Founding Director announced for our newest museum
Nancy Yao has been named the founding director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, effective June 5. She brings more than 25 years of experience managing organizations and mission-driven projects to the role.
Yao has served as the president of the Museum of Chinese in America since 2015. Located in New York City, MOCA tells nuanced and unexpected stories and provides a platform for open dialogue and dynamic programs. As president, Yao led a successful sustainability and conservation effort following a five-alarm fire in the museum’s research space salvaging over 98 percent of MOCA’s collection—the largest collection of Chinese American artifacts and objects in the country. After the fire, Yao led the team that initiated “MOCA on the Road,” a program to expand the museum’s collection efforts nationally. Through partnerships with foundations; local, state and federal agencies; and gifts from individual donors, MOCA raised more than $60 million to secure a new home for the museum in New York City. Under Yao’s leadership, MOCA obtained national recognition in 2020 when it was named one of “America’s Cultural Treasures.”
Yao brings a wide range of leadership experiences from both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. She is a lecturer on governance of not-for-profit organizations at Yale University’s David Geffen School of Drama. She serves as the board secretary of the Tessitura Network, a not-for-profit organization that provides technology for more than 800 global arts and culture organizations, and sits on the McGraw-Hill equity advisory board.
Since the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum was established by Congress in 2020, the Smithsonian has named a 25-member advisory council and has identified two optimal sites for the museum to be located, which are currently pending congressional approval. Ahead of the construction of the brick-and-mortar museum, the museum provides access via an online presence with research platforms and in-person events to help research, disseminate and amplify the history of American women. (More information about the museum is available at womenshistory.si.edu.)
As founding director, Yao will oversee the conception and development of a 21st-century museum, including sourcing a national collection, curating permanent and current exhibitions, and creating educational resources accessible virtually before the physical museum is built in Washington, D.C. The museum currently has a staff of 14 and a federal budget of $2 million—to date, more than $55 million has been raised from the private sector to support the new museum.
‘For decades, people have waited for this opportunity to shine a brighter light on women both famous and unsung who profoundly changed the world,” said Secretary Bunch. “Nancy’s proven experience, skill and leadership will be crucial in bringing to life the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and enabling it to creatively tell a more robust and complete story about who we are as a nation.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lisa Sasaki, director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, who has served as interim director of the museum since March 2021,” Bunch continued. “We are indebted and grateful to Lisa for her leadership. She has ensured the future success of the museum by implementing the necessary building blocks to begin the process of creating a world-class museum. Please join me in welcoming Nancy to the Smithsonian and thanking Lisa for her continued commitment to the Institution.”
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Posted: 13 March 2023
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