Mark Mills

Mark Mills currently serves as Vice President of External Affairs at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Mark oversees an integrated Membership, Development and Government Affairs department responsible for over 40,000 membership households and $10 million in annual operating revenues.

Prior to joining the Institute in May 2015, Mark served as the Senior Director of External Affairs for Individual Giving and Visitor Services at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. In this capacity, Mark oversaw a fully integrated unit related to the individual’s experience and engagement with the Barnes with the following departments reporting to him: Visitor Services, Retail Operations, Public Programs, Membership/Annual Giving and Volunteer Services. These units generated more than 60% of the Foundation’s operating budget.

Prior to joining the Barnes in July 2009, Mark served as the Director of Membership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Manager of Membership at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, Director of Membership at the Phillips Collection, Manager of Membership Programs at George Washington’s Historic Mount Vernon Estate, and Program Coordinator for the Smithsonian Institution’s James Smithson Society.

In 2006, Mark completed his Masters of Arts Management from American University, Washington, DC. Mark also began teaching at the University of the Art’s Masters in Museum Communications program in 2014. He currently serves on the Board of the American Museum Membership Conference. He served as the president in 2013-14, co-chaired the conference in Philadelphia in 2011 and 2004 in Washington, DC, and served as the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Program Co-Chair.