Scott Family Amazeum
We know that we must continue to pursue growth and improvement; there is no finish line for this work. Progress is neither linear nor permanent; it shifts forward, backwards, and sideways. Intent, purpose and action are needed to keep it all moving forward.
Scott Family Amazeum
Annual operating budget: $5 million–$9.9 million
Total number of employees: 109
Annual visitorship: 240,000
**Numbers reported in 2023
Our plan: Create belonging, inside and out
At Amazeum, Latinx representation on staff was only 11%—although the Latinx community makes up 17% of our regional population, with rapid growth every year. How could we increase Latinx hiring so guests can see themselves reflected in our team? We needed to improve our recruiting and hiring practices to reduce barriers and increase access to employment at Amazeum, and help address the fundamental economic needs of our Latinx community.
This meant becoming more intentional in our recruitment efforts, partnering with Latinx community stakeholders and making our museum a more welcoming, safe, accepting place to be for both our staff and visitors. By hiring and retaining Latinx professionals at all levels, we aimed to ensure Latinx voices and perspectives are adequately represented in our decision-making processes, exhibitions, programs, and outreach efforts.
Our projects: Partnership in two languages
The first stage of our work towards increasing access to our employment opportunities for the local Latinx workforce was holding mini listening sessions with Latinx community leaders. We reimagined our job descriptions, presenting them in both English and Spanish, removed academic or insider language, reassessed formal qualifications, and added “bilingual preferred” to every posting. We also implemented a bilingual interface for our Paycom software and aimed to provide a consistent bilingual experience on our website.
We also deepened our partnership with EOA Head Start. We surveyed the community to learn how to better support them and remove barriers, hosted trainings for teachers and families, participated in their Spring Family Fest Events, and invited EOA Head Start and participating families to the Amazeum for a Community Partner Spotlight.
Our takeaways: Build with, not for, the community
We know that we must continue to pursue growth and improvement; there is no finish line for this work. Our work going forward will include our most significant insights:
- language matters and can broaden our applicant pool and our reach
- seek current perspectives to build intentional, community-informed practices
- show up consistently in the community—not just during hiring
Progress is neither linear nor permanent; it shifts forward, backwards, and sideways. Intent, purpose and action are needed to keep it all moving forward.
To read other museums’ stories of change, visit our Cambio Stories page.
