Bishop Museum

- Responsibly care for and steward Native Hawaiian and Pacific collections, lands, and resources (natural, cultural, and living)
- Support programs and initiatives to build and make accessible Hawaiian collective knowledge in natural sciences, history, and culture
- Increase Native Hawaiian and other indigenous peoples' impact on education, prioritizing the underserved
- Attract increasing numbers of visitors, make Bishop Museum a must-see destination, and help to develop cultural and sustainable tourism
- Be Hawai‘i’s Museum and a place of healing and aloha: embrace our diversity, learn our history, chart our future
- Utilize Bishop Museum’s natural history collection and active research work in natural sciences to exhibit Hawai‘i’s status as the “world’s capital of evolution and extinction” and to promote conservation efforts worlwide
- Build long-term relationships and strategic partnerships to increase the vitality, connectivity, and sustainability of Native Hawaiian and Pacific cultures and environments
- Establish and implement a strategic communications plan
- Improve functionality and beauty of facilities and grounds to reveal the inextricable link between nature and culture

Our strategic plan identifies goals and several strategies for accomplishing them. Here, we will provide one strategy per goal:
1) To expand our knowledge core which is comprised of research, collections, and living culture, we will agree on and establish "Anchor Programs" and "Signature Initiatives" in support of and reflecting Bishop Museum's Knowledge Core.
2) To strengthen our partnerships and build our base of support, we will actively pursue long-term relationships with “Tier 1” strategic partners, who can support museum capacity building and lead to broader networks.
3) To energize the Museum and create a resilient, visible, and diversifies enterprise, we will establish a calendar for and plan to expand the Museum's education and public programs and expand the range and quality of facilities rentals.
4) To engage the community and recognize the Museum as a cultural center in our Kapalama neighborhood, we will do direct outreach in our neighborhood and host community days and work with partners on opportunities that develop the districts development.
5) To energize, support, and empower Museum staff to create a culture of leadership we will reduce silos and create opportunities for communal and interdisciplinary interactions.

The Museum is now positioned to mindfully continue to build its staff in order to better serve our community and visitors. Facilities rentals have nearly doubled, which provides revenue while increasing exposure to the Museum and strengthening the Museum reputation as a community gathering place. The Museum has built new relationships across sectors of the community that have led to expanded programming, for example there is now a living culture series at the Museum in which cultural practitioners demonstrate and provide hands-on experiences of their traditional trades and art-making practices. The Museum now has an institution wide CMS that allows us to track attendance, contributions, and other forms of engagement so we can track and measure the impact of our work. Overall, Bishop Museum is well-positioned to accomplish the goals of the new strategic plan under the leadership of our board and president who are experienced and have a united vision.

Bishop Museum has made significant progress in stabilizing its finances, developing institution-wide systems that streamline workflow, strengthening staff infrastructure with enhanced benefits, training, and professional development, strengthening the Education program and improving outreach, improving access for students through grant-funded school visit and outreach programs, and building relationships across the community. Building on the Strategic Business Plan of 2016, Bishop Museum will champion a period of transformation through a new, comprehensive Strategic Plan, vigorously re-energizing and re-investing in our mission and building a long-term, sustainable resource for our local, regional, and international communities. Rooted in our core values, recognizing our unique assets, and led by a set of guiding principles, progress toward this vision will be made through the set of overarching goals noted above. We envision a future in which Bishop Museum is a source of knowledge for Hawai‘i, the greater Pacific region, and the world—to promote a global culture that is rooted in indigenous values and sustainable practices.