Jennifer Foley

Jennifer Foley, PhD, Principal of Horizon Insights, brings more than 20 years of expertise in museum interpretation, education, evaluation, and project management. She has held leadership positions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art, Albright-Knox Art Gallery (now Buffalo AKG), Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is a founding board member of the Association for Art Museum Interpretation (AAMI) and served as its president from 2023–2025.

Jennifer Foley will be speaking at the MuseumNext Forecast Summit 2025 :

Beyond Best Practices: Disruption and the Future of Museums

In a world of compounding crises, museums can no longer rely on outdated structures or static definitions of success. This presentation invites viewers to explore how disruption can be a starting point, not an endpoint, for meaningful change. Guided by Hillary Spencer, Ed Rodley, and Jennifer Foley, we’ll unpack real-world strategies for rethinking leadership, equity, and visitor experiences from the inside out. Using frameworks like BANI and Cynefin, we’ll examine why “best practices” often fail and how adaptability, experimentation, and shared agency can help museums thrive. Leave inspired, equipped, and ready to disrupt for a better future.