SPRING 2021
Fall Event Recap | King Day 2021 Goes Viral | Journey to Justice | Rihanna’s Secret NCRM Visit
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHT MUSEUM
REOPENS,
Honors Returning Frontline Staff Heroes After a two-month temporary closing since December 26, some frontline staff are back to work for the reopening of the Museum to greet and interface with visitors. Angela Faulkner, Human Resources Generalist, said it’s important to the Museum to show appreciation to frontline staff, specifically tour guides, guest services representatives and retail associates, who are publicfacing, especially during the pandemic. “Our frontline staff are our heroes because we’ve had guests come from all over the world since we’ve reopened, and they have been fantastic and full of energy,” she said. Michaela Elliot, Guest Services representative for three years was anxious to get back to work. “I missed being at work altogether. I missed being able to hug my coworkers and have more interactions. We are like a big family,” she said. Faulkner credits the Operations team for providing a safe environment for frontline staff to return, including setting safety protocols, providing PPE and COVID training refreshers. “Although we all had a certain amount of anxiety, they still performed their jobs at top notch,” Faulkner said. Thomas McDaniel has been a tour guide for nearly three years, and says he missed the camaraderie from his coworkers, but also the visitors. “We’re the face of the Museum,” he said. “We’re the ones they’re going to remember when they come and when they leave.”
I write this with thoughts of YOU and your family, hoping that your days are brighter as we slowly come out of this pandemic, a time we, nor the Museum, have seen in our lifetime. I must begin by offering sincere gratitude to you for supporting our imperative work. As a nonprofit, we would not have been able to survive to this point. Serving at the Museum for more than 11 years as Chief Development Officer, my work has been fulfilling because of YOU, our donors, and we are always honored to recognize and share with you. After six impactful years of service, our former president, Terri Freeman said goodbye to the Museum in February. As a result of her leadership and partnership with the Board of Directors and staff, a visionary strategic plan was developed to take us into 2023. The Board is now working with a national search firm to find the next President by late Spring. While we are engaged in the search, we continue to work under strong leadership with our CFO Tee Jones now serving in the interim president role. We will keep you informed on the process moving forward. We reopened to the public on March 1 after closing at the end of 2020. We are operating with limited capacity, with the hopes of increasing visitors gradually through the summer, our peak season. We continue to provide our visitors and staff with a safe environment by practicing social distancing, wearing face masks and sanitizing throughout the day. Learn our new hours of operation and make a reservation to visit at www. civilrightsmuseum.org/visit. During this unprecedented time, we experienced a paradigm shift in how we serve our visitors, donors, and friends and even our day-to-day activities in the Museum. Although virtual programming began out of necessity, it’s here to stay because it has expanded our reach beyond our locale and as a result, new audiences across the country and the globe have been impacted. Through these events, talks and online exhibits, we hope to continue to provide a platform for you to learn and understand that our present often mirrors our past. Thank you for continuing to go on this journey with us. We look forward to better days ahead.
Beverly Taketa Sakauye Beverly Taketa Sakauye Chief Development Officer
SAVE THE DATE
OCTOBER 14, 2021