Aug

Lisa Sasaki is interim director of the Anacostia Community Museum

Lisa Sasaki, the Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Anacastia Community Museum, in the wake of the untimely passing of ACM’s director, Lori Yarrish, on Aug, 6.

Lisa Sasaki

Lisa has been at the Smithsonian since November 2016. As Director of the Asian Pacific American Center, she is responsible for setting the mission and vision of the organization; leading the development of exhibitions, public programs, and digital initiatives about Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture; and coordinating the center’s fundraising and budget advancement.

Lisa came to the Smithsonian with a background in and a deep passion for community-based museums. Prior to arriving at the Smithsonian, she was the Director of the Audience and Civic Engagement Center at the Oakland Museum of California, where she was responsible for deepening the museum’s connection to surrounding neighborhoods, leading museum-wide efforts to place visitors at the center of the organization, and helping to double the museum’s visitation in four years.

Before joining the staff of the Oakland Museum of California, Lisa was the Director of Program Development at the Japanese American National Museum (2003–2012), a community-based museum located in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. She supervised the museum’s curatorial, public programs, web, education, and collections departments and managed and led the strategic planning for programs, exhibitions, audience development, and fundraising.