USS KIDD Veterans Museum Executive Director Alejandra Juan was named “Emerging Museum Professional” by the Louisiana
Association of Museums (LAM) at their annual awards luncheon held at the Diamond
Grill in Alexandria, La., on Sept. 14, 2015. Juan is in her second year as Executive Director of the
USS KIDD Veterans Museum. In that time, her strong leadership skills and public
relations background have helped her reenergize the organization and build
stronger ties within the community.
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award
than Alex Juan,” said Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission Chairman Joe
Jenkins. “Her strong leadership skills and passion for raising community
awareness have benefited the KIDD in ways we could not have imagined.”
In the past 18 months, KIDD has garnered local, national
and international attention for new programming initiated under Juan’s tenure
such as the KIDD Keynotes lecture series, Yoga and Art Therapy for Veterans, an
expanded First Free Sunday program with themed arts & crafts, Sponsor a
Veteran, adults-only Twilight Tours, and more. Fifty complimentary
events are now available to the public due to her commitment to diversifying
programming, community partnerships and her focus on reaching newer
audiences. “LAM has become a close-knit society with all of the
budget cuts to the museum industry in recent years,” said Sherry Wagener,
President of the Louisiana Association of Museums. “For those of
us who have survived those cuts, it was thrilling to find a fresh, new face in
our museum community. Alex Juan is benefitting our profession in
such an invigorating way by providing great new ideas to one of our long-term
and long-established members. We were honored to give this award
to someone of her high caliber.” Under Juan’s stewardship, KIDD staff and volunteers have
also flourished with two volunteers receiving awards for excellence from the
Historic Naval Ship Association, an international organization with over 170
historic vessels located across five continents. Volunteer
recruitment and community partnerships have also increased under Juan’s guidance
with over $ 177,000 of new funding and in-kind services being received in the
first half of 2015.
“Alex goes above and beyond in all that she does and for
that, we could not be more pleased to have her as our executive director,” said
Jenkins.