Fellowships and Financial Aid

 

Children’s museums are leaders in developing and implementing diverse opportunities for young people to engage with and learn from important museum interactions. Small museums are investors in early childhood development and learning, and often establish early childhood dedicated spaces or specialized programs despite having fewer resources than larger museums.

The InterActivity Small Museum Financial Aid Program provides staff who work at smaller museums (annual budget $500,000 or under) with complimentary registration to InterActivity and a complimentary ticket to the evening event. The program’s goal is to offset the professional development expenses for those who would benefit from attending the conference. Awardees will attend the entire InterActivity conference and be asked to participate in the review process to determine awardees for the following year.

Small Museum
Financial Aid Application

The financial aid program is open to museum professionals who meet the following criteria:

· Works for an open ACM member museum in good standing (dues current, check MyACM), with annual income under USD $500,000;
· Has been employed at the museum full-time for six months prior to the date of application;
· Has not received a financial aid award for the two previous in-person InterActivity conferences (2023 and 2024).

Financial aid recipients are required to:

· Attend the full InterActivity 2025 conference, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, through 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16;
· Serve on the panel to review applications and select awardees for InterActivity 2026;
· Have the support of their museum for travel, lodging, and meal expenses.

All applications must be submitted via myACM by January 16, 2025. Each application requires a completed application form: Small Museum Financial Aid Form.

Supplemental materials include:

· Signed Statement of Understanding, including CEO and supervisor signatures, stating the museum will cover the applicant’s travel, lodging, and meal expenses outside the awarded coverage.

· A Letter of Recommendation from the Museum CEO/Executive Director. In the event that the applicant is the Museum CEO/Executive Director, the letter should come from a board leader.

There is no limit to the number of applications that a single museum may submit, however, only one individual at a museum will be awarded.

If an applicant does not receive an award, they will be still able to register for InterActivity 2025 at the Early Bird registration rate whether they register by the Early Bird deadline (January 27) or later.

InterActivity 2025 Small Museum Financial Aid Program recipients will be recognized in the InterActivity 2025 Final Program and onsite at the conference during a Plenary Session.

Contact Kristin DeNovellis, Associate Director, Museum Member Services at kristin.denovellis@childrensmuseums.org.