JESSICA KNAPP, JESSICA KNAPP CONSULTING
Proposal Type
Roundtable
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking Specific Expertise
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
Related Topics
- Labor and Economy
- Reflections on the Field
- Social Justice
- Finance
Abstract
Have you heard public history organizations or their employees use their budgets as an excuse to not include diverse and underrepresented voices, to keep their programming in the past, or to not pay employees what they deserve. I have heard it too.
By focusing on the bottom line, we can learn what strategies folks are using to make space for silenced voices, produce and share socially relevant programming, and offer competitive wages. I hope to include different voices who have had positive and negative experiences with navigating their budgets for their organization, programs, projects, and grants. Ultimately, how have public history organizations leveraged their budgets to do this good work that our field needs?
Description
This session would look for presentations from folks who are willing to share their experiences building and managing budgets for public history places as well as grants. More specifically, folks who can reflect on and offer guidance on making changes within budgets to make space for silenced voices, produce and share socially relevant programming, and offer competitive wages.
I am looking to gather folks who would be willing to participate in a roundtable discussion about budgets at public history organizations and creating budgets for grants. I am proposing this as something I would like to see offered at NCPH. I am happy to facilitate the conversation.
Here are the questions driving this idea, please take what resonates with you the most and recommend potential speakers, state that you are interested in participating, or your own comments on these thoughts.
Questions to think about:
- What type of strategy do you bring to creating budgets? What are your resources or examples?
- Do you have a philosophy you lean into when building budgets? And does it extend to when you or your team are putting that budget to work?
- Is your strategy or philosophy represented in your organization’s mission, mandate or vision?
- What specific things do you try to keep in mind when you are creating a budget for a project/grant? What are your priorities? And when the budget is at work, what things are you making adjustments for?
- Do you think it is possible to prioritize making space for silenced voices, programming and messaging that reflects current societal issues, and to pay employees competitive wages within your budget?
- Do you think budgets in the heritage sector are inherently colonial?
- Do you think it is possible for heritage organizations to decolonize their budgets? How do you see this playing out?
- Does your organization prioritize making space for silenced voices?
- Does your organization prioritize updates to programming that reflect diversity, inclusion and multiple perspectives?
- Does your organization pay all of its employees (including interns) a competitive, or even fair, wage?
- If yes, are these priorities reflected in the budget? And were they taken into consideration when creating or modifying the budget?
- If no, why do you think that is? Do you think incorporating these priorities into the budget is a viable strategy for your organization?
- Who benefits from your organization’s budget?
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Jessica Knapp, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be submitted by July 1, 2019. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Jessica, I am so glad to see you raising this topic. It is so important! I had some success in a recent project in budgeting to include racial diversity in the planning for our Stonewall exhibit. We were able to hire a black queer photographer to produce content for the exhibit and also to pay black and brown people to participate in a panel discussion. In the scheme of things, the cost was relatively minor but the impact was huge. By giving diverse people a seat at the table and a voice in the project, we produced a huge amount of goodwill that has resulted in increased engagement with people of color, both as visitors to the exhibit and as participants in programming. Challenges remain. This was a single project funded through grants and donations, so I had much more control over the budget that I do in day-to-day operations.
FYI, another local museum is following our model and budgeting for inclusion in the early stages of its planning for a 2020 exhibit. If you need panelists, I could put you in touch with them.
I think that it will be really important for the panel to be racially (and gender) diverse. The photographer who was involved in our project would be fabulous! But for the very reasons this panel is important, they cannot afford the travel costs.
Jessica, It’s really refreshing to see a proposal address the nuts and bolts of budgeting, especially as it relates to diversity and inclusion. I agree with the comments above that a diverse panel will be critical for this discussion. I’d also strongly encourage you to reach out to culturally specific organizations, who often prioritize diversity and inclusion in all that they do. I think the field still has a lot to learn from them. The questions you raise seem more geared toward mainstream public history organizations. Is that intentional?
I think this sounds like a fabulous idea for a roundtable. One question you could add to your already-excellent list: How does your organization balance using grant funding to pursue equity goals versus making equity a priority within the operating budget?