoquier is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at Liberty Hall Museum in Union, NJ where her day-to-day focus is running Liberty Hall’s robust Education program while finding joy in teaching history to students, adults, or really, anyone that will listen. She received her Bachelor’s in History from Kean University where she first discovered Liberty Hall and the Museum Education field, and she recently finished a Graduate Certificate in Genocide and Holocaust Studies through Seton Hill University.