| Museum appoints executive director San Mateo Daily Journal, CA - Sep 14, 2006 … to strengthen the museum’s endowment and long-term financial stability. It promises to maintain a balanced annual budget, establish new governance procedures …A new board of trustees for Coyote Point Museum made its first big change this week by naming a new interim executive director — just a week after a proposal to mix up leadership was approved. A new board of trustees was formed Tuesday night with many former board members coming on board and only a handful of current members remaining. The first order of business was to name Director of Marketing and Operations Michelle Martin as the new acting executive director. Corrina Marshall, who was hired as interim executive director in July to oversee the museum’s transition to a new nonprofit, is no longer with the museum, said newly elected board President Linda Lanier. Marshall was to manage the transition to the 11th Hour Project, a group headed by Silicon Valley executives and their spouses. The group wanted to raze the museum and build a state-of-the-art global warming education center. The current board feels Martin is a better fit for the job now that the museum will stay open. “Her role as acting executive director allows us the time needed to discover and hire the executive director with the skills that will guide our new energy and commitment,” Lanier said in a statement released yesterday. The new board aims to increase fundraising to strengthen the museum’s endowment and long-term financial stability. It promises to maintain a balanced annual budget, establish new governance procedures and implement a process for major changes to the environmental hall. It will create a new program and exhibit committee to implement upgrades to aging exhibits. Meanwhile, the Campaign to Save Coyote Point Museum continues to collect donations from a growing number of Peninsula residents who want to see the wildlife education center remain open. The group has collected $556,886 from 805 people since the campaign began on Aug.1, Lanier said. The fundraising campaign was sparked by news that another nonprofit, the 11th Hour Project, was considering a takeover of the troubled museum. The 11th Hour Project, run by a group of Silicon Valley executives, wanted to turn the museum into a large-scale global warming education center. Lanier lead the campaign and was chosen to take over as president of the board of trustees, which will also consist of a handful of former board members from the 1980s and 1990s. Pete McCloskey, an eight-term former congressman and retired Sun Microsystems executive Eric Richert are on the board. Almost all board members have served, or are serving, on other nonprofit boards. The entire board is from San Mateo County. An advisory board was also formed and consists of national experts to help guide the board as it moves toward revamping the 52-year-old museum. |