Monica O. Montgomery is an international speaker, graduate professor, museum director and cultural entrepreneur, curating media and museums to be in service to society. She is a winner of the 2016 Arts Entrepreneurship Award from Fractured Atlas. Monica is Founding Director of the Museum of Impact (MOI) the first mobile social justice museum, inspiring action at the intersection of self, society art and activism. She directs the museum in working with communities to interrogate contemporary and historic social movements and solutions. Museum of Impact’s inaugural exhibit ‘Movement Is Rising: Journey of #BlackLivesMatter’ curates current events around human rights abuses of people of color, and is traveling America as a pop up exhibit, visiting community spaces and encyclopedic institutions. The exhibit transforms visitors from bystanders to ‘Upstanders’ collecting stories and oral histories via the Activist Love Letters™ transmedia project.
She is the co-founder and Strategic Director of Museum Hue a multicultural collective advancing professionals of color, in arts, culture, museums and creative economy. Museum Hue has a robust community of practice reflecting ideas of intersectionality, diversity and agency. She organizes with Museums Workers Speak (MWS), as Outreach & Membership Director. MWS is an action-oriented platform for social change at the intersection of labor, access, and inclusion. She leads the collective nationally in social media, membership recruitment and external affairs to promote parity and sustainable careers in museums. Monica is a sought after mentor for professionals, students and career changers; training leaders and partnering with institutions to facilitate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, community engagement, audience development, capacity building and executive coaching.
Monica is an alumna of Temple University with a Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Communication and LaSalle University, with a Masters of Arts in Corporate Communication. She is an adjunct professor with Harvard University. She has taught and presented at Johns Hopkins University, New York University, American University, Pratt Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Marymount Manhattan College and City College of NY among others. She holds leadership positions in MASS Action – Museums as Sites of Social Action project through the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Audience Diversity Academy of AMA UK, the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable, U.S Department of Arts & Culture and the Talent Philanthropy Network. She is an empowerment speaker, educator and facilitator who can connect with all ages and keynotes at conferences throughout the world.
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