Historical Museum Director Stepping Down For New Opportunity
(From the Hancock Historical Museum)
The Hancock Historical Museum’s Board of Trustees announces that Sarah Sisser will step-down as Executive Director effective November 22nd as she begins her new position as Executive Director and CEO of CreativeOhio.
“We applaud Sarah for her leadership these past several years and thank her for her contributions, which have helped shape the Museum as we know it today. We are well-poised to attract an energetic successor who can continue to build on this success.” said Susan Harms, President of the Hancock Historical Museum’s Board of Trustees.
Sisser has served as Executive Director of the Museum since 2013. During her tenure, the museum has seen exponential growth in attendance and revenue, while cultivating collaborative relationships at the state and local level. The privately-funded historical museum maintains nine buildings and programming that reaches more than 25,000 people annually, including more than 4,000 Hancock County schoolchildren. In recent years, the museum has received statewide recognition for its programmatic accomplishments, including the Scenic Ohio Award and the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office’s Public Education and Awareness Award.
“It has been a privilege to lead our museum through an era of transformative change and growth,” said Sisser. “It is a true gift to be able to do something you love each day with people you enjoy and respect. With the efforts and expertise of a dedicated staff and Board of Trustees, coupled with tremendous community support, the Museum has become a much-beloved local resource and one of the most comprehensive and well-respected institutions of its kind in the state.”
The museum’s Board of Trustees has begun a comprehensive search for the organization’s next Executive Director.
The following news release is from Creative Ohio announcing Sisser’s hire.
The CreativeOhio (CO) Board of Directors announced Sarah Sisser as the organization’s new Executive Director and CEO following a national search. Sisser brings ten-plus years of experience as a nonprofit administrator, community planner, and advocate for funding of public humanities and cultural institutions at the local, state, and federal levels. The CO board vote to hire Sisser was unanimous.
The CO Search Committee unanimously selected and recommended Sisser to the board given the alignment of her leadership skills, organizational experiences, and advocacy successes with both the job requirements and CO’s strategic priorities.
“We are delighted Sarah will take the leadership helm of CreativeOhio and apply her many
talents and expertise to our work,” said Elizabeth Brown-Ellis, President of the CO board. “She is uniquely qualified to execute our strategic plan, build organizational capacity, leverage our rebranding efforts to expand our membership, and create and sustain our local, regional, and national alliances and networks, all of which are needed to advance CO’s advocacy work on behalf of Ohio’s creative sector,” stated Brown-Ellis.
Sisser joins CreativeOhio from the Hancock Historical Museum, a non-profit history museum serving Findlay and Hancock County, where she has served as Executive Director since 2013. During her tenure, she raised and stewarded $1.2 million in special capital projects; managed $3 million in annual operating and endowment budgets; implemented programmatic, fundraising, and marketing changes resulting in exponential growth in attendance and revenue; and cultivated collaborative relationships at the state and local level.
“I am honored to help lead this next chapter of organizational development for CreativeOhio, ensuring we provide the necessary support and leadership in advocacy to our community partners driving the creative sector in our state,” said Sisser. “Our creative industries collectively represent tremendous economic impact, while advancing quality of life for Ohio’s citizens.”