A Look Back at the Journey to JIMI 2023

Zinnia Willits , Executive Director, SEMC

It has taken me a bit to gather my thoughts enough to write about the 2023 Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI) offered by the Southeastern Museums Conference. As a new Director of SEMC and a long-time museum professional who (oddly) was NOT an alum of the Jekyll Island Management Institute — I always wanted to attend this professional training program, but the timing was never right — I really had no idea what to expect from the administrative side.

First, a brief history for those unfamiliar with JIMI. The Jekyll Island Management Institute began in the early 1980s as a workshop called Jumpstart! In 2000, after several successful programs, Martha Battle Jackson, then-chairman of the SEMC Professional Development Committee, expanded Jumpstart! to form the Jekyll Island Management Institute. Working closely with Peter S. LaPaglia, the first JIMI Coordinator, this museum management program was located on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The program eventually expanded to eight days and included sessions on strategic planning, leadership, fundraising, disaster preparedness, public relations, exhibitions, collections, interpretation, volunteer management, management styles, and ethics. The Institute evolved to provide a total immersion environment for museum professionals to learn about museum administration and operations. After the untimely death of Peter LaPaglia in 2008, through an outpouring of generous donations, SEMC established the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund to honor his contributions to the museum and public history fields and support future attendees of the Jekyll Island Management Institute. This fund held by the Southeastern Museums Conference continues today as a designated restricted account within the SEMC Endowment Fund.

Over the years, JIMI became a nationally recognized program boasting over 300 graduates from across the southeast and beyond that represent museum professionals from various types and sizes of museums. In its first 20 years, 30 different faculty from across the country shared their expertise with museum professionals from 31 states and the District of Columbia, helping them gain confidence to assume directorships, conduct capital campaigns, build new facilities or expand current ones, improve collections management practices, create new educational programs, write disaster preparedness and response manuals, obtain AAM accreditation, and take leadership roles in national, regional, and state museum associations.

As the Jekyll Island Management Institute entered its 20th year (2020), both Martha Battle Jackson and John Lancaster announced their retirements as long-time JIMI administrator and facilitator. Martha and John’s many years of dedication, commitment, and passion contributed to JIMI’s success as an affordable, reputable, sought-after professional development program. In that same year (2020), the Southeastern Museums Conference underwent its own leadership transition with the passing of the torch from one Executive Director to another. While the initial plan was to appoint a new Administrator for the Jekyll Island Management Institute, the COVID-19 global pandemic necessitated a postponement of the JIMI program for the foreseeable future.

After a challenging 2020, the SEMC Council decided to continue to pause the Jekyll Island Management Institute and conduct a formal program evaluation in preparation for a 2023 relaunch.

Fast forward to late spring 2022, when the JIMI wheels began to turn once again. In collaboration with Council leadership, SEMC staff advertised an open call for 2023 JIMI instructors. Using a transparent rubric system, a JIMI Instructor Selection Committee narrowed the large pool of applicants to seventeen instructors and a facilitator who would guide the 2023 cohort through the program.

Incorporating feedback from the 2021 JIMI Evaluation, the program curriculum was updated to incorporate concepts of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion as well as current technologies into each session.

SEMC staff rebuilt the program webpage, updated the daily schedule, and re-established relationships with partners on Jekyll Island. In early fall 2022, the call for applications for the 2023 Jekyll Island Management Institute was announced. Using an updated selection rubric, the 2023 JIMI Selection Committee narrowed a large pool of applicants to a diverse cohort of 18 individuals interested in filling knowledge gaps related to museum management.

SEMC was able to provide four tuition scholarships from the Peter S. LaPaglia Fund to support 2023 Jekyll Island Management Institute attendees and was grateful for additional generous support from the Jekyll Island Authority, National Museum of African American History and Culture-Office of Strategic Partnerships, Smithsonian Our Shared Future: Reckoning with our Racial Past, and individual donors.

Several state museum associations, including the Arkansas Museum Association, Mississippi Museum Association, and the North Carolina Museums Council, offered scholarships to attendees from those states to assist with tuition and travel fees.

A renewed partnership with leaders at the Jekyll Island Authority provided donated space at Villa Ospo (on the Island) for JIMI2023 sessions. Ms. Heather Nowak joined the SEMC staff in August 2022 and assumed the role of co-administrator (with Ms. Zinnia Willits) for the 2023 JIMI program.

JIMI2023 ran January 17–24, 2023, and utilized the PheedLoop platform for sharing Institute materials and schedules. The program began promptly at 8:30 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 with an opening session that covered introductions and ground rules for the week where the cohort could contribute topics they wished to discuss further and collectively decide how to engage with each other. Mr. Robin Reed, JIMI Facilitator, provided an introductory overview of the state of the museum field and reviewed how the week would work in terms of daily sessions, breaks, and reflection. That first afternoon was spent touring the Island and getting oriented to the Jekyll Island Historic District. Jekyll Island Authority staff provided this tour which culminated with a guided experience at the Wanderer Memory Trail. This was a full day of getting to know one another, the program, and the Island.

Sessions (four per day) ran 8:30am–5:00pm with two thirty-minute breaks and provided lunch; the group ate together outside each day. Three “lunch and learn” opportunities were also offered (historic preservation, outdoor interpretation and the Mosaic Museum) over the course of the 8-day program. The cohort was given opportunities throughout the day to move around, stretch, and complete small group work. Most evenings, dinner was on one’s own although many gathered for group dinners (using the hotel shuttle, carpooling, etc.) at restaurants both on and off the Island; others preferred quiet time and check-ins with work/family. Saturday, January 21 was a free day! The cohort spent the day in small groups touring various parts of Jekyll and surrounding areas. A group dinner was offered (by SEMC) on Saturday evening at the Hampton Inn, the 2023 program host hotel.

After 8 full days of sessions (a total of twenty-four sessions/topics) SEMC organized a reception and final dinner for the cohort, several guests, and sponsors at the Riverview Terrace of the Jekyll Island Club. The evening concluded with a presentation of JIMI lapel pins, special recognition awards, a group photo, and many emotional goodbyes.

This eight-day experience (ten days for me as an administrator) was a wonderful and unique adventure with museum professionals from across the region representing different types and sizes of institutions, career stages, and disciplines within a museum. The cohort of dynamic, caring individuals truly represents the future of the field. The instructors brought their experience, expertise, and enthusiasm and developed interactive sessions to deliver best practices in a way that was relatable and open to questions and healthy debate. A gorgeous island setting and amazing partners and supporters both on Jekyll Island and beyond rounded out the experience. I am so thankful to all those involved with JIMI2023 for believing in SEMC and trusting the staff, program leaders, and the process. I have great respect and appreciation for all involved with JIMI, past, present, and future. Now I know.