Museum of Deaf History Arts and Culture Inc.

Inspire visitors with meaningful appreciations of a rich and vibrant culturo-linguistic Deaf community, as well as, invoke the truth of our struggles and resistance. As a result of our work, the values and endeavors of Deaf people will be embraced.

ACTION PLANS
● Establish a restricted fund with “seed money” for this project through contributions by members of the Deaf community by November 2021 ✅
● Identify a grant writer to assist in securing grant funding for project by December 2021 ✅
● Begin Phase One work in interpretive planning, museum design planning, and content development activities by the end of 2023 (who responsible: assigned Co-Executive Director)
○ A comprehensive Interpretive Planning Guide will be established by an expert in museum planning by December 2024
○ Binders full of detailed reports including narratives, sources, and recommended list of collections based on themes will be developed by 16 Deaf experts by January 2026
○ A museum design plan, incorporating interpretive plan and developed content will be proposed by a museum designer by August 2026
● Incorporate goals and objectives in the next MDHAC strategic plan to implement Phase Two of the project focused on production/ building of an updated museum exhibition based on proposed museum design plans (who responsible: MDHAC Board of Directors)

MDHAC faced challenges, enacted significant changes, but through it all, MDHAC stayed steadfast in doing their best to meet their organizational mission and slowly enact changes as recommended. During the 2015 to 2017, MDHAC was dealing with significant cash flow issues, a shifting guard within the Board structure, and the retirement of the Executive Director (ED). Between 2017 to 2019, a revitalized Board of Directors acted in the role of a “working board” due to their decision not to hire an ED until cash flow issues were addressed and stabilized. This was a critical period where the Board revamped organizational name, mission & vision; streamlined programming; and improved avenues in various ways to increase revenues. It was also during this period when the Board realized there was a great need to redevelop exhibition content and started planning on how this could be accomplished.

Although the years of 2020 to 2022 were undeniably filled with unprecedented challenges, those were also two years of integral learning opportunities, perseverance, and resilience in response to the rapidly changing circumstances in our world. These years gave us an opportunity to focus on one of our long-time goals in increasing and improving the various ways visitors can participate in our programs virtually or online which we will continue to do going forward. We were also able to focus on various projects such as creating a new “welcome video”, doing long-needed repairs, and complete building renovations. Through it all, our awe-inspiring Board members, volunteers, and community members have been incredibly supportive towards MDHAC in innovative and agile ways.

Recently, the MDHAC Board made two critical decisions. First, they decided to partner with the Deafhood Foundation (DHF), another nonprofit organization with a strong national prominence and programming structure. Since 2012, DHF has been providing classes and workshops all over the United States and other countries virtually. The partnership between MDHAC and DHF will eventually become a merge, sometime in 2023, with DHF coming under the MDHAC umbrella. This merge will expand MDHAC’s programing in the area of history and culture, elevate MDHAC’s presence on a national level, and assist with sustainability through the sharing of resources. Secondly, the Board decided it was time to hire staff for the first time since 2017. The rising trend of nonprofits hiring co-executive directors was noted, and the Board decided that hiring two co-executive directors with different skill sets would be the best fit at this time.

As we continue to move forward, we are pleased with our current direction and performance. We will continue to work on completing remaining goals and objectives within our current strategic plan. We are very excited to implement the first phase of our Museum Exhibition Redevelopment Project. We know this will go a long ways in increasing our ability to make social impact.

Since 2017, the Board of Directors had:

1) Streamlined organization's mission and program structure by:
a) Enhancing our mission and vision statements
b) Changing our organization name
c) Refreshing our organization logo

2) Grown and strengthened Board of Directors by:
a) Receiving training to improve effectiveness, efficiency and understanding of fiduciary responsibility
b) Changing organizational chart to reflect "working board" status
c) Updating charter documents

3) Improved and increased monetary income by:
a) Improving effectiveness of fundraising activities
b) Upgrading database management system

4) Addressed physical building needs by:
a) Replacing all our AC/Furnance units
b) Reducing costs of bills by Improving efficiency of electricity, gas, and water

5) Addressed programming needs by:
a) Establishing a Museum Docent Tour with a Deaf Guide
b) Opening highly anticipated Chuck Baird Art Gallery
c) Maintaining popular cultural Hands On program for children/ youth