“MLI@CGU provides critical services to the museum field, and its strong network of alumni working at leading arts and cultural institutions around the world attests to its value,” says Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation. “MLI’s rebranding is an exciting next chapter for an organization that embraces growth and change, and the Getty Foundation looks forward to working with MLI@CGU in its new, independent status.”
Change is in the air for 2020. The generous support we have enjoyed from the Getty over the past 40 years has positioned us to become a fully independent Institute within Claremont Graduate University. Drawing on our roots and honoring our original name, we will be rebranding as the Museum Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University (MLI@CGU) in January 2020. MLI@CGU will stay true to its mission and continue to serve the museum field with executive education and professional development opportunities that advance the wellbeing of museum professionals and the institutions in which they work.
MLI@CGU expresses our independent status and positions us better to attract support from museums, foundations and government supporters who are eager to have a stake in developing diverse museum leaders who are strategic change-makers. The rebrand also aims to encourage a shift among museums to prioritize professional development for their employees at all levels. We have grown a great deal in the last few years. With a full-time staff of 3, and part-time support of CGU graduate student assistants, GLI@CGU has produced 3 multi-week annual programs, each with online and residential components. We proudly watched as 105 museum leaders graduated from our 2019 executive education programs receiving certificates conferred by Claremont Graduate University. In addition, we host an alumni gathering at the AAM conference, and our staff participate as keynote speakers, guest faculty, consultants, and peer reviewers at 10 or more events per year. As the quality and impact of our programming has grown, so has our operating budget. To ensure our future success and ability to help more museum professionals embrace their leadership potential, we need to broaden our base of supporters and generate new sources of philanthropic support.
Under our new umbrella, 2020 will feature our signature programs, MLI and NextGen, in the spring and NextGen China in the fall. As MLI@CGU moves toward offering more inclusive opportunities and broader reach across organizations, we were delighted to have received a significant grant from the IMLS to launch a new program, POLARIS: The Museum Mentor Network-a multi-year pilot program to match and train mentors and mentees in the museum field. The new platform offers accessible opportunities for leadership development at all stages of the professional pipeline. It also leverages the resources of the robust MLI@CGU alumni network and invites their participation in deepening leadership skills and growing organizational capacity across the field.
The Getty has generously supported MLI executive education programs for nearly 40 years. In 2008 the Getty Foundation sought partners that could house and support the Institute as it adapted to the needs of today’s museum leaders. The following year the Foundation announced a multi-million grant to Claremont Graduate University (CGU) to support the move of GLI to the University. GLI became “The Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University (GLI@CGU)” effective January 4, 2010. GLI and the Getty chose to partner with CGU because of CGU’s established reputation in quality graduate education, particularly leadership and management studies, its expertise with international programs, its open partnership environment and the potential for wider collaborations with programs and faculty at the Claremont Colleges. In 2013 and 2015 the Foundation awarded additional transitional support to CGU so that “MLI@CGU” could be a fully independent by 2020.
The Getty Foundation continues to enthusiastically endorse the program. We are truly grateful for the Getty’s incredible dedication to executive education for museum leaders and for their continued collaboration and partnership as MLI@CGU enters its 5th decade of service to the museum field. MLI alumni continue to lead the field as their institutions share the world’s art, culture and history with the public.
About Claremont Graduate University
Founded in 1925, Claremont Graduate University is the graduate university of the Claremont Colleges. Our five academic schools conduct leading-edge research and award masters and doctoral degrees in 24 disciplines. Because the world’s problems are not simple nor easily defined, diverse faculty and students research and study across the traditional discipline boundaries to create new and practical solutions for the major problems plaguing our world. A Southern California based graduate school devoted entirely to graduate research and study, CGU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio.
CGU’s Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management offers a variety of professional and doctoral degrees, including MBA, EMBA, and the MS in Financial Engineering. It has expanded the traditional path in business education, offering innovative programs, such as the MA in Arts Management, an MA in Politics, Business, and Economics, and its focus on management for creative industries.
Named for the father of modern business management education and world-renowned author and consultant, Peter Drucker, and accomplished global business leader and philanthropist, Masatoshi Ito, the school produces graduates who have a strong sense of social responsibility and a deep desire to make a difference by doing well while also doing good. Additional information is available at www.cgu.edu.